Sum of absolute values after the subtraction of digits in two columns

[raymond7904]

So, I have two columns of data and I'm trying to sum the absolute values of the differences of the corresponding digits in the rows.

Note: I want to do this without adding an extra column of subtractions. I'm also aware of the SUMX2MY2 function which is good, but it squares each difference before summing them. I want to know if there's a way to use a similar sum function without squaring the differences initially.

Example:

__COL1__COL2

A 12-------17

B 5---------3

C 10-------11

The sum of the differences is -4 (-5+2+-1=-4), but I want to sum the absolute values of the differences which will get me 8 (|-5|+|2|+
|-1|=8). I want to know if there's a formula that will get me to 8 without adding an extra column.

Thanks everyone!

[JBeaucaire]

This array formula should do it:

=SUM(ABS(A2:A4-B2:B4))

...confirmed by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER to activate the array. You will know the array is active when you see curly braces { } appear around your formula. If you do not CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER you will get an error or a clearly incorrect answer. Press F2 on that cell and try again.