asked on

How can I use an IF statement to change cell background color format where more than 3 color options are needed?

Hello experts,

I need help formatting a cell to display a different color for each day of the week:

Mon      Yellow
Tue      Blue
Wed      Pink
Thu      Green
Fri      Gold

I’m thinking of something like this:

Cell A2 contains the day, e.g. Mon. Cell B2 is a formatting formula for cell A2, e.g.:
=if(a2=“Mon”, cell.Interior.ColorIndex=Yellow)

Can I do this? (Conditional formatting in my Excel 2003 limits me to 3 conditions.)
If not, is there a workaround? (I would prefer not to use VBA.)

Thanks,
Gary

Chris Bottomley

Add a worksheet macro for example right click the tab then paste:

And no need for column B in this case

Chris

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

    For Each Cell In intersect(Range("A2:A100"), target)
        If Cell.Value = "Mon" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 3
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Tue" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 4
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Wed" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 5
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Thu" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 6
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Fri" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 7
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Sat" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 8
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Sun" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 9
        Else
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone
        End If
    Next
End Sub

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Chris Bottomley

Missed you stated the actual colurs:

Chris

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

    For Each Cell In intersect(Range("A2:A100"), target)
        If Cell.Value = "Mon" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 65535
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Tue" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 16711680
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Wed" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 13353215
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Thu" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 65280
        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Fri" Then
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 55295
'        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Sat" Then
'            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 8
'        ElseIf Cell.Value = "Sun" Then
'            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = 9
        Else
            Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone
        End If
    Next
End Sub

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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Chris Bottomley

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garyrobbins

ASKER

Thanks, Chris, for the Macro approach.

This will be a worksheet where rows will be added. I want the cell color to show upon entry without running a macro each time. Can I do this with a formula?

Gary

Chris Bottomley

The macro is dynamic so try it ... whenever you edit the cells the color changes.

Chris

SOLUTION

nutsch

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nutsch

And to handle errors when you update non A cells:

Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)
Dim i As Long
application.screenupdating=false

If Not Intersect(Target, Range("A2:A200")) Is Nothing Then
    For Each Cell In Intersect(Range("A2:A100"), Target)
        For i = 3 To 9
             If UCase(Cell) = UCase(Format(i, "ddd")) Then
                Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = i
                GoTo nxtCl
            Else
                Cell.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone
            End If
        Next
nxtCl:
    Next
End If
application.screenupdating=true

End Sub

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Chris Bottomley

garyrobbins

Since I was not explicit, you wanted to avoid using VBA and the bottom line is that cannot be done, (in 2003 whereas later versions allow more CF entries. IN this case whatever approach you use will require a macro and the change event handler uses the built in methods so is perfect for the job.

Chris

Tracy

This question has been classified as abandoned and is being closed as part of the Cleanup Program. See my comment at the end of the question for more details.

garyrobbins

ASKER

I'm sorry for abandoning you all on this one. I spent time trying the VBA solution but was not totally satisfied (especially with my comfort level with supporting VBA at this time). I agree with your split, these suggestions, I believe are the answer.

Thanks,
Gary