Category Archives: Uncategorized

Looking for search substrings in a list of products

Reently, Sam asked me to help with a problem. I am trying to create a function whereby users of my spreadsheet can type in 1–3 words to search a range of parts descriptions (text entries) and pull up their associated … Continue reading →

Using the text of a formula

I was asked an interesting question by a follower called Frederick recently. He had a column that contained the syntax behind some formulae, but the column of information was stored as text. All of his entries were of the form A*B. … Continue reading →

Protection in Excel

Protection in Excel is a bizarre beast indeed. Here's a quick introduction into their intricacies and oddities. First of all, the essentials: Protection is applied at one of three levels: workbook, sheet or cell Each level works differently. Let's take … Continue reading →

How to think about sorting across multiple fields

Some people struggle to get their heads around sorting when more than one field is involved. Below is the best way to think about sorting in these circumstances. First, group everything by this field Within the records with the same … Continue reading →

Custom Views: a little-known treasure

I stumbled upon Custom Views in Excel by accident a number of years ago, in the pre-ribbon era. I use them very occasionally, but when I do, they offer lots of power and options. Custom Views allow you to have … Continue reading →