Assigning Range Names to Constants

Not only are range names great for selecting and referring to cell ranges in the worksheet, but you can also use them to good advantage by naming constant values that you need to use in your formulas. For example, in the sample spring sale furniture table instead of listing the 15% and 25% discount rates in column D, you can create a range name that holds these constants and then refer to them in formulas that compute the dollar amount of the discount in the cell range D3:D8.

To assign a constant to a range name, follow these steps:

1. Choose Insert → Name → Define to open the Define Name dialog box.
2. Type the descriptive name for the new constant (observing the same range-naming conventions) in the Names in Workbook text box.
3. Press Tab until the Refers To text box is selected. Then type = (equal sign) and enter the constant value you want to assign to this name.
4. Click OK to close the Define Name dialog box.

If you need to define several constants at once, click Add instead of OK in Step 4 to insert each name in the Names in Workbook list box. When you're finished defining the constants, click OK.