Counting Values in Table Cells

Dan has a document with a huge table with many rows and six columns. In one of the columns he enters a single character (F, P, or B) for each row. Periodically Dan needs to count the total occurrences of the Fs, Ps, and Bs in that column. He wonders if there is some kind of macro that he can use to do the counting.

It is possible to do this with a macro, but the macro would not be simple. It is far easier to do a simple find and replace operation to get the desired totals. Follow these general steps:

1. Select the column that contains the single characters. (If the first row in the column contains some header text that contains F, P, or B, then don't include the first cell in your selection.)
2. Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
3. In the Find What box, enter the letter you want to search for (F, P, or B).
4. In the Replace With box, enter "^&" (without the quote marks).
5. Click Replace All.

The result is that the character is replaced with itself, and Word lets you know how many replacements were made. (If Word asks you if you want to make the replacements in the rest of the document, turn down the kind offer.) You can repeat the steps for each of the other characters in the column, and you will have your desired counts.