Each of the Excel Dfunctions has three key user-specified parameters:
Data Table
Column Identifier
Selection Criteria
The table must be organized as columns in a contiguous rectangle. Each column should have a unique column heading in the first row. These headings are used by the criteria parameter to control the selection of data.
It is often handy to specify the data table by an absolute address ($B$2:$G$9) instead of a simple relative address (B2:G9). This greatly simplifies copying Dfunction formulas to other cells in your spreadsheet.
There are three different ways to specify the column indentification parameter:
The Dfunctions allow the user to specify selection criteria that are very simple (e.g., Person=Adam) as well as very complex (e.g., Person=Adam or Bill or Jill, Feb>=270 and Apr>=270). The beauty of the Dfunctions is that all selection criteria are handled exactly the same.
A selection criteria is simply a table describing acceptable rows. The criteria table must include column headings in the first row that exactly match the corresponding headings in the basic data table. Each row under the heading in the criteria table is treated as an OR option and each column is treated as an AND option.
Cells D12:D13 specify the simple selection criteria of Feb>=250. Four rows (3, 4, 5, and 7) that meet this selection criteria.