It's been quite some time since I used a spreadsheet product. In Excel 2003 there was a series autofill feature. I don't mean the "enter two numbers, highlight, and drag" feature. There was a way to bring up a menu, alt-e-i-s if my muscle memory recalls correctly, that would let you specify a start value, end value and step value. It was incredibly useful.
I really could use this feature in Google sheets. I've been searching for the last 15 minutes and can not find it anywhere. I also checked and it looks like this might not be a feature in MS excel anymore, either. Does anyone know if either product can do this?
You are probably looking for the SEQUENCE function in Google Sheets
=SEQUENCE(11,1,6,2)
Please read more about it here
Related
I would have thought this one would be asked to death so cannot see a solution - looking for a way to live link PowerPoint to Excel data, only for a word within an otherwise manually typed sentence.
I am not asking how to live link a chart or a table, I am asking how to have a live field within otherwise static text.
E.g. In a text box, there's the sentence "Revenue increased by 10% over the period, an improvement from the 7% increase over the prior period" and have only the '10%' and the '7%' be linked to two Excel cells.
I have seen that this is possible in the following pieces of software:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUGqgsT4gHU (skip to 20sec)
https://www.presentationpoint.com/blog/dynamic-text-boxes-powerpoint/
Doesn't seem like it's do-able in VBA though I'm comfortable in .NET too and have not been able to work out how this works, so any suggestion in either most welcome.
There are multiple suggestions to the effect of copy a cell and then paste-special - this does not allow you to embed the number in the sentence, it only allows you to past the cell in, which you would then have to type around. In the two links above, it is properly embedded and this is the type of solution I am after.
I think this is very do-able in VBA. The program on the website is of course very sophisticated, but you could very easily replicate some of the functionality.
For example by using tokens. You could enter something like "Best beer in city: #beerBrand#". Then you would iterate through your columngs and just search and replace the tokens.
If I get the program functionality right, what they do is ask the user to enter a prefix and sufix for each variable. That makes it even easier because you have the three parts of the sentence separate and you can just alsways replace the variable in the middle.
Would one of the approaches work in your case?
I'm tying to convert a matrix of data into a list of entries. I have found a few solutions that are close but nothing that I can get working completely. My challenges are I need 4 pieces of information from each row and I want it to be automatic. This Solution was close, but I need something That brings an extra two columns with it.I don't want to have to process the data once it's entered into the Grid.
I created something that works but I feel it's clumsy and there has to be a better way to do it. I have added a Sample Time sheet to my Google drive of what I have created. Essentially I enter the work order, description and pay code on the left. The dates are up top and hours hours worked are entered into the grid. I use a few simple formulas to make a list of every grid cell in the format my finance department needs and then bring it back into the main sheet to sort it. I feel this setup is fragile and it requires manual sort every time info is updated.
Can you help me get from the format on the left to the format on the right with 0 steps. The data arrangement on the left can be modified but the data on the right has to be exactly as show. Mostly I don't know what I'm trying to do is called. It took me longer than I care to admit to find the term "matrix to list." All suggestions are welcome.
Thanks
A Screenshot of the excel sheet for when the google drive link stops working.
We get at least 20 queries a day on an average from our clients, where in we have to open and look at data on 4 to 5 Excel sheets to answer them. questions such as what is my available balance, am i eligible for this etc. All our clients are connected to our intranet and have access to internet. I was wondering is there a way where we can develop a front end app (do not have budget for MS VB or any other) either in excel or any other to connect these 4 to 5 excel sheets to retrieve the data in response to queries (e.g. using perhaps some if and true/false queries). I am not an advanced Excel user but would be great for an advice from tech experts.
Yes, i wouldn't call it an app but consider a worksheet like a dashboard. You can have a cell for entering client name, and then use formulas to look up relevant information of the name entered. The cosmetic and arrangement of the information retrieved and published on the dashboard is up to you and of course do consider investing some time in the looks and feel if you want to enjoy using it.
Things you may consider are:
Place the files are kept and file name convention
because your dashboard will look for information in external workbooks, ensure that the files are saved in a fixed directory and have a specific file name. if the external files are updated from time to time by other folks, let them know too that they have to save it in a particular folder with a specific name format.
Properly structure the source of data
Format you data source into tables so that it is easier for use with formulas. Throw away titles if any in the data source worksheet. Use tools like "Table" under the INSERT tab. When data are properly organized, they can be easily looked up using formulas such as VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, MATCH-INDEX, and COUNTIF.
Be good with formulas
Since we have no budget for VB, then good formulas will be needed. There are plenty of help on the internet for this I think you'll have no problem in it.
Employ sanitary check measure
It is difficult to tell if our formula isn't functioning properly when we have no counter check measure. Certainly you want to give your clients accurate information. One way to check is, think of alternative ways to get the information wanted and check if it matches to the first way. Another way is to retrieve a sequence of related information to be put on the dashboard, then do simple calculation to check if the numbers add up. Use conditional formatting to highlight errors if necessary.
I think these are key consideration, there may be more, but this is what i can think of for the moment.
I have created 2 columns, the first has a category of a system using data validation, and the second has the description and failures of that system.
The purpose of that is to open a malfunction on some parts.
In a different sheet I wish to do the same only this time I want to choose the system and the description will automatically appear in the next column showing me all the malfunctions I have written on this system.
I am not very good at all the functions of excel. but I still searched for one that might help me. I have tried using the DGET function but it got me nowhere.
Perhaps try the solution here - it's a bit tricky to explain without copy-pasting the whole thing:
https://superuser.com/questions/536234/excel-how-to-vlookup-to-return-multiple-values
Also take a look at vlookup() if you're working across spreadsheets.
As expected, all of the responses you've seen ehere - and probably elsewhere - are ponyers to VLookup, or a refusal to answer your question.
I'm guessing that you're using DGET() because you need to retrieve data from one named column, using a match for a search term in another named column; and you're that because you can't rely on column ordinals or addresses - you have to do it by name.
VLookup won't do that for you: not without extremely complex and fragile array formulae.
The bad news is: Microsoft NEVER published a working example of a DGET() formula or any corresponding VBA Worksheet Function code.
There's page after page of descriptive text and general explanation in the helpfiles and on MSDN: but no working example. Nobody in Redmond ever sat down and made the DGET() function work with a reproducible set of function parameters and published a screen-shot the working formula.
I'll let you guess why that is.
Maybe there's an example somewhere that is, in effect, a VLookup implemented for known column ordinals using DGET(). If there is, I never found it and you won't either: and it would, of course, be useless for any application where you're working with field names instead of known ordinals.
What you need to do is capture the tabulated data range, with field names in the top row, and pass it to a SQL query using ADODB or MS-Query. That bad new for that is that all the MS-JET Excel drivers have a fatal memory leak.
After that fails, you're left exporting the data somewhere that a proper database app can run the SQL: and that's actually the right thing to do, because your attempt at using DGET() is a relational data query.
If you're left with the need to do this entirely in Excel, you have reached a level of desperation normally associated with the last survivor of an airplane crash who, having devoured the charred remains of his unlucky fellow passengers, is finally forced to contemplate the awful exigency of opening and eating the inflight catering meals.
The grisly details for the equivalent in Excel are a Horrible Hack published here:
http://excellerando.blogspot.com/2014/09/from-time-to-time-it-necessary-to.html
I would like to insert a default value, to a specific cell in my worksheet,
but this default value should take care of new rows inserted in the worksheet.
I must not use a macro for this.
thanks
Maybe I am wrong, but I can not think of any way, one would be able to that. This is more a typicall database functionality. Without macros you would have to use a function or a format. A function, like values, would not be copied by inserting new rows - only formats would, so this narrows it down.
By the way, I interpreted your question to "default value on instertion of new row", not "default value when writing data in a existing clear row".
So, as a kind of "default value behaviour" you could use user defined cellformats.
i.e. use ;;'x'; as a user format and format your cell or column with it. This won't fill empty cells with 'x' but, whenever you would type in '0' it would change to 'x'.
However, I am very interested, if there is a better solution.
You can add validation to cells which can help you force a number into a particular cell, but as stated in the earlier answer a database is more designed for Default Values.
It seems to me you are trying to create a database in Excel, I wouldn't recommend this as excel is very good at prototyping algorithms however when it comes to structuring tables it can fail very quickly.
Use at least MS Access, namely as it comes with a database. Alternatives are rapid prototyping tool such as Eclipse or Netbeans, or Visual Studio if your budget can stretch that far. Couple the RAD tools with MySql (namely for ease of use and the fact that the community licence is good) and the system should be stable.