A common Forum question and one that Chandoo has written about a few times is, Does my data overlap with another range?
Last week, Pradhishnair, asked in the Chandoo.org Forums “I need to find if the values between range D2:E2 are overlapping in any of the following rages, if yes then where? (may be row number)”
I answered with an array formula:
{=”Overlap Row S.no. = ” &MIN(IF((D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, (A3:$A$41)))}
Which returns ether:
Overlap Row S.no. = x (If there is an overlap)
or
Overlap Row S.no. = 0 (If there is no overlap)
So today in Formula Forensics we will take a look at how the above formula works with a worked example.
Chainage
As always you can follow along with a worked example. This is a subset of Pradhishnair’s Data to simplify the length of the equations, but otherwise is the same as the original post: Download Here
Pradhishnair’s data consists of a list of chainages. Chainages are measurements of distances from a fixed point and relate to a segment of something. Chainage From is to the closest end of the segment and and Chainage To is to the furthest end of the segment and by default these are in order, that is To is always greater than From.
Using this we can check for overlapping data by simply checking if the From is less than the remaining To’s or the To value is greater than the remaining From’s
This is done for each row compared to the remaining rows of data by the array formula
=”Overlap Row S.no.: ” & MIN(IF((D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, (A3:$A$41))) Ctrl Shift enter
We can see that the above equation simply joins
“Overlap Row S.no.: “
To the result of
MIN(IF((D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, (A3:$A$41)))
Using the & operator
It will return:
Overlap Row S.no. = 0 if there is no overlap
Or
Overlap Row S.no. = x If there is an overlap.
So the function
MIN(IF((D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, (A3:$A$41)))
Is used to return the minimum value of an If() formula which is its only component
The If() statement usually has three components:
=If( Condition, Value if True, Value if False)
In our case, I will evaluate Row 2, Particularly Cell G2, against the remaining entries in the two lists.
=If((D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, (A3:$A$41))
Condition: (D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0
Value if True: (A3:$A$41), This is just the S.No. in Column A
Value if False: Note that the If statement has no Value if it is False, I could put any value there eg: -1 or 0, but Excel evaluates it to 0 anyway so it hasn’t been used.
The If Statement says If (D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, then return (A3:$A$41)
What the condition is saying is If the To Data in the Current Row, Row 2, is Greater than or equal to the other From Values or the From Data in the Current Row, Row 2, is Less than the other To Value, Then this is True
To check this, in Cell I2, enter =(D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) and evaluate it with F9 instead of Enter
Excel returns ={1;1;0;0;0;0;0;0;0}
Excel is showing us that the first and second entries have overlapping data.
Which we can see if we look at the data
The >0 at the end of the (D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, transforms the array of 0’s and 1’s to an array of Falses and Trues
To check this, in I3, enter =(D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2)>0 and evaluate it with F9 instead of Enter
Excel returns ={TRUE;TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}
Now the If Statement will be True for the first two entries in the array and so will evaluate the Value if True component of the If Formula: (A3:$A$41)
We can check this
In cell I4 enter
=IF((D3:$D$41<=E2) *(E3:$E$41>=D2) >0, (A3:$A$41)) and press F9 instead of Enter
Excel returns
={2;3;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}
Which is the array of S.No’s which match our criteria
Now Min comes in
=MIN({2;3;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE})
Min returns the Minimum of these which is 2.
And that is appended to “Overlap Row S.No. = “
To return the answer: Overlap Row S.No. = 2
Which is the first overlapping row with Row 1
Custom Number Formats
You may have noticed that the numbers in Pradhishnair’s worksheet look a bit odd with a + in the middle: eg: D3 displays 142+000
Pradhishnair is using a Custom Number Format of #+000
Select a Cell, eg D2, Press Ctrl 1, Select the Number Tab
If you select these cells and Press F2 Excel will show that the cells value is 142000
But Excel is using the custom Number format of #+000 to display the number with 3 digits after the +
Links to Overlapping Data Posts
http://chandoo.org/wp/2010/06/01/date-overlap-formulas/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/03/09/ec1-machine-scheduling-in-excel/
Download
You can download a copy of the above file and follow along, Download Here.
Other Formula Forensics Posts
You can learn more about how to pull Excel Formulas apart in the following posts
We Need Your Help
I received 3 ideas over the Xmas break from readers, and these will feature in coming weeks.
However I do need more ideas for the rest of 2012 and so I need your help.
If you have a neat formula that you would like to share and explain, try putting pen to paper and draft up a Post as Luke did in Formula Forensics 003. or like above.
If you have a formula that you would like explained but don’t want to write a post also send it in to Chandoo or Hui.
ps: I’m traveling to Esperance; Western Australia for a short holiday with the family but have left a neat Formula Forensic for you for next week.
25 Responses to “Display Alerts in Dashboards to Grab User Attention [Quick Tip]”
I prefer the red,grey,light grey,black icon set. I've also used in-cell pie charts from Fabrice's Sparklines for Excel as an alert which could also provide another piece of information.
I prefer the red,grey,light grey,black icon set. I've also used in-cell pie charts from Fabrice's Sparklines for Excel as an alert which can also provide another piece of information.
For Excel 2007, your formula should do the same as the Excel 2003 version, so that non-alert rows are blank - if they are 0, the unnecessary green icon will show
Hi Chandoo,
Nice Post !! just to add something for EXL 2003, we can also 4 Ifs and link to the alert data
For Ex: If we have alert data in Cell A2 and want to split in 4 orders namely <25%, 25-50%, 50-75% and 75%< then we can following formula and put fonts as you have suggested :
=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153),IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155),IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))
And then using Conditional Formating we can dashboard reflected on different COLOURS as per their respective alert.
Best Regards
Rohit1409
Hi Chandoo,
Nice Post !!! just to add something for EXL 2003, we can also 4 Ifs and link to the alert data
For Ex: If we have alert data in Cell A2 and want to split in 4 orders namely <25%, 25-50%, 50-75% and 75%< then we can following formula and put fonts as you have suggested :
=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153),IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155),IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))
And then using Conditional Formating we can dashboard reflected on different COLOURS as per their respective alert.
Best Regards
Rohit1409
The Complete formula [Don't Know how it got cut ]
=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153),IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155),IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))
PS : Use in single line [I have split it to avoid cuts 😉 ]
Hi Chandoo..
why it is not displaying the complete formula..
anyways here is the balance
"=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153), IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155), IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))"
@Rohit... your formulas are fine. Just that the width of comment area is fixed and hence my website is cropping it at 640pixels. I just edited your formula and added few white spaces so that it wraps nicely.
Very good idea btw.. kudos!
Hi,
Maybe just go for 'bold' ; 'underline' or 'italic' to draw the users attention? Those methods (if those can be called methods) are used cross media type (books, journals, blogs, billboards, ...) to guide the readers eye to valuable information.
Just a basic thought
@Tom.. good idea..
[...] has a very nice writeup on how to add such alerts to dashboard sheets. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Divide your data set into workbooksHow to enforce [...]
Hi Chandoo,
You certainly grabbed my attention! although I wasn't sure what my brother (Suresh) and cousin (Shyam) were doing right, and I was doing wrong? 😉
I love your blog btw - Many thanks for all your hard work in unravelling the secrets and mysteries of Excel!
Best regards
Ramesh
I thought I saw an advertisment for a book about learning excel called excel himalaya or something. It cost about 35.00 us money but seemed to have the things I need to have my admin assistant to start to use. I was hoping to start with this book and then send her to school if she shows some interest and aptitude. Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks
Great web site and information!!!!
@Jeff... checkout http://chandoo.org/wp/2010/08/25/excel-everest-review/
thanks, your website is awesome!
[...] Alerts to highlight focus areas [...]
[...] There are lots of numbers in this dashboard. I would suggest adding few more visualizations like showing indicators or applying conditional formatting or replacing a table with a chart. This would reduce the [...]
[...] is the same technique as alert icons in dashboard. Just that I also showed green [...]
[...] is the same technique as alert icons in dashboard. Just that I also showed green [...]
Hi Chandoo
Firstly thanks for all the cool tips on how to use Excel better.
I am new to the site and have a question which you may be able to assist with but dont know if these comment boxes are the best way of asking ?
I am looking at assets and trying to calculate the depreciation total by taking a year (say 2010) adding the expected life of the asset (say 10 years) then comparing that to a future date (say 2015) using an IF statement. The calculation in normal is - IF((year in col B (2010) plus 10years)>year 2015, add a years depreciation, otherwise leave blank). The converted date value does not appear able to add 10 years in order to compare it to 2015. Am I missing something ?
I use the “IF” Statement in conjunction with Conditional Formatting in MS Excel to give verbiage to alert one of a required action, dependant on a review date. This makes a visual stimulus, plus it clues one as to what the conditional format is trying to warn you about and what follow-up actions are required.
Wow, I'm really impressed with dashboards. I had no idea this stuff was even possible with excel. I'd like to offer an interactive dashboard to my customers, showing analytics of their data. I have a .pdf file with the datapoints. I'd like them to enter the data on my website, and be able to see their data. Is something like that possible.
Hi Chandoo,
I've recently purchased the package for both templates.
In the portfolio dashboard,under the calculations worksheet, I'm attempting to change the date range in the gantt chart to show only the range of the project that starts in late 2013. How do I do this?
Thanks
Adam
[...] is the same technique as alert icons in dashboard. Just that I also showed green [...]
Hi Chandoo,
I'm new at Excel Dashboard and found your blog really useful and helpful! It's very nice of you that you dedicate your time to do this.
Could you please explain how can I use Alerts based on dates on a Dashboar?
For example, if a target date is coming closer to the actual date, the alert is yellow or red.
I'd really appreciate some help!
Thank you
Where can I download the file Excel of Averall Statistics ???
Thanks a lot.