I tried to use the { =SUM(ABOVE) } formula in a table but the answer was obviously incorrect
Article contributed by Suzanne Barnhill
Word stops counting when it gets to an empty cell or one with text in it instead of a number, so that's the first thing to check for. But if your table contains more than 85 rows the formula won't work in Word 97 anyway. This is a Word 97 bug which has been fixed in Word 2000: it can't add more than 85 rows using that formula. (This is not a problem with { =SUM(LEFT) } because the number of columns is limited to 63 anyway.)
To get around this, however, you can use the { =SUM( ) } field with cell addresses. For example, to add the numeric contents of the cells in column D (let's say there are 90 rows; the first one is a Heading Row, and #90 is the one where you want to put the answer), disregarding empty and nonnumeric cells, you can use the formula { =SUM(D2:D89) }.
But suppose you don't know how many rows you have. You could click on the numbering button to number the first column, but that's pretty processor intensive for Word (especially in a very long table), and then you have to Undo it. To help you, Microsoft provided the TableCellHelper macro with Word 97, which you can find in the Macros8.dot template in the Macros folder of C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\. If you are using Word 2000 you can download the Macros8.dot template by following this link. (Although a Macros9.dot template does exist, it doesn't include the TableCellHelper macro for some reason; but the macro does work with Word 2000 tables).
When you run this macro, it tells you the address of the cell you're in and the total number of rows and columns in the table.
To make this macro available in every document you create, you could copy it into the Normal.dot template. To do this, use Tools | Templates and Add-Ins | Organizer. You'll see two boxes labeled “Macro projects available in.” The one on the right will say “Normal.dot (global template).” The one on the left will say “Macros8.dot (Template).” When you select the TableCellHelper macro in the list on the left, the Copy button arrow will point right, and the labels above the boxes will say “In Macros8.dot” and “To Normal.dot.” Click the Copy button, and you will have added the TableCellHelper macro to the Normal template. There is another macro called TableCellHelper.AddToStd which, when run, will place a TableCellHelper button on the Standard toolbar. Since this button, as inserted, is entirely blank, so you can't even see where it went, I don't recommend copying this macro.
As an alternative to copying the macro to your Normal template, you could create a new template and store it in Word's Startup directory (as defined in Tools | Options | File Locations). Storing it there makes it an Addin (or Global template). You can then copy the macros to your Addin.
If you need to use the TableCellHelper macro very often, you'll want some easier way to do it than through Tools | Macro | Macros... (select TableCellHelper) | Run. So you may want to put it on the Table menu. Do this using the Customize dialog. On the Commands tab, scroll down the list of Categories till you see Macros. Find the TableCellHelper macro (if you copied the TableCellHelper.AddtoStd macro, be careful not to select this one). Open the Table menu, select the TableCellHelper macro item and drag it to the menu bar. You can then select the menu item and click Modify Selection in the Customize dialog to change the text of the menu listing if you like or add an icon with Change Button Image (I used the big yellow question mark). If you prefer to have a toolbar button for this macro, drag it to a toolbar instead and then modify it to have an image or a briefer text description.
For another workaround, see the following article: How to get a formula field to total an entire table column, even if some cells in the column contain text or are blank.