Database Functions

Microsoft Excel includes 12 worksheet functions that analyze data stored in lists or databases. Each of these functions, referred to collectively as the Dfunctions, uses three arguments: database, field, and criteria. These arguments refer to the worksheet ranges that are used by the function.

Syntax

Dfunction(database,field,criteria)

Database is the range of cells that make up the list or database.

In Microsoft Excel, a database is a list of related data in which rows of related information are records and columns of data are fields. The first row of the list contains labels for each column. The reference can be entered as a cell range or as a name that represents the range that contains the list.
In all database functions, if the database reference is to a cell inside a PivotTable, the calculation is done on only the PivotTable data.
If you want to calculate subtotal values in your list, use the Subtotals command on the Data menu to insert subtotal values.

Field indicates which column is used in the function. Columns of data in the list must have an identifying label in the first row. Field can be given as text with the column label enclosed between double quotation marks, such as "Age" or "Yield" in the example list below, or as a number that represents the position of the column in the list: 1 for the first column (Tree in the example below), 2 for the second (Height), and so on.

Criteria is a reference to a range of cells that specify conditions for the function. The function returns information from the list that matches the conditions specified in the criteria range. The criteria range includes a copy of the column label in the list for the column you want the function to summarize. The criteria reference can be entered as a cell range, such as A1:F2 in the example database below, or as a name that represents the range, such as "Criteria."

Tips

You can use any range for the criteria argument, as long as it includes at least one column label and at least one cell below the column label for specifying the condition.
For example, if the range G1:G2 contains the column label Income in G1 and the amount 10,000 in G2, you could define the range as MatchIncome and use that name as the criteria argument in the database functions.
Although the criteria range can be located anywhere on the worksheet, do not place the criteria range below the list. If you add more information to the list by using the Form command on the Data menu, the new information is added to the first row below the list. If the row below the list is not blank, Microsoft Excel cannot add the new information.
Make sure the criteria range does not overlap the list.
To perform an operation on an entire column in a database, enter a blank line below the column labels in the criteria range.

Examples

The following illustration shows a database for a small orchard. Each record contains information about one tree. The range A5:E11 is named Database, and the range A1:F3 is named Criteria.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Tree	Height	Age	Yield	Profit	Height
2	Apple	>10				<16
3	Pear
4
5	Tree	Height	Age	Yield	Profit
6	Apple	18	20	14	$105.00
7	Pear	12	12	10	$96.00
8	Cherry	13	14	10	$105.00
9	Apple	14	15	10	$75.00
10	Pear	9	8	8	$76.80
11	Apple	9	9	6	$45.00

DCOUNT(Database,"Age",A1:F2) equals 1. This function looks at the records of apple trees between a height of 10 and 16 and counts how many of the Age fields in those records contain numbers.

DCOUNTA(Database,"Profit",A1:F2) equals 1. This function looks at the records of apple trees between a height of 10 and 16 and counts how many of the Profit fields in those records are not blank.

DMAX(Database,"Profit",A1:A3) equals $105.00, the maximum profit of apple and pear trees.

DMIN(Database,"Profit",A1:B2) equals $75.00, the minimum profit of apple trees over 10.

DSUM(Database,"Profit",A1:A2) equals $225.00, the total profit from apple trees.

DSUM(Database,"Profit",A1:F2) equals $75.00, the total profit from apple trees with a height between 10 and 16.

DPRODUCT(Database,"Yield",A1:F2) equals 140, the product of the yields from apple trees with a height between 10 and 16.

DAVERAGE(Database,"Yield",A1:B2) equals 12, the average yield of apple trees over 10 feet in height.

DAVERAGE(Database,3,Database) equals 13, the average age of all trees in the database.

DSTDEV(Database,"Yield",A1:A3) equals 2.97, the estimated standard deviation in the yield of apple and pear trees if the data in the database is only a sample of the total orchard population.

DSTDEVP(Database,"Yield",A1:A3) equals 2.65, the true standard deviation in the yield of apple and pear trees if the data in the database is the entire population.

DVAR(Database,"Yield",A1:A3) equals 8.8, the estimated variance in the yield of apple and pear trees if the data in the database is only a sample of the total orchard population.

DVARP(Database,"Yield",A1:A3) equals 7.04, the true variance in the yield of apple and pear trees if the data in the database is the entire orchard population.

DGET(Database,"Yield",Criteria) returns the #NUM! error value because more than one record meets the criteria.