Another trick that occurred to me when viewing that spreadsheet was this one: Some of the column headers contain values that are needed in calculations. Say for instance you have a column header in cell A1 that reads "Max units 250". You can extract the value (250) with "=VALUE(RIGHT(A1,3))" Or, you can simply put 250 in the cell, and custom format it with this format string: "Max units "### This way it shows as "Max units 250", but the cell contents is just 250, and can be used in calculations. Neat trick. Paul P.S. Note that there is an issue across saves when using this trick to format a number as a per hour rate, at least in the South African locale. There's been a previous thread about this, and I still need to file a bug report. Basically if you use a cell format like "R "#,##0.00 " / hour" It will be fine until you save, but things get messed up when you reopen your document. On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:19:30 +0200 Paul <paulsteyn1@afrihost.co.za> wrote:
Let me rather put it this way: I don't think using VLOOKUP solves the underlying problem, which is that too much is being done in one formula. For any complicated formula, I feel the best solution is either a custom written user function, or intermediate steps in columns. Hide those columns, or put them on another worksheet if you don't want to see them, but they should still be there. Makes things much easier. Paul On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:04:34 +0200 Paul <paulsteyn1@afrihost.co.za> wrote:On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 14:32:40 +0200 "Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC)" <hylton@conacher.co.za> wrote:appreciated especially as he also indicates that using VLOOKUP would not work, in this case. MIN and MAX are still under testing here :)Brian indicated that VLOOKUP would work; I don't say different, I'm just not sure how in this situation. I'm not that familiar with VLOOKUP though, so it may not be that difficult, but it seems like it would still be complicated. I still feel that the best approach is to put columns for intermediate steps; VLOOKUP might make more sense after that.I am however still waiting for someone to indicate to me which part of the formula in the Formula Wizard the boxes apply i.e. what is the difference between the 'Result' and 'Function Result' answer box.The "Result" box shows the result of the complete formula for the cell, while the "Function Result" box shows the result of just the function currently under the cursor. For example, let's say you have typed "=SQRT(SUM(A1:A2))", and A1 was 4 and A2 was 5. If you put your cursor on "SQRT", both boxes would hold the answer 3, as that is both the final result of the formula, and the result of "SQRT(9)". If, however, you put your cursor on "SUM", then the "Result" box would still show 3, as that is still the result of the complete formula, but the "Function Result" box would now hold 9, as that is the result of "SUM(A1:A2)". Paul
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