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I would like to delete the zeros on the right side of the cells if there are more then 3 zeros.
Example:
A B
12345 12345
1230 1230
12345600 12345600
12000 12000
12340000000000000 1234000
1234500000000000000000 12345000
Is it possible to excel using just formula in the cells of the column B??
How to do?
Thanks so much!
The answers, given until now, are treating the numbers as strings, while I'd go for the numeric approach:
if mod(number,10000) = 0
then number = number div 1000;
return number;
Which means: if the number, divided by 10,000 equals 0 (if the number ends with '0000') then return the number, divided by a thousand (remove the last three zeroes).
You don't need this one time, but you need to remove all triplets of three zeroes, as much as possible, so instead of a simple if-loop, you might go for a while-loop:
while mod(number,10000) = 0
do number = number div 1000;
return number;
You can use this in a VBA function:
Public Function remove_ending_blanks(r As Range) As Double
Dim temp As Double
temp = r.Value
While temp Mod 10000 = 0
temp = temp / 1000
Wend
remove_ending_blanks = temp
End Function
You might also do this, using a formula, but the while-loop will need to be done using a circular reference, which is quite tricky.
Try this shorter formula solution and worked in left max. 3 zeros on the right side.
In B1, formula copied down :
=0+TRIM(LEFT(A1,MATCH(9^9,INDEX(1/MID(A1,ROW($1:$99),1),0))+3))
Bit of a stretch (I'm prety sure it can be done better), but if you have access to TEXTJOIN, try the following in B2:
=IF(RIGHT(A1,4)="0000",FILTERXML("<t><s>"&TEXTJOIN("</s><s>",1,MID(A1,1,LEN(A1)-ROW(A$1:INDEX(A:A,LEN(A1)))))&"</s></t>","//s[substring(., string-length(.)-3) != 0]"),A1)
Or:
=IF(RIGHT(A7,4)="0000",LEFT(A7,MAX((MID(A7,ROW(A$1:INDEX(A:A,LEN(A7))),1)<>"0")*(ROW(A$1:INDEX(A:A,LEN(A7)))))+3),A7)
Note: It's an array formula and needs to be confirmed through CtrlShiftEnter
It looks frightening, agreed, but would yield the correct result as far as my testing went. For example 100000400000 would yield 1000004000.
you could use this formula
=IF(RIGHT(A1,4)="0000",LEFT(A1,LEN(A1/10^LEN(A1))-FIND(".",A1/10^LEN(A1))+3),A1)
Consider:
Public Function ZeroTrimmer(r As Range) As String
s = r.Text
While Right(s, 4) = "0000"
s = Left(s, Len(s) - 1)
Wend
ZeroTrimmer = s
End Function
Edit: These will give incorrect results. I mis-read the question and didn't realize you wanted to leave a max of 3 trailing zeroes. The below will remove all trailing zeroes.
If it's an unknown number of trailing zeroes, it gets tricky. You'd have to use something like this...
=(10^(LEN(RIGHT(VALUE(CONCATENATE("0.", A2)),LEN(VALUE(CONCATENATE("0.", A2)))-FIND(".",VALUE(CONCATENATE("0.", A2)))))))*VALUE(CONCATENATE("0.", A2))
If you know the number of trailing zeroes it becomes much easier, and can be done like this:
=LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-3)
Where 3 in the above formula represents the number of trailing zeroes to remove. Another variation could be:
=A2/(10^3)
These formulas will work if text or numeric.
Say I have columns
/670 - White | /650 - black | /680 - Red | /800 - Whitest
These have data in their rows. Basically, I want to SUM their values together if their headers contain my desired string.
For modularity's sake, I wanted to merely specify to sum /670, /650, and /680 without having to mention the rest of the header text.
So, something like =SUMIF(a1:c1; "/NUM & /NUM & /NUM"; a2:c2)
That doesn't work, and honestly I don't know what i should be looking for.
Additional stuff:
I'm trying to think of the answer myself, is it possible to mention the header text as condition for ifs? Like: if A2="/650 - Black" then proceed to sum the next header. Is this possible?
Possibility it would not involve VBA, a draggable formula would be preferable!
At this point, I may as well request a version which handles the complete header name rather than just a part of it as I believe it to be difficult for formula code alone.
Thanks for having a look!
Let me know if I need to elaborate.
EDIT: In regards to data samples, any positive number will do actually, damn shame stack overflow doesn't support table markdown. Anyway, for example then..:
+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| A | B | C | D | E |
+---+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| 1 |/650 - Black |/670 - White |/800 - White |/680 - Red |/650 - Black |
+---+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| 2 | 250 | 400 | 100 | 300 | 125 |
+---+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+
I should have clarified:
The number range for these headers would go from /100 - /9999 and no more than that.
EDIT:
Progress so far:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GiJKFcPWzG5bDsNt93eG7WS_M5uuVk9cvkt2VGSbpxY/edit?usp=sharing
Formula:
=SUMPRODUCT((A2:D2*
(MID($A$1:$D$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($H$1)=4,$H$1&"",$H$1&" ")))+(A2:D2*
(MID($A$1:$D$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($I$1)=4,$I$1&"",$I$1&" ")))+(A2:D2*
(MID($A$1:$D$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($J$1)=4,$J$1&"",$J$1&" "))))
Apparently, each MID function is returning false with each F9 calculation.
EDIT EDIT:
Okay! I found my issue, it's the /being read when you ALSO mentioned that it wasn't required. Man, I should stop skimming!
Final Edit:
=SUMPRODUCT((RETURNSUM*
(MID(HEADER,2,4)=IF(LEN(Match5)=4,Match5&"",Match5&" ")))+(RETURNSUM*
(MID(HEADER,2,4)=IF(LEN(Match6)=4,Match6&"",Match6&" ")))+(RETURNSUM*
(MID(HEADER,2,4)=IF(LEN(Match7)=4,Match7&"",Match7&" ")))
The idea is that Header and RETURNSUM will become match criteria like the matches written above, that way it would be easier to punch new criterion into the search table. As of the moment, it doesn't support multiple rows/dragging.
I have knocked up a couple of formulas that will achieve what you are looking for. For ease I have made the search input require the number only as pressing / does not automatically type into the formula bar. I apologise for the length of the answer, I got a little carried away with the explanation.
I have set this up for 3 criteria located in J1, K1 and L1.
Here is the output I achieved:
Formula 1 - SUMPRODUCT():
=SUMPRODUCT((A4:G4*(MID($A$1:$G$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($J$1)=4,$J$1&"",$J$1&" ")))+(A4:G4*(MID($A$1:$G$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($K$1)=4,$K$1&"",$K$1&" ")))+(A4:G4*(MID($A$1:$G$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($L$1)=4,$L$1&"",$L$1&" "))))
Sumproduct(array1,[array2]) behaves as an array formula without needed to be entered as one. Array formulas break down ranges and calculate them cell by cell (in this example we are using single rows so the formula will assess columns seperately).
(A4:G4*(MID($A$1:$G$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($J$1)=4,$J$1&"",$J$1&" ")))
Essentially I have broken the Sumproduct() formula into 3 identical parts - 1 for each search condition. (A4:G4*: Now, as the formula behaves like an array, we will multiply each individual cell by either 1 or 0 and add the results together.
1 is produced when the next part of the formula is true and 0 for when it is false (default numeric values for TRUE/FALSE).
(MID($A$1:$G$1,2,4)=IF(LEN($J$1)=4,$J$1&"",$J$1&" "))
MID(text,start_num,num_chars) is being used here to assess the 4 digits after the "/" and see whether they match with the number in the 3 cells that we are searching from (in this case the first one: J1). Again, as SUMPRODUCT() works very much like an array formula, each cell in the range will be assessed individually.
I have then used the IF(logical_test,[value_if_true],[value_if_false]) to check the length of the number that I am searching. As we are searching for a 4 digit text string, if the number is 4 digits then add nothing ("") to force it to a text string and if it is not (as it will have to be 3 digits) add 1 space to the end (" ") again forcing it to become a text string.
The formula will then perform the calculation like so:
The MID() formula produces the array: {"650 ","670 ","800 ","680 ","977 ","9999","143 "}. This combined with the first search produces {TRUE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE} which when multiplied by A4:G4
(remember 0 for false and 1 for true) produces this array: {250,0,0,0,0,0,0} essentially pulling the desired result ready to be summed together.
Formula 2: =SUM(IF(Array)): [This formula does not work for 3 digit numbers as they will exist within the 4 digit numbers! I have included it for educational purposes only]
=SUM(IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH($J$1,$A$1:$G$1)),A8:G8),IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH($K$1,$A$1:$G$1)),A8:G8),IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH($L$1,$A$1:$G$1)),A8:G8))
The formula will need to be entered as an array (once copy and pasted while still in the formula bar hit CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER)
This formula works in a similar way, SUM() will add together the array values produced where IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH() columns match the result column.
SEARCH() will return a number when it finds the exact characters in a cell which represents it's position in number of characters. By using ISNUMBER() I am avoiding having to do the whole MID() and IF(LEN()=4,""," ") I used in the previous formula as TRUE/FALSE will be produced when a match is found regardless of it's position or cell formatting.
As previously mentioned, this poses a problem as 999 can be found within 9999 etc.
The resulting array for the first part is: {250,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE} (if you would like to see the array you can highlight that part of the formula and calculate with F9 but be sure to highlight the exact brackets for that part of the formula).
I hope I have explained this well, feel free to ask any questions about stuff that you don't understand. It is good to see people keen to learn and not just fishing for a fast answer. I would be more than happy to help and explain in more depth.
I start this solution with the names in an array, you can read the header names into an array with not too much difficulty.
Sub test()
Dim myArray(1 To 4) As String
myArray(1) = "/670 - White"
myArray(2) = "/650 - black"
myArray(3) = "/680 - Red"
myArray(4) = "/800 - Whitest"
For Each ArrayValue In myArray
'Find position of last character
endposition = InStr(1, ArrayValue, " - ", vbTextCompare)
'Grab the number section from the string, based on starting and ending positions
stringvalue = Mid(ArrayValue, 2, endposition - 2)
'Convert to number
NumberValue = CLng(stringvalue)
'Add to total
Total = Total + NumberValue
Next ArrayValue
'Print total
Debug.Print Total
End Sub
This will print the answer to the debug window.
I'm in search of a SUMPRODUCT formula, or a similar sort of formula which does the same thing. It should do the following:
On worksheet A it needs to ignore incorrect zipcodes, meaning
zipcodes which do not consist of 4 numbers and 2 letters need to be
ignored. It also needs to take into account that there sometimes are
superfluous spaces behind the zipcode. And sometimes there is a
space between the numbers and letters, sometimes there isn't. Just
the 4 numbers and 2 letters need to be compared.
The correct zipcodes on worksheet A need to be compared with the
zipcodes on worksheet B. If they match, then all the values behind
the zip code need to be summed up. If there is another record
starting with the same zipcode then these need to be added up as
well.
Neither of the worksheets should need to be changed, since the data is generated frequently. The formula should be able to work on a third, separate worksheet. And it should work in Excel 2003.
EDIT: Added point 3.
I'll add an image to visualize what I mean. Hopefully someone can help me!
With some helper columns, you could use something like this (open in new tab for larger version):
The formulae:
In B2 to remove spaces and hence get a 'clean' ZIP and check the length:
=IF(LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))=6,SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""),"")
In C2, to get the sum:
=IFERROR(IF(AND(ISNUMBER(LEFT(B2,4)*1),CODE(MID(LOWER(B2),5,1))>=97,CODE(MID(LOWER(B2),5,1))<=122,CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(B2)))>=97,CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(B2)))<=122),SUMPRODUCT($H$2:$K$8*($G$2:$G$8=B2)),""),"")
In G2, I used the same one as in B2:
=IF(LEN(SUBSTITUTE(F2," ",""))=6,SUBSTITUTE(F2," ",""),"")
Without the helper, the formula becomes much longer because of repeating parts:
=IFERROR(IF(AND(LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))=6,ISNUMBER(LEFT(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""),4)*1),CODE(MID(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","")),5,1))>=97,CODE(MID(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","")),5,1))<=122,CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))>=97,CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))<=122),SUMPRODUCT($H$2:$K$8*(SUBSTITUTE($F$2:$F$8," ","")=SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))),""),"")
Or
=IFERROR(
IF(
AND(
LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))=6, ' Check length
ISNUMBER(LEFT(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""),4)*1), ' Check numbers
CODE(MID(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","")),5,1))>=97, ' Check if letter
CODE(MID(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","")),5,1))<=122, ' Check if letter
CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))>=97, ' Check if letter
CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))<=122 ' Check if letter
),
SUMPRODUCT(
$H$2:$K$8*
(SUBSTITUTE($F$2:$F$8," ","")=SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))),
""
),
""
)
Oops, forgot that IFERROR was not in 2003. The only reason why I used it was that MID would return an empty string and CODE would subsequently give an error. You can use the below instead which makes sure the string is 6 chars first:
=IF(LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))=6,IF(AND(ISNUMBER(LEFT(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""),4)*1),CODE(MID(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","")),5,1))>=97,CODE(MID(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ","")),5,1))<=122,CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))>=97,CODE(RIGHT(LOWER(SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))))<=122),SUMPRODUCT($H$2:$K$8*(SUBSTITUTE($F$2:$F$8," ","")=SUBSTITUTE(A2," ",""))),""),"")
Here you have a formula to validate Dutch postal codes
=AND(LEN(A2)=6; ISNUMBER(VALUE(LEFT(A2;4))); CODE(MID(LOWER(A2);5;1)) >= 97; CODE(MID(LOWER(A2);5;1)) <= 122; CODE(MID(LOWER(A2);6;1)) >= 97; CODE(MID(LOWER(A2);6;1)) <= 122)
0-9 = ASCII code 48 to 57
a-z = ASCII code 97 to 122 (lowercase)
In case you have a Dutch version of Excel, the formula would be:
=EN(LENGTE(A2)=6; ISGETAL(WAARDE(LINKS(A2;4))); CODE(DEEL(KLEINE.LETTERS(A2);5;1)) >= 97; CODE(DEEL(KLEINE.LETTERS(A2);5;1)) <= 122; CODE(DEEL(KLEINE.LETTERS(A2);6;1)) >= 97; CODE(DEEL(KLEINE.LETTERS(A2);6;1)) <= 122)
I have a sheet with a list of names in Column B and an ID column in A. I was wondering if there is some kind of formula that can take the value in column B of that row and generate some kind of ID based on the text? Each name is also unique and is never repeated in any way.
It would be best if I didn't have to use VBA really. But if I have to, so be it.
Solution Without VBA.
Logic based on First 8 characters + number of character in a cell.
= CODE(cell) which returns Code number for first letter
= CODE(MID(cell,2,1)) returns Code number for second letter
= IFERROR(CODE(MID(cell,9,1)) If 9th character does not exist then return 0
= LEN(cell) number of character in a cell
Concatenating firs 8 codes + adding length of character on the end
If 8 character is not enough, then replicate additional codes for next characters in a string.
Final function:
=CODE(B2)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,2,1)),0)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,3,1)),0)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,4,1)),0)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,5,1)),0)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,6,1)),0)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,7,1)),0)&IFERROR(CODE(MID(B2,8,1)),0)&LEN(B2)
Sorry, I didn't found a solution with formula only even if this thread might help (trying to calculate the points in a scrabble game) but I didn't find a way to be sure the generated hash would be unique.
Yet, here is my solution, based on a UDF (Used-Defined Function):
Put the code in a module:
Public Function genId(ByVal sName As String) As Long
'Function to create a unique hash by summing the ascii value of each character of a given string
Dim sLetter As String
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To Len(sName)
genId = Asc(Mid(sName, i, 1)) * i + genId
Next i
End Function
And call it in your worksheet like a formula:
=genId(A1)
[EDIT] Added the * i to take into account the order. It works on my unit tests
May be OTT for your needs, but you can use a call to CoCreateGuid to get a real GUID
Private Declare Function CoCreateGuid Lib "ole32" (ID As Any) As Long
Function GUID() As String
Dim ID(0 To 15) As Byte
Dim i As Long
If CoCreateGuid(ID(0)) = 0 Then
For i = 0 To 15
GUID = GUID & Format(Hex$(ID(i)), "00")
Next
Else
GUID = "Error while creating GUID!"
End If
End Function
Test using
Sub testGUID()
MsgBox GUID
End Sub
How to best implement depends on your needs. One way would be to write a macro to get a GUID populate a column where names exist. (note, using it as a udf as is is no good, since it will return a new GUID when recalculated)
EDIT
See this answer for creating a SHA1 hash of a string
Do you just want an incrementing numeric id column to sit next to your values? If so, and if your values will always be unique, you can very easily do this with formulae.
If your values were in column B, starting in B2 underneath your headers for example, in A2 you would type the formula "=IF(B2="","",1+MAX(A$1:A1))". You can copy and paste that down as far as your data extends, and it will increment a numeric identifier for each row in column B which isn't blank.
If you need to do anything more complicated, like identify and re-identify repeating values, or make identifiers 'freeze' once they're populated, let me know. Currently, when you clear or add values to your list the identifers will toggle themselves up and down, so you need to be careful if your data changes.
Unique identifier based on the number of specific characters in text. I used an identifier based on vowels and numbers.
=LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"a";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"e";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"i";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"j";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"o";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"u";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"y";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"1";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"2";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"3";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"4";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"5";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"6";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"7";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"8";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"9";""))&LEN($J$14)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE($J$14;"0";""))
You say you are confident that there are no duplicate values in your words. To push it further, are you confident that the first 8 characters in any word would be unique?
If so, you can use the below formula. It works by individually taking each character's ASCII code - 40 [assuming normal characters, this puts numbers at between 8 & 57, and letters at between 57 & 122], and multiplying that characters code by 10 ^ [that character's digit placement in the word]. Basically it takes that character code [-40], and concatenates each code onto the next.
EDIT Note that this code no longer requires that at least 8 characters exist in your word to prevent an error, as the actual word to be coded has 8 "0"'s appended to it.
=TEXT(SUM((CODE(MID(LOWER(RIGHT(REPT("0",8)&A3,8)),{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8},1))-40)*10^{0,2,4,6,8,10,12,14}),"#")
Note that as this uses the ASCII values of the characters, the ID # could be used to identify the name directly - this does not really create anonymity, it just turns 8 unique characters into a unique number. It is obfuscated with the -40, but not really 'safe' in that sense. The -40 is just to get normal letters and numbers in the 2 digit range, so that multiplying by 10^0,2,4 etc. will create a 2 digit unique add-on to the created code.
EDIT FOR ALTERNATIVE METHOD
I had previously attempted to do this so that it would look at each letter of the alphabet, count the number of times it appears in the word, and then multiply that by 10*[that letter's position in the alphabet]. The problem with doing this (see comment below for formula) is that it required a number of 10^26-1, which is beyond Excel's floating point precision. However, I have a modified version of that method:
By limiting the number of allowed characters in the alphabet, we can get the max total size possible to 10^15-1, which Excel can properly calculate. The formula looks like this:
=RIGHT(REPT("0",15)&TEXT(SUM(LEN(A3)*10^{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14}-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A3,MID(Alphabet,{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15},1),""))*10^{0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14}),"#"),15)
[The RIGHT("00000000000000"... portion of the formula is meant to keep all codes the same number of characters]
Note that here, Alphabet is a named string which holds the characters: "abcdehilmnorstu". For example, using the above formula, the word "asdf" counts the instances of a, s, and d, but not 'f' which isn't in my contracted alphabet. The code of "asdf" would be:
001000000001001
This only works with the following assumptions:
The letters not listed (nor numbers / special characters) are not required to make each name unique. For example, asdf & asd would have the same code in the above method.
And,
The order of the letters is not required to make each name unique. For example, asd & dsa would have the same code in the above method.
I have an interesting challenge - I need to run a check on the following data in Excel:
| A - B - C - D |
|------|------|------|------|
| 36 | 0 | 0 | x |
| 0 | 600 | 700 | x |
|___________________________|
You'll have to excuse my wonderfully bad ASCII art. So I need the D column (x) to run a check against the adjacent cells, then convert the values if necessary. Here's the criteria:
If column B is greater than 0, everything works great and I can get coffee. If it doesn't meet that requirement, then I need to convert A1 according to a table - for example, 32 = 1420 and place into D. Unfortunately, there is no relationship between A and what it needs to convert to, so creating a calculation is out of the question.
A case or switch statement would be perfect in this scenario, but I don't think it is a native function in Excel. I also think it would be kind of crazy to chain a bunch of =IF() statements together, which I did about four times before deciding it was a bad idea (story of my life).
Sounds like a job for VLOOKUP!
You can put your 32 -> 1420 type mappings in a couple of columns somewhere, then use the VLOOKUP function to perform the lookup.
Without reference to the original problem (which I suspect is long since solved), I very recently discovered a neat trick that makes the Choose function work exactly like a select case statement without any need to modify data. There's only one catch: only one of your choose conditions can be true at any one time.
The syntax is as follows:
CHOOSE(
(1 * (CONDITION_1)) + (2 * (CONDITION_2)) + ... + (N * (CONDITION_N)),
RESULT_1, RESULT_2, ... , RESULT_N
)
On the assumption that only one of the conditions 1 to N will be true, everything else is 0, meaning the numeric value will correspond to the appropriate result.
If you are not 100% certain that all conditions are mutually exclusive, you might prefer something like:
CHOOSE(
(1 * TEST1) + (2 * TEST2) + (4 * TEST3) + (8 * TEST4) ... (2^N * TESTN)
OUT1, OUT2, , OUT3, , , , OUT4 , , <LOTS OF COMMAS> , OUT5
)
That said, if Excel has an upper limit on the number of arguments a function can take, you'd hit it pretty quickly.
Honestly, can't believe it's taken me years to work it out, but I haven't seen it before, so figured I'd leave it here to help others.
EDIT: Per comment below from #aTrusty:
Silly numbers of commas can be eliminated (and as a result, the choose statement would work for up to 254 cases) by using a formula of the following form:
CHOOSE(
1 + LOG(1 + (2*TEST1) + (4*TEST2) + (8*TEST3) + (16*TEST4),2),
OTHERWISE, RESULT1, RESULT2, RESULT3, RESULT4
)
Note the second argument to the LOG clause, which puts it in base 2 and makes the whole thing work.
Edit: Per David's answer, there's now an actual switch statement if you're lucky enough to be working on office 2016. Aside from difficulty in reading, this also means you get the efficiency of switch, not just the behaviour!
The Switch function is now available, in Excel 2016 / Office 365
SWITCH(expression, value1, result1, [default or value2, result2],…[default or value3, result3])
example:
=SWITCH(A1,0,"FALSE",-1,"TRUE","Maybe")
Microsoft -Office Support
Note: MS has updated that page to only document the behavior of Excel 2019. Eventually, they will probably remove references to 2019 as well... To see what the page looked like in 2016, use the wayback machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20161010180642/https://support.office.com/en-us/article/SWITCH-function-47ab33c0-28ce-4530-8a45-d532ec4aa25e
Try this;
=IF(B1>=0, B1, OFFSET($X$1, MATCH(B1, $X:$X, Z) - 1, Y)
WHERE
X = The columns you are indexing into
Y = The number of columns to the left (-Y) or right (Y) of the indexed column to get the value you are looking for
Z = 0 if exact-match (if you want to handle errors)
I used this solution to convert single letter color codes into their descriptions:
=CHOOSE(FIND(H5,"GYR"),"Good","OK","Bad")
You basically look up the element you're trying to decode in the array, then use CHOOSE() to pick the associated item. It's a little more compact than building a table for VLOOKUP().
I know it a little late to answer but I think this short video will help you a lot.
http://www.xlninja.com/2012/07/25/excel-choose-function-explained/
Essentially it is using the choose function. He explains it very well in the video so I'll let do it instead of typing 20 pages.
Another video of his explains how to use data validation to populate a drop down which you can select from a limited range.
http://www.xlninja.com/2012/08/13/excel-data-validation-using-dependent-lists/
You could combine the two and use the value in the drop down as your index to the choose function. While he did not show how to combine them, I'm sure you could figure it out as his videos are good. If you have trouble, let me know and I'll update my answer to show you.
I understand that this is a response to an old post-
I like the If() function combined with Index()/Match():
=IF(B2>0,"x",INDEX($H$2:$I$9,MATCH(A2,$H$2:$H$9,0),2))
The if function compare what is in column b and if it is greater than 0, it returns x, if not it uses the array (table of information) identified by the Index() function and selected by Match() to return the value that a corresponds to.
The Index array has the absolute location set $H$2:$I$9 (the dollar signs) so that the place it points to will not change as the formula is copied. The row with the value that you want returned is identified by the Match() function. Match() has the added value of not needing a sorted list to look through that Vlookup() requires. Match() can find the value with a value: 1 less than, 0 exact, -1 greater than. I put a zero in after the absolute Match() array $H$2:$H$9 to find the exact match. For the column that value of the Index() array that one would like returned is entered. I entered a 2 because in my array the return value was in the second column. Below my index array looked like this:
32 1420
36 1650
40 1790
44 1860
55 2010
The value in your 'a' column to search for in the list is in the first column in my example and the corresponding value that is to be return is to the right. The look up/reference table can be on any tab in the work book - or even in another file. -Book2 is the file name, and Sheet2 is the 'other tab' name.
=IF(B2>0,"x",INDEX([Book2]Sheet2!$A$1:$B$8,MATCH(A2,[Book2]Sheet2!$A$1:$A$8,0),2))
If you do not want x return when the value of b is greater than zero delete the x for a 'blank'/null equivalent or maybe put a 0 - not sure what you would want there.
Below is beginning of the function with the x deleted.
=IF(B2>0,"",INDEX...
If you don't have a SWITCH statement in your Excel version (pre-Excel-2016), here's a VBA implementation for it:
Public Function SWITCH(ParamArray args() As Variant) As Variant
Dim i As Integer
Dim val As Variant
Dim tmp As Variant
If ((UBound(args) - LBound(args)) = 0) Or (((UBound(args) - LBound(args)) Mod 2 = 0)) Then
Error 450 'Invalid arguments
Else
val = args(LBound(args))
i = LBound(args) + 1
tmp = args(UBound(args))
While (i < UBound(args))
If val = args(i) Then
tmp = args(i + 1)
End If
i = i + 2
Wend
End If
SWITCH = tmp
End Function
It works exactly like expected, a drop-in replacement for example for Google Spreadsheet's SWITCH function.
Syntax:
=SWITCH(selector; [keyN; valueN;] ... defaultvalue)
where
selector is any expression that is compared to keys
key1, key2, ... are expressions that are compared to the selector
value1, value2, ... are values that are selected if the selector equals to the corresponding key (only)
defaultvalue is used if no key matches the selector
Examples:
=SWITCH("a";"?") returns "?"
=SWITCH("a";"a";"1";"?") returns "1"
=SWITCH("x";"a";"1";"?") returns "?"
=SWITCH("b";"a";"1";"b";TRUE;"?") returns TRUE
=SWITCH(7;7;1;7;2;0) returns 2
=SWITCH("a";"a";"1") returns #VALUE!
To use it, open your Excel, go to Develpment tools tab, click Visual Basic, rightclick on ThisWorkbook, choose Insert, then Module, finally copy the code into the editor. You have to save as a macro-friendly Excel workbook (xlsm).
Even if old, this seems to be a popular questions, so I'll post another solution, which I think is very elegant:
http://fiveminutelessons.com/learn-microsoft-excel/using-multiple-if-statements-excel
It's elegant because it uses just the IF function. Basically, it boils down to this:
if(condition, choose/use a value from the table, if(condition, choose/use another value from the table...
And so on
Works beautifully, even better than HLOOKUP or VLOOOKUP
but... Be warned - there is a limit to the number of nested if statements excel can handle.
Microsoft replace SWITCH, IFS and IFVALUES with CHOOSE only function.
=CHOOSE($L$1,"index_1","Index_2","Index_3")
Recently I unfortunately had to work with Excel 2010 again for a while and I missed the SWITCH function a lot. I came up with the following to try to minimize my pain:
=CHOOSE(SUM((A1={"a";"b";"c"})*ROW(INDIRECT(1&":"&3))),1,2,3)
CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER
where A1 is where your condition lies (it could be a formula, whatever). The good thing is that we just have to provide the condition once (just like SWITCH) and the cases (in this example: a,b,c) and results (in this example: 1,2,3) are ordered, which makes it easy to reason about.
Here is how it works:
Cond={"c1";"c2";...;"cn"} returns a N-vector of TRUE or FALSE (with behaves like 1s and 0s)
ROW(INDIRECT(1&":"&n)) returns a N-vector of ordered numbers: 1;2;3;...;n
The multiplication of both vectors will return lots of zeros and a number (position) where the condition was matched
SUM just transforms this vector with zeros and a position into just a single number, which CHOOSE then can use
If you want to add another condition, just remember to increment the last number inside INDIRECT
If you want an ELSE case, just wrap it inside an IFERROR formula
The formula will not behave properly if you provide the same condition more than once, but I guess nobody would want to do that anyway
If your using Office 2016 or later, or Office 365, there is a new function that acts similarly to a CASE function called IFS. Here's the description of the function from Microsoft's documentation:
The IFS function checks whether one or more conditions are met, and returns a value that corresponds to the first TRUE condition. IFS can take the place of multiple nested IF statements, and is much easier to read with multiple conditions.
An example of usage follows:
=IFS(A2>89,"A",A2>79,"B",A2>69,"C",A2>59,"D",TRUE,"F")
You can even specify a default result:
To specify a default result, enter TRUE for your final logical_test argument. If none of the other conditions are met, the corresponding value will be returned.
The default result feature is included in the example shown above.
You can read more about it on Microsoft's Support Documentation