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Insert formula into multiple cells in Excel Spreadsheet, via VBA

I'm trying to figure out the best way to insert a similar formula into multiple columns within a spreadsheet, via VBA.

Disclaimer: I'm an Access developer, branching out into Excel.

My client would like some code that will review a worksheet, compare values in that worksheet to another worksheet in the same workbook, and insert rows and columns as necessary (I have this part working). But the cell in the 2nd row of each column contains a formula that checks to see whether the Sum() of all the values from the 4th row through the Nth row (determined at runtime) is zero. If so, the returned value is an empty string, if not, the returned value is "Out of Balance". I don't have the exact syntax with me, but I beleive it looks like:

=IF(Sum(C4:C400) = 0, "", "Out of Balance")

They then have the conditional formatting set to display that cell in yellow if "Out of Balance".

What is the best way to refer to these cell ranges as I loop through the columns and set both the formula and the conditional formatting? I was working with something along the lines of:

intCol = 3
While ActiveSheet.Cells(3, intCol) <> ""
strFormula = "=IF(Sum(C4:C400) = 0, """", ""Out of Balance"")"
ActiveSheet.Cells(2, intCol).FormulaR1C1 = strFormula
intCol = intCol + 1
Wend

But I'm not sure what the best way is to establish the range (column letter and start/end row) when this worksheet will grow both horizontally and vertically. What is the best method for referencing the "C4:C400" piece of this?

dlmille

I would suggest:

dim rngSum as range

set sht = ActiveSheet
set rngSum = sht.Range("C4",sht.Range("C" & sht.Rows.Count).End(xlUp)) 'will look from bottom up, to define the bottom end of the range

intCol = 3
While sht.Cells(3,intCol) <> ""
strFormula = "=IF(Sum(" & rngSum.Offset(,3-intCol).Address & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")"
intCol = intCol + 1
Wend

Does this help?

Dave

dlmille

Dim rngSum As Range
Dim sht As Worksheet
Dim intCol As Long, maxCol As Long, maxRow As Long

Set sht = ActiveSheet
Set maxRow = sht.Range("C4").End(xlDown).Row 'looks from C4 down till finds a blank
Set maxCol = sht.Range("C4").End(xlToRight).Column 'looks from C4 to the right till finds a blank

Set rngSum = sht.Range("C$4", sht.Range("C$" & maxRow)) 'defines the entire column to have this formula. Note $ signs because this gets copied to the right
sht.Range("C3").Formula = "=IF(Sum(" & rngSum.Address & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")" 'put the formula in the first cell
sht.Range("C3", sht.Cells(3, maxCol)).FillRight 'equivalent of a "drag or copy" of the formula to the right

dave

dlmille

Sorry, that last post was supposed to start with:

Here's another approach... This one doesn't require a loop.

Enjoy!

Dave

Dale Fye

ASKER

Dave,

I like the 2nd approach and will give it a try:

In the 1st approach I had to change:rngSum.Offset(,3-intCol)
to:rngSum.Offset(,intCol-3)

But I tried about a half dozen methods to assign strFormula to the cell, and could not get the syntax right.

How do you refer to a column in the Range object, when you know the row and column #'s? I know I could build the string "C4" with a combination of Choose(intCol, "A", "B", "C", ...) & intRow, but is there another way, similar to:

Range(sht.Cells(4,3), sht.Cells(4, 3))

Dale

dlmille

Ahhh - right, otherwise negative columns! lol

your example is correct; when you know the row and column numbers, the cells method is the right approach...

to get a column number when you have a letter, you could use:

dim myCol as Long

myCol = Range("whatever").Column (make sure only one column is in the range definition)

myRow = Range("whatever").Row (make sure only one row is in the range definition)

>> But I tried about a half dozen methods to assign strFormula to the cell, and could not get the syntax right.
Apologies. the formula assignment in the first approach should have been:

intCol = 3
While sht.Cells(3,intCol) <> ""
strFormula = "=IF(Sum(" & rngSum.Offset(,3-intCol).Address & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")"
sht.Cells(3.intCol).formula = strFormula
intCol = intCol + 1
Wend

Dave

Dale Fye

ASKER

Dave,

With the 2nd approach:

1. Had to remove "Set" from in front of maxRow and maxCol

2. I have some rows that may be blank in column "C". How do I find the first row (from) the bottom of the spreadsheet which contains a value in any of the columns from "C" to maxCol?

3. The formula that is actually being inserted in "C2" is: =IF(SUM($C$4:$C$10) = 0,"","Out of Balance")

How do I get rid of the $ in front of the "C" so that the FillRight method works across all columns.

Public Sub AddFormula

    Dim rngSum As Range
    Dim sht As Worksheet
    Dim intCol As Long, maxCol As Long, maxRow As Long
    
    Set sht = ActiveSheet
    maxRow = sht.Range("C4").End(xlDown).Row 'looks from C4 down till finds a blank
    maxCol = sht.Range("C4").End(xlToRight).Column 'looks from C4 to the right till finds a blank
    
    Set rngSum = sht.Range("C$4", sht.Range("C$" & maxRow)) 'defines the entire column to have this formula.  Note $ signs because this gets copied to the right
    sht.Range("C2").Formula = "=IF(Sum(" & rngSum.Address & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")" 'put the formula in the first cell
    sht.Range("C2", sht.Cells(2, maxCol)).FillRight 'equivalent of a "drag or copy" of the formula to the right
    
End Sub

Open in new window

dlmille

1. sorry about that. I'm properly corrected - should have at least checked - I was typing it in on the fly. Doing that now!

2. from the bottom:

maxCol = sht.Range("C").end(xlUp).Column

3. of course, you're right... we need to make rngSum.Address a different form, like:

sht.Range("C2").Formula = "=IF(Sum(" & strSum.Address(False, False) & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")" 'put the formula in the first cell

strSum.Address(False, False) <- the first parameter is for Row, second is for Column. TRUE - use absolute reference with $, FALSe - don't

In this case, we could put a $ in the row portion, but as it doesn't matter, using False for both parameters seems reasonable.

This is TESTED :)

Here's the resulting code:

Public Sub AddFormula()

    Dim strSum As Range
    Dim sht As Worksheet
    Dim intCol As Long, maxCol As Long, maxRow As Long
    
    Set sht = ActiveSheet
    maxRow = sht.Range("C4").End(xlDown).Row 'looks from C4 down till finds a blank
    maxCol = sht.Range("C4").End(xlToRight).Column 'looks from C4 to the right till finds a blank
    
    Set strSum = sht.Range("C$4", sht.Range("C$" & maxRow)) 'defines the entire column to have this formula.  Note $ signs because this gets copied to the right
    sht.Range("C2").Formula = "=IF(Sum(" & strSum.Address(False, False) & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")" 'put the formula in the first cell
    sht.Range("C2", sht.Cells(2, maxCol)).FillRight 'equivalent of a "drag or copy" of the formula to the right
    
End Sub

Open in new window

See attached demo workbook:

sumFormula-r1.xls

dlmille

And...

Here's the version finding the bottom maxRow going from bottom, up:

Public Sub AddFormula()

    Dim strSum As Range
    Dim sht As Worksheet
    Dim intCol As Long, maxCol As Long, maxRow As Long
    
    Set sht = ActiveSheet
    maxRow = sht.Range("C" & sht.Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row 'looks from C4 down till finds a blank
    maxCol = sht.Range("C4").End(xlToRight).Column 'looks from C4 to the right till finds a blank
    
    Set strSum = sht.Range("C$4", sht.Range("C$" & maxRow)) 'defines the entire column to have this formula.  Note $ signs because this gets copied to the right
    sht.Range("C2").Formula = "=IF(Sum(" & strSum.Address(False, False) & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")" 'put the formula in the first cell
    sht.Range("C2", sht.Cells(2, maxCol)).FillRight 'equivalent of a "drag or copy" of the formula to the right
    
End Sub

Open in new window

sumFormula-r2.xls

Dale Fye

ASKER

Dave,

Thanks for the assistance. I'll take a look.

Think you misunderstood #2. How do I determine the first ROW from the bottom of the spreadsheet, in any of the columns that I'm interested in, that contains a value, so it "C400", "D403", and "E415" all contain a value (any value) how do I find row 415?

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dlmille

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Dale Fye

ASKER

Dave,

Thanks, does exactly what I needed.

However, I'm a bit confused. Why did you define strSum as a range, instead of a string? Why did we need:

Set strSum = sht.Range("C$4", sht.Range("C$" & maxRow))
sht.Range("C2").Formula = "=IF(Sum(" & strSum.Address(False, False) & ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")"

instead of defining strSum as a string and using:

sht.Range("C2").Formula = "=IF(Sum(C$4:C$" & maxRow
& ") = 0,"""",""Out of Balance"")"

Interestingly, your code results in a formula in C2 that reads:

=IF(SUM(C4:C34) = 0,"","Out of Balance")

But mine returns:
=IF(SUM(C$4:C$34) = 0,"","Out of Balance")

In both instances, the FillRight portion works as planned.

Thanks again.

Dale

dlmille

its a style issue, I suppose.

Cheers,

Dave

Dale Fye

ASKER

Thanks again.