
I was toying with the idea of creating a tag cloud in excel – as a form of new visualization, this could be useful when you have medium amounts of data (eg: 50-300 rows) and you want to emphasize on what is important and what is not. I would imagine using a tag-cloud,
- When you are listing features of your software
- When you are listing your sales figures across top 1000 cities of your country
- When you are analyzing visitor data to your web start up
My goal is to generate a tag cloud from a selected data table (with just 2 columns, one with text to display, the other with any number on it) as shown below:

Download and play with a sample tag cloud visualization I have created
Since anything related to changing cell formats is not possible using functions, I had to write a VBA Macro (a subroutine that you would write in your excel sheet to achieve a task). The logic is simple:
1. Read the selected table and create 2 arrays, 1 with tags and another with the numeric data
2. Select an empty cell in the work book (I choose E10)
3. For each item in tags array:
– Add text to the selected cell
– set its font size based on normalized value between 6 and 20
The code is shown below:
Sub createCloud()
‘ this subroutine creates a tag cloud based on the list format tagname, tag importance
‘ the tag importance can have any value, it will be normalized to a value between 8 and 20On Error GoTo tackle_this
Dim size As Integer
size = Selection.Count / 2
Dim tags() As String
Dim importance()ReDim tags(1 To size) As String
ReDim importance(1 To size)Dim minImp As Integer
Dim maxImp As Integercntr = 1
i = 1For Each cell In Excel.Selection
If cntr Mod 2 = 1 Then
taglist = taglist & cell.Value & “, ”
tags(i) = cell.Value
Else
importance(i) = Val(cell.Value)
If importance(i) > maxImp Then
maxImp = importance(i)
End If
If importance(i) < minImp Then minImp = importance(i) End If i = i + 1 End If cntr = cntr + 1 Next cell ' paste values in cell e10 Range("e10").Select ActiveCell.Value = taglist ActiveCell.Font.size = 8 strt = 1 For i = 1 To size With ActiveCell.Characters(Start:=strt, Length:=Len(tags(i))).Font .size = 6 + Math.Round((importance(i) - minImp) / (maxImp - minImp) * 14, 0) .Strikethrough = False .Superscript = False .Subscript = False .OutlineFont = False .Shadow = False .Underline = xlUnderlineStyleNone .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic End With strt = strt + Len(tags(i)) + 2 Next i Exit Sub tackle_this: ' errors handled here 'MsgBox "You need to select a table so that I can create a tag cloud", vbCritical + vbOKOnly, "Wow, looks like there is an error!" End Sub
This code is totally reusable. Just right click on the sheet name at bottom & select “view code”. In the VBA Editor create a new module (Menu > Insert > module) and Paste the above code there. Go back to your excel sheet and select a 2 columned data table and run the createCloud macro. The cloud will be created and pasted in cell E10. You can change this by modifying the line Range(“e10”).Select.
Download the above code and an example in an excel
Happy charting 🙂













26 Responses to “Get busy this weekend, with OR XOR AND [Excel Homework]”
first solution for AND
The two numbers are in A1 and B1
= SUBSTITUTE (SUBSTITUTE (A1+B1*9*9, 9, 1), 8, 0)
regards
Stef@n
next solution for OR
=1*SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2;2;1)
regards
Stef@n
last solution for XOR
=1*SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2;2;0)
regards
Stef@n
Or you could make use of the VBA logical operators!
Define the following as custom functions
Public Function BITXOR(x As Long, y As Long)
BITXOR = x Xor y
End Function
Public Function BITAND(x As Long, y As Long)
BITAND = x And y
End Function
Public Function BITOR(x As Long, y As Long)
BITOR = x Or y
End Function
and then use them such:
A B =BITOR(A,B) =BITAND(A,B) =BITXOR(A,B)
0101 0100 0101 0100 0001
an another solution for AND
=1*SUBSTITUTE (SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2;1;0);2;1)
note:
the binary numbers are in A1 and A2 !
regards
Stef@n
I was obviously playing hooky at the beach during the bit-wise math lesson – you lost me at “Understanding bit-wise operations” 🙂
After looking at the above solutions, I find my solution silly, but still:
For the following formulae,
Row 1: headers,
Row 2: OR
Row 3: AND
Row 4: XOR
Column 1: Input 1
Column 2: Input 2
Column 3: Result
OR
{=SUM(IF(MID(A2,ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(A2),1)),1)+MID(B2,ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(B2),1)),1)>0,1,0)*10^(LEN(A2)-ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(B2),1))))}
AND
{=SUM(IF(MID(A3,ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(A3),1)),1)+MID(B3,ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(B3),1)),1)=2,1,0)*10^(LEN(A3)-ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(B3),1))))}
XOR
{=SUM(IF(MID(A4,ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(A4),1)),1)+MID(B4,ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(B4),1)),1)=1,1,0)*10^(LEN(A4)-ROW(OFFSET($A$1,0,0,LEN(B4),1))))}
@Anup
Please don't consider your solution silly
Firstly, You are the 3rd person to submit an answer
Secondly, The best formula/function is the one that you know and understand.
I think I have a very tedious solution, which people won't have the patience to do except in small numbers.
I used the same problem setup as "Anup Agarwal"
AND =IF(AND(MID(B2,1,1)="1",MID(C2,1,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(AND(MID(B2,2,1)="1",MID(C2,2,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(AND(MID(B2,3,1)="1",MID(C2,3,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(AND(MID(B2,4,1)="1",MID(C2,4,1)="1"),1,0)
OR =IF(OR(MID(B3,1,1)="1",MID(C3,1,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(OR(MID(B3,2,1)="1",MID(C3,2,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(OR(MID(B3,3,1)="1",MID(C3,3,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(OR(MID(B3,4,1)="1",MID(C3,4,1)="1"),1,0)
=IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,1,1)="1",MID(C4,1,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,1,1)="0",MID(C4,1,1)="1")),1,0)&IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,2,1)="1",MID(C4,2,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,2,1)="0",MID(C4,2,1)="1")),1,0)&IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,3,1)="1",MID(C4,3,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,3,1)="0",MID(C4,3,1)="1")),1,0)&IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,4,1)="1",MID(C4,4,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,4,1)="0",MID(C4,4,1)="1")),1,0)
Sorry my last post was totally messed up
AND
=IF(AND(MID(B2,1,1)="1",MID(C2,1,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(AND(MID(B2,2,1)="1",MID(C2,2,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(AND(MID(B2,3,1)="1",MID(C2,3,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(AND(MID(B2,4,1)="1",MID(C2,4,1)="1"),1,0)
OR
=IF(OR(MID(B3,1,1)="1",MID(C3,1,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(OR(MID(B3,2,1)="1",MID(C3,2,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(OR(MID(B3,3,1)="1",MID(C3,3,1)="1"),1,0)&IF(OR(MID(B3,4,1)="1",MID(C3,4,1)="1"),1,0)
XOR
=IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,1,1)="1",MID(C4,1,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,1,1)="0",MID(C4,1,1)="1")),1,0)&IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,2,1)="1",MID(C4,2,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,2,1)="0",MID(C4,2,1)="1")),1,0)&IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,3,1)="1",MID(C4,3,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,3,1)="0",MID(C4,3,1)="1")),1,0)&IF(OR(AND(MID(B4,4,1)="1",MID(C4,4,1)="0"),AND(MID(B4,4,1)="0",MID(C4,4,1)="1")),1,0)
@stefan,
I just couldn't get your solutions to work.
01010101010 + 01010101110 = 02020210120
what am i doing wrong?
@anup
...I got yours to work!
@Stephen - I get the same, but Stef@an's second solution for AND does work (at least for the test cases I used)
@ Stephen / Rich
yes , you are right ! - only this works:
OR
=1*SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2;2;1)
XOR
=1*SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2;2;0)
AND
=1*SUBSTITUTE (SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2;1;0);2;1)
@Stef@n - You're answer is really smart, I never knew about the substitute function before. Great Work!
Thx Michael 🙂
yes - it is simply easy 😉
if you add 1 and 1 - excel calculate 2
and then you have to substitute the 2 - new = 0 respectively 1
Here is a good resource for people wanting to learn binary and hexadecimal.
http://justwebware.com/bitwise/bitwise.html
Three that weren't asked for:
NOT
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1+A2,0,3),1,0),3,1)
EQV
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1+A2,0,3),2,3),1,0),3,1)
IMP
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1+SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,0,3),1,0),3,1),0,1),2,0)
(was using Daniel Ferry's bitwise file to verify against)
@ Kyle
Not only takes one parameter and inverts 0 -1 and 1-0
Took out the +A2
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,0,3),1,0),3,1)
Great solutions!
I'll add two:
NAND =1*SUBSTITUTE (A1+A2,2,0)
NOR=1*SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE (SUBSTITUTE(A1+A2,0,2),1,0),2,1)
This will work for binary numbers of any size (although the text format mask will have to have as many zeroes as there are digits in the longest addend)
Assume binary #s are in C35 & C36, then add and format as text in C37:
=TEXT(C36+C35,"000000000000")
-sum- = 101112211112
AND - SUBSTITUTE 0s for 1s in -sum-, then sub 1s for 2s
=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(C37,"1","0"),"2","1")
OR - sub 1s for 2s in -sum-
=SUBSTITUTE(C37,"2","1")
XOR - sub 0s for 2s in -sum-
=SUBSTITUTE(C37,"2","0")
Just wandered by:
AND:
=SUBSTITUTE(A1+A2,1,0)/2
Clever, Shane. I like that.
[…] post http://www.excelhero.com/blog/2010/01/5-and-3-is-1.html for examples using Sumproduct, and http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/07/29/bitwise-operations-in-excel/ for examples using Text […]
Hi Chandoo,
I am not (yet) really into bitwise calculation, but I am looking for a way to speed up my vba calculation with very big numbers. Would is ben convenient to use bitwise notation for this?
Best regards,
Ronald (the Netherlands)
p.s. love your country!
@Ronald
I'd suggest asking this in the Chandoo.org Forums
https://chandoo.org/forum/
Attach a sample file with an example of some data and describe what you want to achieve