Help with data extraction tables and fields

Hi All!

Hoping you can help me with something. I have created a data extraction table based on attributes placed on blocks. The data table is in my layout and it includes part number, dimensions, and cost. What I need to do is total the cost of all the items at the bottom of my table. I added in a row for the total cost which is not linked to the table but when I try to add a field in that cell to sum the cells above it (the costs), I get ###. I already tried unlocking the cells, but that didn't do anything.

How can I add a field summing these costs?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

There may be a way to do what you want, but it would be something I'm not familiar with. As a work around, try this (the last paragraph is the key to solving your issue). This info was c/p from Autocd 2010 help.

Information in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet can be combined with extracted data from drawings.

By linking to an Excel spreadsheet, you can include information from an entire worksheet, or part of a worksheet, referred to as a named range. Using the Link External Data dialog box, you can

• Specify a data link by selecting an XLS file to which the extracted data from the drawing will be linked.
  
• Match the extracted drawing data and the spreadsheet data. (See Understand Data Linking and Matching for more information.)
  
• Select the columns in the XLS file to merge with the extracted drawing data.
  

On the Refine Data page, you access the Link External Data dialog box; you can set up a link to an entire Excel spreadsheet, or to a range of rows and columns, to the extracted data.

Before you can link a spreadsheet, Microsoft Excel needs to be installed on the same computer on which the data extraction is performed. If Microsoft Excel is not installed, or if the XLS file is not saved locally on the computer that is performing the data extraction, a data link cannot be established.

If a linked spreadsheet has been changed, such as a row or column has been added, the table in your drawing can be updated accordingly using the DATALINKUPDATE command. Likewise, if a change is made to the table in the drawing, the linked spreadsheet can be updated using the same command.