Can I add-up a column of figures in Pages?

Question

Hi Everyone,
I have used MSWord for many years to produce reports that include:  item number, photo image, narrative description, and a monetary figure, using tables and borders.  I manage to add rows that automatically add the next item number, and the final cell at the bottom of the columns has a formula that when I right-click I can select 'Update' which then calculates the column of figures above.  It does this over however many sheets I need.  Can I replicate something similar in Pages?  I find the normal help menu less than intuitive.
Regards

Answer 1

L,
Here's how I would go about duplicating your Word table, in Pages...
Choose 1 Header Row and 1 Footer Row for your table. You do this in the Headers and Footer section of the Table Inspector, Table Tab. You will but your column descriptions in the Header Row and any summary functions in the Footer Row.
In the Footer Row cell for the column with the figures, enter: =SUM(B), where B is your column id. The way this works is that Header Rows and Footer Rows are excluded from the function, so everything between the header and footer are summed.
The next thing to know about iWork tables is that if every body row has the same equations in it, then you can add rows and the equations will be duplicated in the new row. The body rows are the ones between the Header rows and the Footer rows.
So, if you can write an expression to generate your item numbers, that expression will be carried to new rows automatically. Let's say your first item is in row 2, the first body row, and you want to assign that item the number "1". In row 2 of the Item Number column, you could write: =row()-1
If you copy that expression (or use the Fill tool) to the rest of the body rows, new rows will inherit that expression.
Regarding the multi-page character of your document, you need to know that only Inline table can flow across a page boundary. Floating Tables are limited to one page in length.
Regards,
Jerry