Using an Array Formula to Find and Count the Maximum Text Occurrences in a Range

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A week ago Tarun asked a question on the Chandoo.org Forums.

“I have got multiple names in each row and would like to have what name is repeated maximum number of times and how many times?

Eg. Ram, Amita, Obama, Ram, Willi, Ram, Amita, Chandoo, Ram, Willi

Ans: Ram (4 times)”

(The list and answers are edited)

Chandoo responded with a neat Array Formula:

=INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0))  &

” (“&MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2))&” times)”

Lets take a look inside this and see how it works

 

THE EXAMINATION

The formula has two parts separated by a &

=INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0))

and

&

and

” (“&MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2))&” times)”

Each part is separate and can be used independently, the & character simply joins the two parts together to make a single string which answers Tarun’s question, Ram (4 times).

Now, lets look at each part.

You can follow along with this forensic examination by downloading the Sample Data File.

 

=INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0))

This is a single Index Function with 2 components, being:

a Range B2:K2 and

a Count  MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0)

Typically an Index Function uses 3 components

=Index(Array, Row Number,[Column Number])

In this example the Range is a single Row, B2:K2

And so using the Counter in the Row spot has the effect of counting down the first Column and then continuing at the top of the second Column etc

So the formula used:

=INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0))

Is equivalent to:

=INDEX(B2:K2,1,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0))

 

Now lets jump ahead to the COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2) bit

If you copy =COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2) to a cell, Press F2 and then evaluate the Formula using F9

You will see that it returns an array. The array is highlighted by the squiggly brackets {  } ‘s

={4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2}

This is the heart of the solution.

What this is showing us is that for each position in the range B2:K2, the count of how many times that cells value occurs in the range B2:K2

So the formula

=INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)), COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2),0))

Is equivalent to

=INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(MAX({4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2}), {4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2},0))

Looking at the MAX({4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2}) part, this simplifies to 4, the Maximum value of the array (Remember this line, we’ll come back to it later).

So our simplified formula is now: =INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(4, {4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2},0))

Now looking at the MATCH(4, {4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2},0) part of the equation

You can see that Match is looking for the value 4, in the array {4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2}, which is the First value , Position 1, the 0 requesting that an exact match is found.

So that MATCH(4, {4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2},0) is equivalent to 1

So our equation =INDEX(B2:K2,MATCH(4, {4,2,1,4,2,4,2,1,4,2},0))

Is now simplified even more to =INDEX(B2:K2, 1)

Index will then look in B2:K2 and will return the first cell or “Ram” in this example.

 

& “(” & MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)) & ” times)”

The second part of the equation is responsible for counting the number of Times Ram occurs and displaying it with some text.

& “(” & MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)) & ” times)”

The parts displayed in Red above add the text ( and times) to the Count

Remember the section MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)) which was explained above and evaluates to 4 in this case

So the & “(” & MAX(COUNTIF(B2:K2,B2:K2)) & ” times)”

Part evaluates to: ( 4 times)

With the initial & adding it to the text of the first part Ram for the final result – Ram ( 4 times)

 

LEARN MORE ABOUT ARRAY FORMULAS

You can learn more about Array Formulas at the following links:

http://www.cpearson.com/excel/ArrayFormulas.aspx

http://www.databison.com/index.php/excel-array-formulas-excel-array-formula-syntax-array-constants/

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/introducing-array-formulas-in-excel-HA001087290.aspx

 

Chandoo.org has several articles on Array Formulas

http://chandoo.org/wp/tag/array-formulas/

 

FORENSIC FORMULAS

Would you like to see more “Forensic” examination of complex formulas ?

Let us know in the comments below and it may become a regular section at Chandoo.org.

 

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28 Responses to “2010 Calendar – Excel Template [Downloads]”

  1. [...] Download and print the calendars today. You can add notes to individual dates or complete … [...] Uni Ego / Free 2010 Calendar – Download and Print Year 2010 Calendar today [...]

  2. William says:

    Afternoon,

    I have one similar calander that I added conditional formatting to so that I could highlight any planned factory holidays. I think i "borrowed" the formula from another calander so I won't post it here.

    I also added week numbers to it using the formula =WEEKNUM(MAX(C6:I6)) Where C6:I6 is the range of dates in that give week. It works fine on most of the months but return strange values on other months (Week 6 in October?) I can't see any logic behind why it does this.
    Any suggestions for an alternative formula to give the week numbers?

    Regards,

    William

  3. Miguel says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    I've added a new feature on your spreadsheet.
    This control can be useful for all the sheets where you need to check dates.

    Cheers

    http://cid-69a78592a23a8438.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/2010-calendar%5E_Miguel.xls

  4. Nimesh says:

    Hi Chandoo,

    Nice calendar.
    Till now whichever calendar I saw in Excel, it contained only the outline sheet.
    Good to see monthly views and the mini view too.
    Liked the mini view much. 🙂

    -Nimesh

  5. Chandoo says:

    @William: This weeknum may be because the input dates to max are not properly formatting as excel dates.

    Good tip on the conditional formatting and holidays btw...

    @Migueal: Now that is super awesome. This is the reason why I love to blog. Readers will always one up me with such cool alternatives. Thank you for sharing this with us.

    @Nimesh: You are welcome 🙂

  6. Shish says:

    is it possible to get the Notes section on the outline page to display the notes added to the month page for a specific date?

    So if you add thing for January 2nd, and then select January 2nd those notes appear on the outline page

  7. Chandoo says:

    @Shish... You can do that using some formula magic. I would not recommend pushing excel to that as outlook / google calendar / icalc etc. do exactly that much more elegantly.

  8. Jörg says:

    Happy christmas to all of you!
    This is really awesome. The nicest calender I've seen for Excel. I also like Miguels version of the sheet.

    Just one "feature" is missing to me. As I live in Germany - where weeks start on Monday - I'd like to change this. Could someone please give me a hint how to do this?

    Thanks in advance

    Jörg

  9. Pedro says:

    Hi Chandoo, I’ve added some new features on your spreadsheet with your permission.

    Check it here:
    http://cid-6b219f16da7128e3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/Calendar%5E_Pedro.xlsm

    Miguel, this calendar is translated to Spanish language.

    Jörg, this new approach allows us to start weeks on Monday.

    Also it's possible to start weeks on Sunday if you enable Excel macros and push the arrows.
    Best Regards,
    Pedro.

  10. Chandoo says:

    @Pedro.. superb stuff.. thanks for sharing the file with all of us.

  11. Pedro says:

    Hi Chandoo, for dates before March 1, 1900 our calendars are wrong.
    In Microsoft Excel, DATE, EOMONTH, WEEKDAY functions return an incorrect result between Monday, January 1, 1900 and Wednesday, February 28, 1900.
    See this page: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/214326/en-us/
    Microsoft Excel incorrectly assumes that the year 1900 is a leap year in all Excel versions.
    That's the reason why our calendar versions only work from March, 1, 1900 until December, 31, 9999.
    Your comments are welcome.
    Pedro.

  12. Chandoo says:

    @Pedro.. Thanks for pointing that out. wow... This reminds me of the Joel Spolsky's first BillG review - http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html (read it, I am sure you would love it.) when Bill out of blue asks about date time implementations for VBA (which Joel is the program manager for...)

    Thanks for sharing the URL too... Here is a specially made, chocolate sprinkled, extra fluffy donut for you 🙂

  13. Pedro says:

    Hi Chandoo, thanks a lot for the donut but I prefer it without chocolate!

    Always it's good to know a little history of Excel.
    The Joel Spolsky’s last BillG Excel review was about the "Hall of Tortured Souls"
    (See this Excel 95 Easter Egg here: http://www.eeggs.com/items/719.html)

    Do not miss the humor!

  14. Pedro says:

    @Chandoo.. I just return with a new calendar version.
    http://cid-6b219f16da7128e3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/calendar-pedrowave.xltx

    It helped me to practice conditional formatting, formulas to show check boxes, data validation drop down list, find out Thanksgiving Day's date for any year, how to find dates of public holidays using Excel, all reading your wonderful posts!

  15. Pedro says:

    Perpetual Calendar Spanish version starting weeks on Monday:
    http://cid-6b219f16da7128e3.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/calendario-pedrowave.xltx
    Main characteristics:
    - Not macros.
    - Select a year from 1900 to 9999 with a dropdown listbox.
    - All date fields with the real date format.
    - Easy language change of day of the week and month names because are also dates.
    - Hide Saturdays and/or Sundays.
    - Week starting on Sunday or Monday.
    - Week and month numbers.
    - Hyperlink between sheets.
    - Consistent colors to Holidays, Diary and Events dates.
    - Easy change of Holidays by country.
    - Include 80 World Days and you can add more.
    - A diary with my birthday and 50 more programable appointments.
    - Check box to hide individual dates or all.
    - Holidays, diary and events text are showed on each month's sheet.
    - Ranges defined with Name Manager variables.
    I'll appreciate if you make me some suggestions to improve this calendar.
    Pedro.

  16. Joco1114 says:

    Please, I need help!
    I like all calendar from Pedro, thank you for them. Let me show my problem:

    I have 2 excel cells (for example AE12 and AE13) which mean the starting and the ending date of my duty. I need a macro to insert sheets with label YEAR. MONTH (for example 2010. August or similar) with the proper datas between the two dates. Is it possible?

    Thank you for reading me and sorry about my terribel english! 🙂

  17. Peter says:

    Hello Pedro,

    Thanks so much for the modified calendar template. I love the extra functionality you added. Is there any way you could upload an unlocked version? I wanted to change some of the comments and data validation so I could use it for one of my applications.

    As for feedback on potential improvements, with all the additions you made the file runs pretty slow. I'm sure this has to do with all the interconnectivity between the various tabs, but if there is a way to use less memory via more efficient formulas or something else I think this would make it easier to use. I have a brand new computer and with it running alone the response was pretty slow. One of the changes I'm making is changing the order of the months to match my company's fiscal year, so maybe something to automate a change like that could be useful.

    Cheers,

    Peter

  18. Pedro Wave says:

    Peter, my calendars are unlocked but you need Excel 2007 and 2010 versions to open them.

    Now I return with a new Programmable Task Calendar:
    http://cid-6b219f16da7128e3.office.live.com/view.aspx/.Public/Calendario%20de%20Tareas.xlsx

    Wath an introductory video here:
    http://pedrowave.blogspot.com/2010/10/programmable-task-calendar.html

    This new calendar allows to select the start month to match the school and fiscal year.

  19. ASA says:

    This is great stuff Chandoo and company

    Wanted to know if someone had built something similar

    I need to store one Excel Sheet on this calendar that has all the holidays

    US Holidays appear in RED
    UK Holidays appear in Blue
    Meetings appear in Green
    Submissions appear in Orange

    Is there a way I can store the list in a separate worksheet and all the calendars get updated with this?

    Thanks

  20. divya says:

    please tell me "how to convert Rs.10000/- in to words through excel formula

  21. [...] is all! http://chandoo.org/wp/2009/12/11/2010-calendar-excel-template-downloads/ See more Templates at http://www.vertex42.com/ Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]

  22. Kerisa says:

    Greetings,

    Thanks for this wonderful excel vacation tracker. I notice that the tracker only has three months November, December and January 2015, however, I would like to add the other ten months for 2014. Can you please instruct me on how I can add the other months?
    Thanking you in advance.

  23. kanu bhatia says:

    Hi Chandoo,
    Calendar: can this be printed as single sheet 8.5x11 inch per month
    kanu

  24. Rahul says:

    WOW! I just searching some of like this, that help me.
    Thank you for sharing.

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