Question

If field is shaded then populate another column with "z".

Asked by: jph826

I have a spreadsheet containing several thousand rows.  I need to populate blank column A with a "z" when column B has a certain color shading, let's say I'm looking for blue.  Is there by any chance a formula for this or can someone suggest an alternative? See attached example.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-06-26 at 08:36:57ID24525491
Topic

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

Participating Experts
1
Points
250
Comments
10

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Shading
    How to shade a circle so that border gets the darkest colour and colour fades slowly inside and there are dots in the end.
  2. Conditional Cell Shading
    I am trying to change the cell shade based on the value in another cell. For example, cell A1 has a data validation of either 1, 2, or 3. I want cells A2-A14 to have green shading when A1 has a "1", red shading when A1 has a "2", and blue shading when A1...
  3. Total by Shaded
    GOAL: A11 displays the sum of shaded cells in A1:A10 (cells with gray bgcolor) Can this be done without VBA? If not, how would you code it? 500 pts. because time is critical; would like to impress the new boss :-) Many thanks!
  4. Sort and Shade
    Acc't # Client Bill Type Dec-06 Jan-06 Feb-06 Activity Check 888 20 xyz co. I 28 40 28 888 20 xyz co. II 0 0 0 888 20 xyz co. III 0 0 0 888 20 xyz co. IV 13 12 17 888 20 xyz co. V 19 17 25 888 20 xyz co. VI 89 151 134 888 20 xyz co. VII 18 19 24 20 Total 13...
  5. I have the following Code that populates a spreadsheet wit…
    I have the following code (see Code Snippet) that populates a spreadsheet with data on an hourly basis, and I need to have some cell shading change colors based on the value in the cell. For example, Column C (C5:C28) has the following values. Column Q (Q5:Q28) is populated...
  6. Shade Alternate Lines
    In Microsoft Excel 2002, I have a spreadsheet that I would like to print with alternate lines (or perhaps every third line) shaded in grey in the background, to make it easier to read lines across. Is there an external function for this? If not, I can use a macro to shade eac...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2009-06-26 at 08:47:33ID: 24722148

You can use a Formula with an XLM Named Range

Insert - Name 0 Define
CellColor
Refers to : =GET.CELL(63,Sheet1!B1)+NOW()*0

then in A2 put
=IF(CellColour=33,"Z","")
and copy down

see attached

CellColour 33 is the blue

Cheers
Dave



 

by: jph826Posted on 2009-06-26 at 10:08:27ID: 24722902

Thanks Dave!  I can see it working perfectly in your example and that is EXACTLY what I wanted; however, I can't seem to get it to work.  Could you please take a look at the attached and help me understand what I'm doing wrong?

 

by: jph826Posted on 2009-06-26 at 11:09:42ID: 24723462

Could it be because my colors are created by conditional formatting?  But then again, you got it to work.

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2009-06-30 at 19:48:58ID: 24751266

Yes, it doesn't work with the conditional formatting, it looks at the "native" background. So pls use the user defined function instead

  • Alt & F11 to the VBE 
  • Insert Module 
  • copy and paste  the code below 
  • ALT & F11 back to Excel 

In A2 put

=IF(isblue(B2),"Z","")

and copy down

Cheers

Dave

Function IsBlue(rng1 As Range)
Application.Volatile True
If rng1.Interior.ColorIndex = 33 Then IsBlue = True
End Function
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: jph826Posted on 2009-07-02 at 11:43:33ID: 24766332

THANK YOU for continuing to work with me.  I followed your instructions but still can't get this to work for conditional formatting.  My test file is attached.  

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2009-07-02 at 19:20:46ID: 24769381

And neither did I - although I thought I had :)

I have dug up a clever function from Brad (byundt) that does the job.

Pls indert this module into your workbook, then use it like

=IF(conditionalcolor(B2,"interior")=37,"Z","")

Regards

Dave

Function ConditionalColor(rg As Range, FormatType As String) As Long 
     'Returns the color index (either font or interior) of the first cell in range rg. If no _
    conditional format conditions apply, Then returns the regular color of the cell. _ 
    FormatType Is either "Font" Or "Interior" 
    Dim cel As Range 
    Dim tmp As Variant 
    Dim boo As Boolean 
    Dim frmla As String, frmlaR1C1 As String, frmlaA1 As String 
    Dim i As Long 
     
     'Application.Volatile    'This statement required if Conditional Formatting for rg is determined by the _
    value of other cells 
     
    Set cel = rg.Cells(1, 1) 
    Select Case Left(LCase(FormatType), 1) 
    Case "f" 'Font color
        ConditionalColor = cel.Font.ColorIndex 
    Case Else 'Interior or highlight color
        ConditionalColor = cel.Interior.ColorIndex 
    End Select 
     
    If cel.FormatConditions.Count > 0 Then 
         'On Error Resume Next
        With cel.FormatConditions 
            For i = 1 To .Count 'Loop through the three possible format conditions for each cell
                frmla = .Item(i).Formula1 
                If Left(frmla, 1) = "=" Then 'If "Formula Is", then evaluate if it is True
                     'Conditional Formatting is interpreted relative to the active cell. _
                    This cause the wrong results If the formula isn 't restated relative to the cell containing the _
                    Conditional Formatting--hence the workaround using ConvertFormula twice In a row. _ 
                    If the Function were Not called using a worksheet formula, you could just activate the cell instead. 
                    frmlaR1C1 = Application.ConvertFormula(frmla, xlA1, xlR1C1, , ActiveCell) 
                    frmlaA1 = Application.ConvertFormula(frmlaR1C1, xlR1C1, xlA1, xlAbsolute, cel) 
                    boo = Application.Evaluate(frmlaA1) 
                Else 'If "Value Is", then identify the type of comparison operator and build comparison formula
                    Select Case .Item(i).Operator 
                    Case xlEqual ' = x
                        frmla = cel & "=" & .Item(i).Formula1 
                    Case xlNotEqual ' <> x
                        frmla = cel & "<>" & .Item(i).Formula1 
                    Case xlBetween 'x <= cel <= y
                        frmla = "AND(" & .Item(i).Formula1 & "<=" & cel & "," & cel & "<=" & .Item(i).Formula2 & ")" 
                    Case xlNotBetween 'x > cel or cel > y
                        frmla = "OR(" & .Item(i).Formula1 & ">" & cel & "," & cel & ">" & .Item(i).Formula2 & ")" 
                    Case xlLess ' < x
                        frmla = cel & "<" & .Item(i).Formula1 
                    Case xlLessEqual ' <= x
                        frmla = cel & "<=" & .Item(i).Formula1 
                    Case xlGreater ' > x
                        frmla = cel & ">" & .Item(i).Formula1 
                    Case xlGreaterEqual ' >= x
                        frmla = cel & ">=" & .Item(i).Formula1 
                    End Select 
                    boo = Application.Evaluate(frmla) 'Evaluate the "Value Is" comparison formula
                End If 
                 
                If boo Then 'If this Format Condition is satisfied
                    On Error Resume Next 
                    Select Case Left(LCase(FormatType), 1) 
                    Case "f" 'Font color
                        tmp = .Item(i).Font.ColorIndex 
                    Case Else 'Interior or highlight color
                        tmp = .Item(i).Interior.ColorIndex 
                    End Select 
                    If Err = 0 Then ConditionalColor = tmp 
                    Err.Clear 
                    On Error Goto 0 
                    Exit For 'Since Format Condition is satisfied, exit the inner loop
                End If 
            Next i 
        End With 
    End If 
     
End Function 
 
                                              
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:
13:
14:
15:
16:
17:
18:
19:
20:
21:
22:
23:
24:
25:
26:
27:
28:
29:
30:
31:
32:
33:
34:
35:
36:
37:
38:
39:
40:
41:
42:
43:
44:
45:
46:
47:
48:
49:
50:
51:
52:
53:
54:
55:
56:
57:
58:
59:
60:
61:
62:
63:
64:
65:
66:
67:
68:
69:
70:
71:
72:
73:
74:
75:

Select allOpen in new window

 

by: jph826Posted on 2009-07-06 at 07:57:30ID: 24785795

Thank you - we are very close to exactly what I need.  For some reason, it is not catching all of the blue cells and it's putting a "Z" in some white cells.   My test is attached.  Thanks again nfor hanging in there with me.  I do not know VBE at all.

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2009-07-11 at 00:25:05ID: 24829534

Your formula is out by a row :)
change A1 from

=IF(conditionalcolor(B2,"interior")=37,"Z","")
to
=IF(conditionalcolor(B1,"interior")=37,"Z","")

and copy down

Cheers
Dave

 

by: jph826Posted on 2009-07-14 at 06:32:54ID: 24849261

Thank you very much - it's working great!

 

by: brettdjPosted on 2009-07-14 at 06:36:11ID: 24849298

thx for the grade :)

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...