Question

Changing cell font color based on another cell's data

Asked by: andykatafiaszwestfield

I have an Excel 2007 spreadsheet for all of my servers. It gives the model, serial numbers, OS, backup type, etc. However the most important for planning is the warranty information.
For example:
Cell F2 holds the shipping date
Cell H1 holds the warranty expiration date
Cell I1 holds the current date
Cell J1 holds the days left until warranty expiration

What I need is:
If the warranty is still good for a FY, color the font green
If the warranty expires in the current FY, color the font yellow
If the warranty is completely gone, color the font red

I'd much prefer to do this without a script. Any help would be much appreciated.

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Asked On
2009-09-01 at 07:30:43ID24698076
Topics

Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet Software

,

Microsoft Office Suite

Participating Experts
1
Points
500
Comments
1

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Answers

 

by: mvidasPosted on 2009-09-01 at 08:10:27ID: 25232358

Hi Andy,

Take a look at conditional formatting, it does exactly what you want.

First, select the cell(s) you want to color. Go to the Home tab, and you'll see "Conditional Formatting" in the Styles section. Click that, and go to "Manage Rules".

Click New Rule. For "Select a Rule Type", click "Use a formula to determine which cells to format". In the space for the formula, paste the following:
=AND($H$1>=TODAY(),YEAR($H$1)=YEAR(TODAY()))
Click the Format button, and choose a yellow font. Click ok to close the format window, and ok again to close the New Rule window.

Click New Rule again, with the same "Use a formula to determine...". For the formula, use:
=AND($H$1>TODAY(),YEAR($H$1)<>YEAR(TODAY()))
Click the format button, choose green, and close those same windows again.

Lastly, add another new rule, same rule type, and for the formula use:
=$H$1<TODAY()
Make that the Red formatting, and close the same windows.

The only change you may want is based on how you determine the green/yellow barrier. If you mean green should be "doesnt expire in the next 365 days", and yellow means "expires in next 365 days", then use the following formulas instead:
Yellow: =AND($H$1>=TODAY(),$H$1<=TODAY()+365)
Green: =$H$1>TODAY()+365

Let me know if you have any questions
Matt

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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