How to get excel to display a certain number of significant figures? - excel

I am using excel and i want to display a value to a certain number of significant figures.
I tried using the following equation
=ROUND(value,sigfigs-1-INT(LOG10(ABS(value))))
with value replaced by the number I am using and sigfigs replaced with the number of significant figures I want.
This formula works sometimes, but other times it doesn't.
For instance, the value 18.036, will change to 18, which has 2 significant figures. The way around this is to change the source formatting to retain 1 decimal place. But that can introduce an extra significant figure. For instance, if the result was 182 and then the decimal place made it change to 182.0, now I would have 4 sig figs instead of 3.
How do I get excel to set the number of sig figs for me so I don't have to figure it out manually?

The formula (A2 contains the value and B2 sigfigs)
=ROUND(A2/10^(INT(LOG10(A2))+1),B2)*10^(INT(LOG10(A2))+1)
may give you the number you want, say, in C2. But if the last digit is zero, then it will not be shown with a General format. You have then to apply a number format specific for that combination (value,sigfigs), and that is via VBA. The following should work. You have to pass three parameters (val,sigd,trg), trg is the target cell to format, where you already have the number you want.
Sub fmt(val As Range, sigd As Range, trg As Range)
Dim fmtstr As String, fmtstrfrac As String
Dim nint As Integer, nfrac As Integer
nint = Int(Log(val) / Log(10)) + 1
nfrac = sigd - nint
If (sigd - nint) > 0 Then
'fmtstrfrac = "." & WorksheetFunction.Rept("0", nfrac)
fmtstrfrac = "." & String(nfrac, "0")
Else
fmtstrfrac = ""
End If
'fmtstr = WorksheetFunction.Rept("0", nint) & fmtstrfrac
fmtstr = String(nint, "0") & fmtstrfrac
trg.NumberFormat = fmtstr
End Sub
If you don't mind having a string instead of a number, then you can get the format string (in, say, D2) as
=REPT("0",INT(LOG10(A2))+1)&IF(B2-(INT(LOG10(A2))+1)>0,"."&REPT("0",B2-(INT(LOG10(A2))+1)),"")
(this replicates the VBA code) and then use (in, say, E2)
=TEXT(C2,D2).
where cell C2 still has the formula above. You may use cell E2 for visualization purposes, and the number obtained in C2 for other math, if needed.

WARNING: crazy-long excel formula ahead
I was also looking to work with significant figures and I was unable to use VBA as the spreadsheets can't support them. I went to this question/answer and many other sites but all the answers don't seem to deal with all numbers all the time. I was interested in the accepted answer and it got close but as soon as my numbers were < 0.1 I got a #value! error. I'm sure I could have fixed it but I was already down a path and just pressed on.
Problem:
I needed to report a variable number of significant figures in positive and negative mode with numbers from 10^-5 to 10^5. Also, according to the client (and to purple math), if a value of 100 was supplied and was accurate to +/- 1 and we wish to present with 3 sig figs the answer should be '100.' so I included that as well.
Solution:
My solution is for an excel formula that returns the text value with required significant figures for positive and negative numbers.
It's long, but appears to generate the correct results according to my testing (outlined below) regardless of number and significant figures requested. I'm sure it can be simplified but that isn't currently in scope. If anyone wants to suggest a simplification, please leave me a comment!
=TEXT(IF(A1<0,"-","")&LEFT(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00"),sigfigs+1)*10^FLOOR(LOG10(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00")),1),(""&(IF(OR(AND(FLOOR(LOG10(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00")),1)+1=sigfigs,RIGHT(LEFT(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00"),sigfigs+1)*10^FLOOR(LOG10(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00")),1),1)="0"),LOG10(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00"))<=sigfigs-1),"0.","#")&REPT("0",IF(sigfigs-1-(FLOOR(LOG10(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00")),1))>0,sigfigs-1-(FLOOR(LOG10(TEXT(ABS(A1),"0."&REPT("0",sigfigs-1)&"E+00")),1)),0)))))
Note: I have a named range called "sigfigs" and my numbers start in cell A1
Test Results:
I've tested it against the wikipedia list of examples and my own examples so far in positive and negative. I've also tested with a few values that gave me issues early on and all seem to produce the correct results.
I've also tested with a few values that gave me issues early on and all seem to produce the correct results now.
3 Sig Figs Test
99.99 -> 100.
99.9 -> 99.9
100 -> 100.
101 -> 101
Notes:
Treating Negative Numbers
To Treat Negative Numbers, I have included a concatenation with a negative sign if less than 0 and use the absolute value for all other work.
Method of construction:
It was initially divided into about 6 columns in excel that performed the various steps and at the end I merged all of the steps into one formula above.

Use scientific notation, say if you have 180000 and you need 4 sigfigs the only way is to type as 1.800x10^5

I added to your formula so it also automatically displays the correct number of decimal places. In the formula below, replace the digit "2" with the number of decimal places that you want, which means you would need to make four replacements. Here is the updated formula:
=TEXT(ROUND(A1,2-1-INT(LOG10(ABS(A1)))),"0"&IF(INT(LOG10(ABS(ROUND(A1,2-1-INT(LOG10(ABS(A1)))))))<1,"."&REPT("0",2-1-INT(LOG10(ABS(ROUND(A1,2-1-INT(LOG10(ABS(A1)))))))),""))
For example, if cell A1 had the value =1/3000, which is 0.000333333.., the above formula as-written outputs 0.00033.

This is an old question, but I've modified sancho.s' VBA code so that it's a function that takes two arguments: 1) the number you want to display with appropriate sig figs (val), and 2) the number of sig figs (sigd). You can save this as an add-in function in excel for use as a normal function:
Public Function sigFig(val As Range, sigd As Range)
Dim nint As Integer
Dim nfrac As Integer
Dim raisedPower As Double
Dim roundVal As Double
Dim fmtstr As String
Dim fmtstrfrac As String
nint = Int(Log(val) / Log(10)) + 1
nfrac = sigd - nint
raisedPower = 10 ^ (nint)
roundVal = Round(val / raisedPower, sigd) * raisedPower
If (sigd - nint) > 0 Then
fmtstrfrac = "." & String(nfrac, "0")
Else
fmtstrfrac = ""
End If
If nint <= 0 Then
fmtstr = String(1, "0") & fmtstrfrac
Else
fmtstr = String(nint, "0") & fmtstrfrac
End If
sigFig = Format(roundVal, fmtstr)
End Function
It seems to work in all the use cases I've tried so far.

Rounding to significant digits is one thing... addressed above. Formatting to a specific number of digits is another... and I'll post it here for those of you trying to do what I was and ended up here (as I will likely do again in the future)...
Example to display four digits:
.
Use Home > Styles > Conditional Formatting
New Rule > Format only cells that contain
Cell Value > between > -10 > 10 > Format Number 3 decimal places
New Rule > Format only cells that contain
Cell Value > between > -100 > 100 > Format Number 2 decimal places
New Rule > Format only cells that contain
Cell Value > between > -1000 > 1000 > Format Number 1 decimal place
New Rule > Format only cells that contain
Cell Value > not between > -1000 > 1000 > Format Number 0 decimal places
.
Be sure these are in this order and check all of the "Stop If True" boxes.

The formula below works fine. The number of significant figures is set in the first text formula. 0.00 and 4 for 3sf, 0.0 and 3 for 2sf, 0.0000 and 6 for 5sf, etc.
=(LEFT((TEXT(A1,"0.00E+000")),4))*POWER(10,
(RIGHT((TEXT(A1,"0.00E+000")),4)))
The formula is valid for E+/-999, if you have a number beyond this increase the number of the last three zeros, and change the second 4 to the number of zeros +1.
Note that the values displayed are rounded to the significant figures, and should by used for display/output only. If you are doing further calcs, use the original value in A1 to avoid propagating minor errors.

As a very simple display measure, without having to use the rounding function, you can simply change the format of the number and remove 3 significant figures by adding a decimal point after the number.
I.e. #,###. would show the numbers in thousands. #,###.. shows the numbers in millions.
Hope this helps

You could try custom formatting instead.
Here's a crash course: https://support.office.com/en-nz/article/Create-a-custom-number-format-78f2a361-936b-4c03-8772-09fab54be7f4?ui=en-US&rs=en-NZ&ad=NZ.
For three significant figures, I type this in the custom type box:
[>100]##.0;[<=100]#,##0

You could try
=ROUND(value,sigfigs-(1+INT(LOG10(ABS(value)))))
value :: The number you wish to round.
sigfigs :: The number of significant figures you want to round to.

Related

Formula to search 3 words "text" in any sequence in different cell

Please take a look at the attached image. I have a long list of items and I've created a common keywords to search in that list. I'm using this formula:
=INDEX(A:A,MATCH((("*"&B2&"*")&("*"&C2&"*")&("*"&D2&"*")&("*"&E2&"*")&("*"&F2&"*")),A:A,0))
The problem that the search is going through the same sequence that I entered.
It gives error if the sequence of the words in the cell is different than the sequence in my formula which make sense.
Is there a way I can search for 3 or more words that are existing in any cell in any sequence?
I am open to using VBA if necessary.
My search results:
Here is the user defined function:
Public Function indexMX(rng As Range, pat1 As Range, pat2 As Range, pat3 As Range, pat4 As Range, pat5 As Range) As Variant
Dim r As Range, rngx As Range, s(1 To 5) As String, Kount As Long, j As Long
s(1) = pat1.Value
s(2) = pat2.Value
s(3) = pat3.Value
s(4) = pat4.Value
s(5) = pat5.Value
Set rngx = Intersect(rng, rng.Parent.UsedRange)
For Each r In rngx
v = r.Value
Kount = 0
For j = 1 To 5
If InStr(1, v, s(j)) > 0 Or s(j) = "" Then Kount = Kount + 1
Next j
If Kount = 5 Then
indexMX = v
Exit Function
End If
Next r
indexMX = "no luck"
End Function
Here is an example of its usage:
As you see, we give the UDF() the address of the column and the addresses of the five keywords and the UDF() finds the first item containing all five words.
If a keyword is blank, it is not used. (so if you want to search for only two keywords, leave the other three blank). If no matches are found the phrase no luck is returned.
User Defined Functions (UDFs) are very easy to install and use:
ALT-F11 brings up the VBE window
ALT-I
ALT-M opens a fresh module
paste the stuff in and close the VBE window
If you save the workbook, the UDF will be saved with it.
If you are using a version of Excel later then 2003, you must save
the file as .xlsm rather than .xlsx
To remove the UDF:
bring up the VBE window as above
clear the code out
close the VBE window
To use the UDF from Excel:
=myfunction(A1)
To learn more about macros in general, see:
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/getstarted.htm
and
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee814735(v=office.14).aspx
and for specifics on UDFs, see:
http://www.cpearson.com/excel/WritingFunctionsInVBA.aspx
Macros must be enabled for this to work!
EDIT#1:
to remove case sensitivity, replace:
If InStr(1, v, s(j)) > 0 Or s(j) = "" Then Kount = Kount + 1
with:
If InStr(1, LCase(v), LCase(s(j))) > 0 Or s(j) = "" Then Kount = Kount + 1
Yes, it is possible for a single cell to return three matching words from a different cell. The answer in this example uses a formula to return 6 matches. VBA and special array functions are not used.
This is the formula:
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUMPRODUCT((IFERROR(SEARCH(FIRST,TARGET),0)>0)*100000+(IFERROR(SEARCH(SECOND,TARGET),0)>0)*20000+(IFERROR(SEARCH(THIRD,TARGET),0)>0)*3000+(IFERROR(SEARCH(FOURTH,TARGET),0)>0)*400+(IFERROR(SEARCH(FIFTH,TARGET),0)>0)*50+(IFERROR(SEARCH(SIXTH,TARGET),0)>0)*6),"1",FIRST&DELIM),"2",SECOND&DELIM),"3",THIRD&DELIM),"4",FOURTH&DELIM),"5",FIFTH&DELIM),"6",SIXTH&DELIM),"0","")
Did you notice the named ranges? FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, etc are individual cells and each one holds a word. We are trying to find those words inside TARGET. If we find the words, then we will write them in this cell holding this formula and each word will be separated by DELIM
The ranges are optional. In the picture below, you'll see cell A2 contains the word "named". This is the first of the six words we're tying to find and it can be expressed as FIRST = "A2" = "named" Inside the formula you'll see that FIRST appears twice. You could replace it with "named" and the cell A2 would become blank but the functionality of the formula would not change.
Even TARGET is optional. It could be written as E1 or typed out word for word.
I don't know why anyone would do that... but it is possible.
DELIM is at cell B2, it is a double space
Now to explain how it works
SEARCH(search for what?, search where?) This is responsible for determining if a match exists or not. If you understand what the named ranges then you've already figured out the syntax is. The location of first letter that of match in TARGET is returned. In this formula it is always 1 If it is not found then the number is 0
IFERROR(value,value) tries to perform the operation. If successful then the result is displayed. If there's an error the second result is displayed. Every IFERROR in this formula is practically the same: IFERROR(SEARCH(FIRST,TARGET),0) It searches inside TARGET trying to find the FIRST word. Result if found is 1 and if not found is 0
It gets a little more complicated from here so lets recap. We're calling SEARCH 6 times. Once for each word we want to find and we're always looking in TARGET. Result will be a 1 if match is found or a 0 if not. Ironically, us humans can put it together and see the match but the formula can't determine which words have been matched without more information
SUMPRODUCT takes the sum (addition) of the product (multiplication) of two or more arrays.
multiply two arrays to get the product
a, b, c * e, f, g = ae, bf, cg
takethe sum of the product to get the SUMPRODUCT
ae + bf + cg`
This is easiest when thought of a price and quantity. If one array is the price of a group of items and the other is quantity of the same group of items, then multiplying the two arrays will create a new array where each element is the cost to buy all items of that type in the group the total, and adding all those numbers give you the total cost you'd pay for all of the items
Here we multiply two arrays:
Qty Price
12.0 0.3
70.0 0.1
20.0 0.4
Multiply them to get the product:
Qty Price Total
12.0 0.3 3.8
70.0 0.1 7.0
20.0 0.4 8.0
Take the sum of the product:
Qty Price Total
12.0 0.3 3.8
70.0 0.1 7.0
20.0 0.4 8.0
18.8 SUMPRODUCT
Lets look at part of the formula:
SUMPRODUCT((IFERROR(SEARCH(FIRST,TARGET),0)>0)*100000+IFERROR(SEARCH(SECOND,TARGET),0)>0)*20000+...
It is easy to see this segment is looking for two words. We know SUMPRODUCT want's to multiply and add arrays. If you're thinking (IFERROR(SEARCH(FIRST,TARGET),0)>0) is an array, you'd be right! It's not an array in the technical sense of the word, but it does evaluate into a single value which can thought of as a 1x1 array, or, a cell. The sharp eyed and quick witted, may have noticed there is something on this array we have mentioned. It's the inequality at the end! Many of you know that you can take numerical values and turn them into boolean by testing them with an inequality. So lets evaluate.... SEARCH for FIRST inside TARGET = 1 because FIRST = "named" which is inside TARGET waaaaaaay in the back and because it wasn't an error we get to keep the 1. Next we do the inequality 1 > 0 = TRUE One is greater than zero and evaluates to TRUE
This is what we have right now
SUMPRODUCT((TRUE*100000+IFERROR(SEARCH(SECOND,TARGET),0)>0)*20000+....
Can you identify the arrays now? We know TRUE is an array, a 1x1. You know the IFERROR bit all the way to the inequality is also an array. Lets evaluate that IFERROR .... Mathematically we should still be working from left to right but trust me, we're ok if we let it slide this once.
IFERROR(SEARCH(SECOND,TARGET),0)>0) SECOND = "array" = 1 = TRUE
Did you follow my short hand? It's ok if you didn't just back up and practice on FIRST until you understand.
Plugging in the value gives us something like this
SUMPRODUCT(TRUE*100000+TRUE*20000+...
SUMPRODUCT is the SUM(addition) of the PRODUCT(multiplication)
So we're adding the stuff we multiply
SUMPRODUCT = (TRUE * 100000) + (TRUE * 20000)
Remember how easy it was to go from 1 > 0 to TRUE. We're "getting all up into that boolean TRUE that" equals 1 Here's a fun fact, -1 is also equal to TRUE. If you've ever seen a formula with a double negative in it like this STUFF(--(MORESTUFF( that's just some Excel wizard person making sure they get a +1 instead of a -1 ... ok, so lets get back on track and evalute
SUMPRODCUT = 1 * 100000 + 1 * 20000+....
SUMPRODCUT = 100000 + 20000+....
SUMPRODCUT = 120000+.....
I know you've been asking about those numbers. One hundred thousand? What's one hundred thousand for? I've been purposefully ignoring until it became convenient to talk about it. And now it's convenient. Go look at the whoooole formula and you'll find a pattern. Those numbers are in a decreasing sequence. Anyone who's ever done bitwise logic can see where this is going.I'm running short on time so I'll cut to the chase. Assume a hypothetical situation where every word was matched. You'd end up with
SUMPRODUCT = 100000 + 20000 + 3000 + 400 + 50 + 6
SUMPRODCUT = 123456
123456 are you pulling my leg? No, I am not. We're almost done so if you're still with me then you're gonna drive it home.
We have a large group of SUBSTITUTE teachers at the front of the line and we gotta get rid of them.
We also have this to contend with :"1",FIRST&DELIM),"2",SECOND&DELIM),"3",THIRD&DELIM),"4",FOURTH&DELIM),"5",FIFTH&DELIM),"6",SIXTH&DELIM),"0","")
Thankfully for us, they are part of the same problem. We worked our way from the middle out.
SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(text, old text, new text)
SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE("123456","1", FIRST & DELIM),"2",SECOND & DELIM)....
Remember at top DELIM was pointing to a cell holding a double space. Each DELIM can be replaced with " " or any other delimiter you want.
SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE("123456","1", "named" & " "),"2",SECOND & DELIM)...
SUBSTITUTE("named 23456","2",SECOND & DELIM)...
SUBSTITUTE("named 23456","2","array"& " ")...
("named array 3456")... and so on.
Any questions?
Ok, class is dismissed!

Handling TimeRecording-files in Excel (formatting cells)

Excel's assumptions about cells are confusing the heck out of me. I'm on Office 365 - Excel for Mac, Version 15.28.
I'm TimeRecording on a lot of things, I would like to calculate relations and tendencies on the different things. I've exported my log-files, and have opened it in excel. A simple version looks like this:
In the real sheet, then I have 40+ tasks and 50+ dates. I would like to be able to do some calculations on these data. But Excel doesn't 'know what it is' (time durations) and therefore can't add them up or do anything.
So one question would be, to how to let Excel know, that this is time durations? I tried doing what this question suggests. But when I format the cells as [h]:mm then it gives me this error:
FYI: In the big sheet, then there's so many times, so the total amounts up to something along the lines of 633:33.
I would just like to be able to do simple calculations, such as:
=SUM(B1, C4, D5)
or
=SUM(B1, C4, D5)/COUNT(B1, C4, D5)
And maybe also make some charts and graphs.
Another attempt I've done is to try to get all the cells to have the format hh.mm instead of hh:mm, but this gave me problems. My approach was this:
Convert all the cells to 'Text' to tell Excel: 'Hey... Don't do any auto-converting/guessing here, and don't turn any of the cells into dates or decimal numbers or fricking origami swans!'
After that then I make a simple 'Replace all' of : to .
But after the 'Replace all', then 633:33 turns into 633.36.00 (even though the cell was a 'Text' cell).
And if I then simply double-click on the cell to edit it, then the numbers 'magically' turns from 633.36.00 to 27/01/1900 15.36.00 ... What the hell!? I need a procedure that doesn't require me to go through all my thousands of numbers and edit any of them (or ensure that Excel have turned the numbers into flying unicorns.
EDIT1
Here's an example of the total sheet I'm working on in Google Sheets.
EDIT2
If I format the cells as [h]:mm, then I get an error (see above). But if I format it as [t]:mm, then I don't get an error (thanks to Axel Richter for pointing that out). It may have something to do with the initial language of my Excel-installation (danish).
However... If I then try to sum up a bunch of cell, after doing this formatting to everything, then it sums up to 0:00.
If I format all the cells to Time (well-knowing that it's the wrong format, but hoping that Excel can see it and fix it) - and thereafter trying to sum up a couple of cells, then it sums up to 00.00.00 (even though it wasn't empty cells).
Is it also important, that when I sum up some numbers, that I do it from a General-cell - or does Excel know, that if I start with the =-sign, that it's going to be a calculation (and therefore the cell-format doesn't matter)?
Excel will store date-time values as floating point double values in following form:
1 day = 1
1 hour = 1/24 = 0.0416666666666667
1 minute = 1/24/60 = 0.000694444444444444
So formatted as time all values greater than or equal 0 but lower than 1 will be from 00:00 to 23:59. Values greater than 1 will be dates with 1 = 01/01/1900 00:00:00. But if you are formatting such values as time only using hh:mm for example, then only the time is shown. The date is simply hidden.
For example 1.25 formatted using hh:mm will show 06:00 although it is 1 1/4 day which is 01/01/1900 06:00:00. To see hours from multiple days the format [h]:mm can be used. For example 1.25 formatted using [h]:mm will show 30:00 which is 1 day (24:00) + 1/4 day (06:00).
Although Excel will do this independent of locale settings, the user defined format codes used and the kind of input values which Excel will take as time values are dependent of locale settings.
For example with your locale Danish (Greenland) the format codes are different. See Formatere tal som datoer eller klokkeslæt .
So your format code will be [t]:mm instead of [h]:mm.
And also with your locale Danish (Greenland) the time separator is . instead of :. So values which Excel will take as time values are 123.45 (123 hours, 45 minutes) instead of 123:45.
In your last comment you say: "whereafter it weirdly looked the same, such as: 123:45 and not 123.45". Yes that is because your user defined format [t]:mm contains the time separator : also. But that is different from your locale settings where . is the time separator. While inputting values Excel respects the locale settings and so expects 123.45 as time value for 123 hours and 45 minutes. But after the input Excel applies the cell formatting [t]:mm and so shows 123:45.
In your last comment you say that it confuses you that 17:24 * 24 equals 417:36. But that is exactly what it should.
17:24 is 17 hours and 24 minutes. That multiplied by 24 is 17 hours * 24 = 408 hours and 24 minutes * 24 = 576 minutes. 576 minutes are 9 hours and 36 minutes. So we get (408 hours + 9 hours) and 36 minutes = 417 hours and 36 minutes = 417:36.
I cannot edit the sheet so I copied it. As you can see in column AS and row 43, Google provides 'duration' format. You don't have to manipulate something. Just change the cell format.
In Excel, duration format is [h]:mm. Hit ctrl + 1 at the cell and choose Custom and type [h]:mm at Type and hit enter.
If SO answer is too difficult to follow, try this.
I apologize in advance for how rough this is, but I mostly slapped this code together to fit the task and didn't want to waste time on it. The principles are there though, so at the least it should point you in the direction you need to be heading.
Sub Time_Summarization()
Dim i As Long
Dim j As Long
Dim cell As Range
Dim sHolder As String
Dim vHolder As Variant
Dim arrHolder() As Double
Dim bAdd As Boolean
Dim dHolder_Whole As Double
Dim dHolder_Remainder As Double
Dim sOutput As String
ReDim arrHolder(0 To 2)
' Use a set range. Selection here is just for testing
' Ideally there should be data validation in this loop to ensure that the input
' values are numeric time values.
For Each cell In Selection
' Convert the cell value to a date to permit splitting.
' The value is then split into a 1-d array with 3 positions (H, M, S)
vHolder = Split(CDate(cell.value), ":")
' Loop through the split values from first to last, and trim off the AM/PM.
' If it is a PM date, set the flag to add 12 (13:00:00 gets displayed as 1:00:00 PM)
For j = LBound(vHolder) To UBound(vHolder)
' If PM, set the flag.
If InStr(vHolder(j), "PM") Then bAdd = True
' Remove "AM" and "PM"
vHolder(j) = Replace(vHolder(j), " AM", vbNullString)
vHolder(j) = Replace(vHolder(j), " PM", vbNullString)
' Add the values into the array in the same order.
arrHolder(j) = arrHolder(j) + vHolder(j)
Next
' Add 12 hours if needed
If bAdd Then arrHolder(0) = arrHolder(0) + 12
' Reset the flag for the next loop
bAdd = False
Next
' Step backwards through the array to round up increments of 60.
For i = UBound(arrHolder) To LBound(arrHolder) + 1 Step -1
' This will return the number of times the value goes into 60.
dHolder_Whole = arrHolder(i) \ 60
' This will return the remainder of the value divided by 60.
dHolder_Remainder = arrHolder(i) Mod 60
' Round up seconds to minutes, and minutes to hours.
arrHolder(i - 1) = arrHolder(i - 1) + dHolder_Whole
' Overwrite the remainder
arrHolder(i) = dHolder_Remainder
Next
' Combine the separate values into a string.
sHolder = arrHolder(0) & ":" & arrHolder(1) & ":" & arrHolder(2)
' Just for testing, do with the values whatever you wish.
Debug.Print sHolder
End Sub
Again, this is mostly a model that will work, but will need to be adapted to suit your needs.
Zeth, I downloaded your file and I can make some calculation with your time data. I juss selected all cell with time duration and change the format of cell to "time". Seemingly you should change all cells format, incluiding the empty cells.
If it does not work, find the "More format of numbers" ate the "Numbers" menu. Then, select the option "Hour" and chose the format closest to the format of your data. Also pay attenction to the option "locality" at the bottom of this menu. The option of hour format deppends on the region selected. (Each region in the world have some convenctions about it and Excel reconize much of then.
Formatting the numbers does not change the way Excel does calculations.
So a cell (c3) formatted as time and showing 01:28:00 actually contains 0.061111 because Excel treats time as fractions of a 24 hour day.
When you add up a lot of times and they add up to more than 24 hours the underlying number is more than 1 day so you get number of days before the decimal point and after the decimal point is the fraction of 24 hours remaining. So to convert a duration or time to hours you just multiply it by 24 and format it as a number or general (and the numbers after the decimal point are fractions of an hour). If you just want to format the result as hours and minutes use a format of [h]:mm and do not multiply by 24 - on your system look at Format Cells - Custom to see what the equivalent of [h:mm] is.

How do I sum data based on a PART of the headers name?

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.

Need formula for excel, to subtract the number "9" to each number individually and

I want you to have some fun. I need something specific.
First i must explain what i do. I use a simple codification for product prices at retail store, because i dont want people know the real price for themselves. So i change the original numbers to another subtracting the number 9 for each number.
Normally I manually write down all the prices with this codification for every product.
So.. for example number 10 would be 89. (9-1 = 8) and (9-0 = 9)
Other examples:
$128 = 871
$75 = 24
$236 = 763
$9 = 0
Finally i put 2 number nines (9) at the beginning of the codified price also, to confuse people who might think that number could be the price.
So the examples i used before are like this:
99871 (means $128)
9924 (means $75)
99763 (means $236)
990 (means $9)
Remember that i need 2 (two) nines before the real price. The real prices never start with 0 so, the nines at the beginning exist only to confuse people.
Ok. So, now that you understand, here comes the 2nd part.
I have an excel whith hundreds of my products added, with prices, description, etc. And i decided it is time to use a printer and start to print this information from excel. I have a software to do that, but first i need to have the codified prices in the excel also.
The fun part begins when i want to convert the real prices that are already written in my excel document into a new column AUTOMATICALLY. So that way i don´t have to type again all the prices in codified form for the old and new items i add in the future.
Can someone help me with this? Is it even possible?
I tried with =A1-9999 but, it works well with 2 character number only. Because if the real price is 5, i will get 3 nines: 9994(code). And if the price is 234 i will get only 1 nine 9765(code). And it is a condition i need to have the TWO nines at first.
Thank you very much in advanced!
Though you have requested for formula , I am suggesting VBA program which seems to me very convenient.
You have to open VBE and insert a module and copy the program. Change the code lines wherever indicated to suit your requirements for sheets etc.
Sub NumberCode()
Dim c As Range
Dim LR As Integer
Dim numProbs As Long
Dim sht As Worksheet
Dim s As Integer
Dim v As Long
Dim v1 As Long
Set sht = Worksheets("Sheet1") ' change as per yr requirement
numProbs = 0
LR = sht.Cells(Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row
For Each c In sht.Range("A1:A" & LR).Cells
s = Len(c)
v = c.Value
v1 = 99
For s = 1 To Len(c)
v1 = v1 & (9 - Mid(c, s, 1))
Next
c.Offset(0, 1).Value = v1
v1 = 99
numProbs = numProbs + 1
Next
MsgBox "Number coding finished"
End Sub
Sample sheet of results is appended below.
I will be using helper cells but you could dump it all into one cell if you want since you are only dealing with 4 characters.
For the purpose of this example, I am assuming your original price list starts in B11.
=IFERROR(9-MID($B11,COLUMN(A1),1),"")
Place that in D11 and copy to the right three more times so you have it from D11 to G11. That formula strips off 1 character from your price and subtracts that character from 9. When you go the next column it repeats itself. If you do not have that many characters, it will return "".
In C11 you will build your number based on the adjacent 4 columns using this formula:
="99"&D11&E11&F11&G11
It places 99 in front then adds the numbers from the adjacent 4 columns.
Select cells C11 to G11 and copy and paste downward beside your data column as far as you need to go.
An alternate more concise method would be:
=REPT(9,LEN(B11)+2)-B11
Perhaps I'm missing something, though simply:
=REPT(9,2+LEN(A1))-A1
seems good to me.
Regards

excel number format - varying decimal digits

I'm trying to set a special cell number format with theses rules:
display percentage
display at max 3 digits (decimal + integer part)
So I can display 100% or 99.3% or 1.27%
but not 100.9% or 100.27% or 99.27%.
Of course, I can have negative number (-27.3%) and it does not affect my rules.
I've try with the cell formating option without success:
[<1]0.00%;[<10]0.0%;0%
Because it seemed that excel (2010) does not support more than 2 conditions in cell formating (and so I can't expand it to manage negative number...)
It there anyway to do what I want?
Thanks
I have a rather primitive solution by implementing a function in VBA:
Function formatStr(myVal As Double) As String
' the smaller the number, the more digits are to be shown
Dim retStr As String
Dim absVal As Double
absVal = Abs(myVal)
If absVal >= 100 Then
retStr = "0"
ElseIf absVal >= 10 Then retStr = "0.0"
ElseIf absVal >= 1 Then retStr = "0.00"
Else ' number is between -1 and 1
retStr = ".000"
End If
formatStr = retStr
End Function
...which can be used then in a VBA statement like this :
myVal = 0.5555: ActiveSheet.Cells(27, 4).Value = Format(myVal, formatStr(myVal))
if you want to use that in a sheets cell you need another little function
Function FormatAlignDigits(myVal As Double) As Double
FormatAlignDigits = Format(myVal, formatStr(myVal))
End Function
=> you may enter =FormatAlignDigits(B27) in the cell where you want the result. B27 is the cell with the source data in this example.
My test results:
100.3 => 100
100.5 => 101
10.53 => 10.5
10.55 => 10.6
1.553 => 1.55
1.555 => 1.56
0.5553 => 0.555
0.5555 => 0.556
-0.5555 => -0.556
-0.5553 => -0.555
-1.555 => -1.56
-1.553 => -1.55
-10.55 => -10.6
-10.53 => -10.5
-100.5 => -101
-100.3 => -100
I'm sure there can be a more fancy solution, e.g. with a parameter for function 'formatStr' that tells at which power the number of digits is down to 0 (here: power = 2; meaning if the value is >= 100).
For me this primitive thing works just fine.
Under the Home tab in the Ribbon select Conditional Formatting:
and then select either New Rule or Manage Rules (with the latter you can then select New Rule, but also have an overview of all current rules)
Then select Use a formula to determine which cells to format and enter the formula with reference to the cell itself (in my case cell A1 was selected, take the $ signs out to allow it to be applied to other cells themselves as well!):
Now Click Format... and select the required Number format as percentage with the number of decimal places as you want it.
Repeat this for all the cases you want to distinguish.
As values can be negative I use ABS() to always test for the rule on the absolute value of the cell.
Note you can either make all rules apply for a 2 side limited value range (in my example I have the minimum of 0.1 and the maximum of 1 (10% and 100% respectively). Alternatively you can only determine the minimum OR maximum and tick the box for Stof If True at the right end for all your rules involved.
I've recently solved this issue but configuring up to 6 decimals. The request is as follows:
We want to display a number same way as entered by the user but
allowing no more than 6 decimals:
1 -> 1
1,1 -> 1,1
1,12 -> 1,12
...
1,123456 -> 1,123456
1,1234567 -> 1,123457 (Round from this point)
This can be solved using conditional formatting and one rule per decimal starting from integers. An integer is a number without decimals, so X MOD 1 = 0. We can apply this logic multiplying the number by 10^N being N the number of decimals we want. Besides, we want to stop applying rules when we have detected the number of decimals in the cell value, so be sure you mark "Stop if True" flag and that the order of the rules is from the most restrictive one (the integer) to the less restrictive (the one that stands for the maximum number of decimals allowed).
Summarizing, you have to configure the following way (in the sample I'm doing for B column):
INTEGER: =MOD(B2;1)=0
ONE DECIMAL: =MOD(B2*10;1)=0
TWO DECIMALS: =MOD(B2*100;1)=0
...
SIX DECIMALS: =MOD(B2*1000000;1)=0
Also set the default format of the cell to be a number with the maximum number of supported decimals:
And finally the working results on Excel:

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