Comments on: Initials from Names using Excel Formulas

By: maher

maher — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:18:06 +0000

dear all
i want to convert number to text (words) in arabic language to use it for printing cheque
using VBA (MS ACCESS)
could you pls help me

By: 100 Excel Tips & Resources for Everyone | Pointy Haired Dilbert - Chandoo.org

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:37:42 +0000

[...] 37. To get name from initials from a name, use IF(), FIND(), LEN() and SUBSTITUTE() formulas… Get Full Tip 38. To get proper fraction from a number (for eg 1/3 from 6/18), use =text(fraction, [...]

By: Ketan

Ketan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:59:33 +0000

@Robert– Thax for explanation ! I only did not understand how the iteration start. But from above explanation(in option), i got it. All other equations are understood. I had tried in the number with decimal also and found it works properly.

3 more cheers for giving useful tip ! i m sure such unusal / unexpected problem will enhance the knowledge of each other.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:42:22 +0000

Ketan,

As I said above this might be too complicated to explain in a comment. But I will do my best and try to cut it short:

A circular reference means a formula referring back to its own value (directly or indirectly), e.g. you have the formula ‘A1+A2’ in cell A1. Usually Excel formulas with circular references do not run and come back with errors. Nevertheless you can take advantage of circular references for calculations that need iterative i.e. repetitive calculations.

First you have to enable Excel to do iterations. Go to Tools | Options | Calculation tab, check the iteration check box and set the maximum iterations to e.g. 100. By doing this you tell Excel to ignore the circular reference and calculate the formula 100 times (100 iterations).

In our workbook: The formula in B1 is =IF (B1=100, 1, B1+1). This is the help formula to run iterations from 1 to 100.

The formula in C1 is =IF (B1=1,”", IF (B1-1>LEN(A1), C1, MID (A1,B1-1,1)&C1))
If B1 = 1 the formula returns an empty string. This is the initialization of our new string as an empty string in the first iteration.

If B1 – 1 is larger than the length of our string in A1, the formula brings back the actual value of the C1 (the number of the actual iteration minus 1 is higher than the length of our string). The -1 is necessary because our first iteration is used for initializing our result with “” (see above). The second iteration handles the first letter of our string.

The else-part of the second IF clause MID (A1, B1-1, ) & C1 performs the calculations for reversing the string. This is the hard part. Maybe showing the results of the iterations will help to understand. Assume we have “ABCD” in cell A1. The iterations and the formula in C1 work as follows:

Iteration 1: C1 = “”

Iteration 2: C1 = “A” & “”
(“A” is the result of the MID-formula, “” is the result in C1 after iteration 1)

Iteration 3: C1 = “B” & “A”
(“B” is the result of the MID-formula, “A” is the result in C1 after iteration 2)

Iteration 4: C1 = “C” & “BA”
(“C” is the result of the MID-formula, “BA” is the result in C1 after iteration 3)

Iteration 5: C1 = “D” & “CBA”

That’s it.

To be honest, I am not sure that this was a good explanation, but maybe Chandoo will be so kind to publish a better description of this technique in a post some later day.

Last but not least: I do not recommend using circular references for reversing texts. It is hard to understand, error prone, complicated to debug, slow and irritating other users. I prefer the simple VBA-based user defined function (see the second worksheet of the workbook). It is simple, fast and easy to understand.

By: Ketan

Ketan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:47:50 +0000

@ Robert — Thanx for soln. with 3 cheers !
But little hard to digest the logic of circular references. Cud u pls elaborate.

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:12:05 +0000

Ketan, Chandoo,

the best way to reverse texts is using the VBA-function StrReverse. But it is possible to do this with formulas as well. Too complicated to explain in a comment here, I guess.

That’s why I uploaded a file with the 3 solutions (3 worksheets):

1. Reverse texts using formulas (including circular references and iterations)
2. Reverse texts using VBA
3. Reverse numbers using formulas

Download link:

http://www.box.net/shared/dbipvsg350#Reverse_Cells

By: Chandoo

Chandoo — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 16:21:38 +0000

@Ketan: Thanks for asking this question. Unfortunately I dont know how to reverse a string in excel without using VBA or assuming the string’s length (see Sudhir’s comments above)

Can anybody suggest a formula hack for this… as usual e-donuts for you if you get it right…

By: Sudhir

Sudhir — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:37:19 +0000

@Ketan
To my knowl, it cannot be done. But assuming your entry field is small (say four to six chars) and for one field only (not a database or column of values), here’s a small workaround to achieve it. Tried successfully for 6 chars.
Entry : A1, Output C1 will have (=A8&A7&A6&A5&A4&A3)
Cells B3 thru B8 have numbers in serial 1 thru 6
Cell A3=MID($A$1,B3,1)
Cell A4=MID($A$1,B4,1)
Cell A5=MID($A$1,B5,1)
Cell A6=MID($A$1,B6,1)
Cell A7=MID($A$1,B7,1)
Cell A8=MID($A$1,B8,1). Result : In : CREDIT Out : TIDERC
You may place this module in a work sheet and place only the input and output onto the main sheet.

By: Ketan

Ketan — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:51:55 +0000

@ Chandoo

Cud u help me to reverse the any text with “n” characters ,including blank, using excel formula and not thru VBA.

e.g. : text : “abc defgh i”
Require result : “i hgfed cba”

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