Role of Comma and Semicolon in Curley Braces{}

Introduction

Welcome to Excel Jet Consult blog post. In this video tutorial, we learn about when to use comma and semicolon to achieve the same result in different way.

Sample Data

In the caption below, we have sample data that has Account Manager and Total Sales. Note, the data is formatted in Excel Tables

Top 5: Spill To Cells Below

We want to return the Top 5 Total Sales by Account Manager. Therefore, we are going to deploy the LARGE Function

  • In cell D1, execute the formula: =LARGE(Data[Total],{1;2;3;4;5})

Th above formula has Tables Structured Reference whereby Data is the name of the Table; Total inside square bracket is the column name. Then, I used semi-colon inside the curley braces to separate the numbers 1 to 5 which is the Top 5 we want to return. Note, I use Microsoft 365 (Insiders Fast). This implies that I have the Dynamic Array functions and functionality such as Spill to Neighboring cells.

  • Click Enter

After I clicked enter, the result spills to the neighboring cells below. The spill to cells below is as a result of the semi-colon used inside the curley braces

Top 5: Spill To Cells To The Right

We want the Top 5 sales to spill to the neighboring cells to the right. All we need to do is to replace all the semi-colon with comma

  • In cell D7, execute the formula: =LARGE(Data[Total],{1,2,3,4,5})
  • Click Enter

In the caption below, we can see the result spills to the neighboring cells to the right basically because we used comma inside the curley braces

You can watch the video below

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