Excel summing a text value of an adjacent cell

Question

Been bashing my head over this for hours.

Here is the data and desired result:

A1 has the string 204+204+204+204+204+204+59

I need B1 to show the SUM of A1

I've managed thus far by just copying and pasting the text into B1 and placing a = in front of it ie ( =204+204+... etc.) But I know there has got to be an easier way.

Answer 1

Here is how to do it.

1

Open the Name Manager. Control-F3 from the worksheet, and then click the New button.

2

For the Name field in the dialog, enter EVALA . I just picked this name; it stands for "Evaluate A". But you can pick whatever name you like.

3

For the Refers to field, enter this

=EVALUATE($A1)

4

Click OK and then Close.

5

In B1 enter this formula:

=EVALA

That's it.

You can now use this formula on any row in the worksheet and it will evaluate whatever is in the column A cell of the row where you enter the formula.