Larry Fox5 said:I've run into a bit of a snag in Excel. Any help would be much appreciated. :)
Try typing this formula into cell C1: =ABS(A1-B1) Just make sure you're paying close attention to how the time is formatted (specifically whether you're dealing with "08:08:00" — before or after noon: check if it's set to AM or PM)
I don't even know where to start with this one. It’s just... it’s one of those things that gets under my skin, you know? I was sitting there earlier, just trying to get some work done—nothing major, just some routine data entry—and it hit me again. That feeling of absolute frustration when everything seems to be working perfectly fine until it suddenly doesn't. It’s like when you're driving down a highway in Chicago, everything is smooth, the rhythm is set, and then out of nowhere, someone cuts you off without a blinker. Just total chaos for no reason. That's exactly how it feels when you're deep in a project and the tools you rely on just... fail you. You think you've mastered the workflow, you think you've got the hang of the interface, and then—bam. A glitch, a weird error message, or just a sudden lack of logic from the software itself. I find myself staring at the screen sometimes, wondering if it's me or if the universe is just playing some kind of cosmic joke on my productivity. It's exhausting. Really. You spend half your time actually doing the task and the other half fighting the very thing meant to make the task easier. It's enough to make anyone want to throw their laptop out the window and move to a cabin in the middle of Montana. But instead, we sit here. We deal with it. We try to troubleshoot our way out of the madness. It’s just part of the grind, I suppose, but God, it shouldn't be this difficult. kaže: Now I’m just sitting here thinking about how I want to cut this thing right at its height. Just slice through it. Honestly, sometimes you have to just take decisive action before things get even more complicated than they already are.
Here are a few more options:
Look, I’ve already walked you through this once... just keep moving forward. It's simple. Click the box that shows the line on the left side, then move over and click the box with the line on the right. That's it. Just follow the sequence.
Look, you just need to find the Eraser tool. If you want to get rid of those horizontal lines on the column you're working on, this is how you do it. You’ve got the Viev, right? Go over to the Toolbars, find where it says Tables and Borders, and make sure that box is checked. Once you do that, the palette should pop up, and there's your Eraser right there. It's not exactly rocket science, though I've spent far too many hours staring at screens dealing with much more complicated nonsense than this. Just click it and clear those lines out.
Both ways came out looking fine once they were printed. No complaints there.
Walter Jackson48 said:Try breaking it up every 8 functions. Start the next chunk using an "&" to join them. For example, if you have 24 IF statements, you'll end up with two "&" connectors (use & without quotes)
Look, I actually sat down and hammered out a formula with 30 different conditions that works perfectly fine on my machine:
restlessdrifter12 said:I just can't seem to get this thing right in Microsoft Office. I’ve been staring at my screen for what feels like hours, trying to get these tables to line up perfectly from edge to edge—just one table right after the other, matching the full width of the page. It's maddening. You'd think with all the tech we have nowadays, something as basic as layout alignment wouldn't feel like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube in the dark. I remember back when I was working on those old spreadsheets in Excel for my first big project in Chicago, everything felt more... predictable? Or maybe I was just younger and less frustrated. But no, here I am, fighting with a cursor that seems to have a mind of its own. It’s ridiculous.
Look, if you want to get rid of that column, don't just hit delete and hope for the best—that’s how things get messy. First, you need to highlight the entire column you're targeting. Once that's selected, head over to the cell merging tool; go ahead and merge all those cells together into one big block. After you've done that, you’ll need to deal with the borders. Find the border editing tool—you know, the one with the little dropdown menu full of those tiny little square icons—and just click on the "No Border" option. It's simple, really, provided you actually follow the steps. The highlighted column is going to disappear. Just like that. Gone. It’s one of those things where you think everything is under control, you’ve got your data laid out exactly how you want it, and then—poof. One wrong click or one glitch in the system and it's just... void. I’ve spent far too many hours staring at screens, trying to undo mistakes that shouldn't have happened in the first place. It’s frustrating, honestly. You work so hard to organize your workflow, only to have the software decide it doesn't need that information anymore. Be careful. Watch your step. Once it's gone, it's gone.
Basically, you’re looking at trying to kick off a new set after every 8 functions by using an "&" to bridge them together. For instance, if you're dealing with a massive string of 24 IF functions, you'd end up needing two of those "&" connectors (and yeah, just use the & without any quotes)
restlessheron19 said:I put together my own version based on—LOGICAL FUNCTIONS IN MICROSOFT OFFICE EXCEL 2003 - example no. 5 and it works exactly how I want it using 8 functions. But man, trying to expand this formula is driving me up the wall. Every time I try to scale it up to 15 functions using the concatenation operator (that little & symbol), things go sideways. For instance, if I type in the "highest" amount... instead of just seeing "1500" as my result, the cell just mashes two different cells together... so I end up looking at some nonsense like 1500700 or 1400700...
Yeah... this forum is running painfully slow today...
It looks like this:=IF(A1=1;"one";IF(A1=2;"two";IF(A1=3;"three";IF(A1=4;"four";IF(A1=5;"five";IF(A1=6;"six";IF(A1=7;"seven";IF(A1=8;"eight";""))))))))&IF(A1=9;"nine";IF(A1=10;"ten";IF(A1=11;"eleven";IF(A1=12;"twelve";""))))
restlessheron19 said:I put together my own version based on - LOGICAL FUNCTIONS IN MICROSOFT OFFICE EXCEL - example no. 5 and it actually works perfectly using 8 functions. But I can't seem to expand the formula. It just won't go. When I try to scale it up to 15 functions... using the concatenation operator (that little symbol) & For instance, if I type in the "highest" amount... what happens is the cell containing the formula just mashes two cells together... instead of just showing me 1500 as the result, I get some nonsense like 1500700 or 1400700...
Yeah... this forum is lagging like crazy...
Try leaving just one parenthesis before the first & sign and then dump all the rest of them at the very end of the formula.
restlessheron19 said:this formula works fine =IF(F1=1;"/";IF(F1=2;"//";""))
but this one keeps throwing an error =IF(F1=/;"1";IF(F1=//;"2";""))
Do I need to tweak it a bit, or is this just a lost cause? Or... is there some other way to get the same result?
Look, I honestly have no clue what you're actually trying to achieve here. I'm assuming you were messaging someone privately and decided to post the question here instead (unless I somehow missed your previous thread, which happens, I guess)
Well, if that’s what you were getting at... maybe just type E20 directly into the Name Box—you know, that little field up in the top left corner next to the formula bar—and hit Enter. That should zip you right over to cell E20. If that's what you meant, anyway!
Look, if I’m following your logic correctly—and that’s a big "if" given how we've been going at this—try setting your ranges like this: D1:D1000, E1:E1000, and F1:F1000. You know, instead of just selecting the entire column from D:D, E:E, and F:F. Once you've done that, just grab the formula and drag it down, or copy it, all the way to row 1000. That should work, assuming I haven't completely misinterpreted what you're trying to achieve here.
p.s.: For heaven's sake, leave out the emojis. It makes it nearly impossible to actually read the formulas when they're cluttered with icons.
Michael Jackson10 said:@Walter Jackson48/">@@Walter Jackson48, thanks for catching that. I completely glossed over the second half of the IF function—I didn't account for it spitting out a zero...
Don't mention it, @Michael Jackson10/">@@Michael Jackson10. We were both just trying to do the right thing and help out here...
To stop those pesky "FALSE" errors from popping up whenever you have an empty cell—you know, like on a non-working day—you just need to tack a little bit of nothingness (that's the "" symbol for the tech-savvy out there) onto the end of every single IF function. If you do that, your formula ends up looking more like this: =IF(C35=1;"Mon;";"")&IF(E35=1;"Tue;";"")&IF(G35=1; "Wed;";"")&IF(I35=1;"Thu;";"")&IF(K35=1;"Fri;";"") &IF(M35=1;"Sat;";"")&IF(O35=1;"Sun";"")
p.s. Just make sure you tweak the cell references to actually match your own spreadsheet setup. As for everything else, just follow the advice Michael Jackson10 already gave you .
restlessmaker91 said:... since the formulas are exactly the same,
Look, if the formulas are identical (that’s how I’m reading this: they are the exact same thing), then just build one single formula and copy it over wherever you need it. It shouldn't be that complicated.
p.s.: Honestly, the reason nobody is getting back to you is probably because of that TITLE you picked.
So, let's say you type a deadline—like 1/1/2012—into cell D2. Highlight that cell, head over to Conditional Formatting, and select "Use a formula to determine which cells to format." In that little empty box they give you, just type in =TODAY()=D2. Then, hit "Format," pick whatever color you feel like using to grab your attention, and click OK. Basically, this formula is telling the computer: "Hey, the moment today's date matches that deadline in D2, turn the cell red" (well, depending on exactly what range you told it to highlight). It's a simple way to make sure you don't miss something important while you're distracted.
If you want to get a bit more fancy with it, you can toss this formula into cell C2: =IF(OR(D2="";D2-TODAY()>0);"";"Deadline passed "&" "&(ABS(D2-TODAY()))&" days ago")
Try taking this route: Go to Insert, then Reference, find Index and Tables, click Table of Contents, then hit Modify. From there, jump into the Style tab, select Modify again, and look under Format for Numbering. Once you get to Numbered, pick your style, then use Customize to really play around with how the numbers and text align. Best of luck with that, and honestly, best of luck with everything else you tackle in 2012.
If you’ve got a list of numbers sitting in column B—specifically from B1 down to B10—then just pop this into cell B11:
=COUNT(B1🙂10;"=15") basically tells the software to hunt through that range and count every single instance where the number is exactly 15. It’s pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it.
Timothy Kim60 said:Look, I don't need a lecture, I just need one simple thing answered—how do I stop the page numbers from showing up on my first couple of pages where the content sits, but have the actual numbering start at 1 on the third page? Back when I was using Word 2003—which feels like a lifetime ago, honestly—I actually figured out how to hide those first numbers, though it was a massive headache even back then.
Just move your cursor to the very end of the second page, go up to the menu, hit Insert, select Break, then Next Page, and click OK. After that, move your cursor to the beginning of the third page. Go over to View, select Header and Footer, then scroll down into the Footer area. Once that tab opens up, look for the little icon for Format Page Number. In the "Start at" box, set it to 1, then hit OK. Finally, click that first little icon for Insert Page Number and then hit Close. If you did everything right, the numbering should pick up starting at 1 on that third page. I think I laid it all out correctly there. You'll figure it out.