In the past here at Chandoo.org and at many many other sites, people have asked the question “How can I display a number Multiplied or Divided by 10, 100, 1000, 1000000 etc, but still have the cell maintain the original number for use in subsequent calculations“.
Typically the answer has been limited to “It can’t be done” or “It can only be done in multiples of 1000”.
Well thanks to a tip I picked up from Kyle who responded to a post here at Chandoo.org they are all wrong.
It is possible to Multiply or Divide any cell contents by any power of 10 using Custom Number Formats !
That is:
How does this work:
When using custom number format we have two possibilities to modify the display number
- Use a Comma to divide by 1000; or
- Use a % to Multiply by 100
So using a combination of these any power of 10 can be obtained.
So using the correct combination of , and % can result in any power of 10 multiplier we require.
The problem is that using a % adds a % to the number!
The trick which Kyle added is that adding a Ctrl J to the Custom Number format allows us to hide the % signs on a second row of text, then by adjusting the cell to have word wrap and adjusting the row height the second row is not visible.
The Ctrl J must be added after the ,’s and before the %’s
So using the examples above the table is:
The Ctrl J adds a Carriage Return, chr(10), to the Format String.
Finally after applying the Custom Number Format the Cell must be edited to enable Word Wrap.
Select the Cells with the custom Formats, Ctrl 1, Alignment
You can see the hidden % symbols if you increase the Row Height.
Combination with Regular Custom Formats
These Custom Number Formats can of course still be combined with regular Custom Number Formats, just make sure that the Ctrl J is inserted before the % signs:
No Loss of the Cells Value
It is also worth noting that the original number is still maintained internally in the cell and that cells dependent on the cells don’t have to adjust for the display value.
Multi Line Formats
By extension we can now use this technique to add multiple Lines of Text to a Custom Number Format
Downloads
You can download a file containing all the above example here: Download Here
Other Links to Custom Number Formats
Here:
http://chandoo.org/wp/2008/02/25/custom-cell-formatting-in-excel-few-tips-tricks/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/11/02/a-technique-to-quickly-develop-custom-number-formats/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/08/19/selective-chart-axis-formating/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/08/22/custom-chart-axis-formating-part-2/
http://chandoo.org/wp/tag/custom-cell-formatting/
Elsewhere
http://www.ozgrid.com/Excel/CustomFormats.htm
http://peltiertech.com/Excel/NumberFormats.html
Thanx
Just a quick final Thank You to Kyle for highlighting this Custom Number Format feature/trick last week
I look forward to your comments below:
12 Responses to “Analyzing Search Keywords using Excel : Array Formulas in Real Life”
Very interesting Chandoo, as always. Personally I find endless uses for formulae such as {=sum(if(B$2:B$5=$A2,$C$2$C$5))}, just the flexibility in absolute and relative relative referencing and multiple conditions gives it the edge over dsum and others methods.
I've added to my blog a piece on SQL in VBA that I think might be of interest to you http://aviatormonkey.wordpress.com/2009/02/10/lesson-one-sql-in-vba/ . It's a bit techie, but I think you might like it.
Keep up the good work, aviatormonkey
Hi Chandoo,
You might find this coded solution I posted on a forum interesting.
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-programming/680810-create-tag-cloud-in-vba-possible.html
[...] under certain circumstances. One of the tips involved arranging search keywords in excel using Array Forumlas. Basically, if you need to know how frequent a word or group of keywords appear, you can use this [...]
@Aviatormonkey: Thanks for sharing the url. I found it a bit technical.. but very interesting.
@Andy: Looks like Jarad, the person who emailed me this problem has posted the same in excelforum too. Very good solution btw...
Realy great article
"You can take this basic model and extend it to include parameters like number of searches each key phrase has, how long the users stay on the site etc. to enhance the way tag cloud is generated and colored."
How would you go about doing this? I think it would need some VB
Hi,
I found the usage very interesting, but is giving me hard time because the LENs formula that use ranges are not considering the full range, in other words, the LEN formula is only bringing results from the respective "line" cell.
Using the example, when I place the formula to calculate the frequency for "windows" brings me only 1 result, not 11 as displayed in the example. It seems that the LEN formula using ranges is considering the respective line within the range, not the full range.
Any hint?
@Thiago
You have to enter the formula as an Array Formula
Enter the Formula and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
Not just Enter
Thank you, Hui! I couldn't work out how this didn't work
is there a limit to the number of lines it can analyse.
Ie i am trying to get this to work on a list of sentances 1500 long.
@Gary
In Excel 2010/2013 Excel is only limited by available memory,
So just give it a go
As always try on a copy of the file first if you have any doubts
Apologies if I am missing something, but coudn't getting frequency be easier with Countif formula. Something like this - COUNTIF(Range with text,"*"&_cell with keyword_&"*")
Apologies if I missed, but what is the Array Formula to:
1. Analyze a list of URL's or a list of word phrases to understand frequency;
2. List in a nearby column from most used words to least used words;
3. Next to the list of words the count of occurrences.