Formula Forensic No 019. Converting uneven Text Strings to Time

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Last week over at the Chandoo.org Forums, Birko asked a question about How to Import some Numbers as Times.

I have imported some data that comes in as a number that I need to convert to h:mm. The data string will be either 1,3,4,5,6 integers long and looks like this…eg

Imported         Need to equal this
Number           h:mm
0                      0:00
100                  0:01
1000                0:10
10900              1:09
235900            23:59

Can someone please provide a smart formula to convert this (assume data is in cell A1).

Today in Formula Forensics we will look at how this problem was solved, and the solution which may surprise you.

Importing Numbers as Times.

When I first saw this data I start by looking at patterns.

Working backwards through the list

I can see that 235900 is 23 Hrs, 59 Min and 0 second

I can see that 10900 is 1 Hr, 9 Min and 0 second

I can see that 1000 is 0 Hrs, 10 Min and 0 second

I can see that 100 is 0 Hr, 1 Min and 0 second

I can see that 0 is 0 Hr, 0 Min and 0 second

I then start to think about how to extract the Hours, Minutes and seconds independently from the Text using a series of Left, Right and Mid functions, and quickly realised that due to the varying lengths of the strings, That they will end up being complex formulas as I will need to allow for each string length.

What if I pad the strings with leading 0’s and then extract them.

That is possible, but as a single formula it will be long and cumbersome as the padding has to occur a number of times for each Hour, Minute and Second as part of the Time() function.

So padding may work but is cumbersome, then a bright light moment

What about I use the Text function to do the padding.

And I quickly posted the following formula:

=(LEFT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/24)+(MID(TEXT(A1,"000000"),3,2)/1440)+(RIGHT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/(24*3600))

As Time is just a number between 0 = midnight and 0.999999 = 11:59:59 pm, I can extract the Hours, Minutes and seconds separately and then simply add them together to get the actual time

I Can use the Text function to display the Strings in a consistent format that allows me to use the Left, Mid and Right functions to retrieve the Hours minutes and Seconds from the appropriate places.

Lets work through this formula section by section and see what is going on.

Hours

The Hours component of the formula is

=(LEFT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/24)+(MID(TEXT(A1,"000000"),3,2)/1440)+(RIGHT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/(24*3600))

=(LEFT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/24)

Working from the middle out, this formula takes the value in A1 and displays it as a Number with the format “000000”

So using our data

235900 will convert to 235900

10900 will convert to 010900

1000 will convert to 001000

We can now use a Left() function to extract the hours from the first 2 characters of the converted string

Using our examples:

Left(235900,2) = 23

Left(010900,2) = 01

Left(001000,2) = 00

To convert hours to a Time we simply divide by 24

Minutes

The Minutes component of the formula is

=(LEFT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/24)+(MID(TEXT(A1,"000000"),3,2)/1440)+(RIGHT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/(24*3600))

=MID(TEXT(A1,"000000"),3,2)/1440

Once again, Working from the middle out, this formula takes the value in A1 and displays it as a Number with the format “000000”

So using our data

235900 will convert to 235900

10900 will convert to 010900

1000 will convert to 001000

We can now use a Mid() function to extract the minutes from the middle 2 characters of the converted string

Mid(235900,3,2) = 59

Mid(010900,2) = 09

Mid(001000,2) = 10

To convert Minutes to a Time we simply divide by 1440 (1440 is how many minutes are in a day = 24 * 60)

 

Seconds

The Seconds component of the formula is

=(LEFT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/24)+(MID(TEXT(A1,"000000"),3,2)/1440)+(RIGHT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/(24*3600))
=RIGHT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/(24*3600))

Once again, Working from the middle out, this formula takes the value in A1 and displays it as a Number with the format “000000”

So using our data

235900 will convert to 235900

10900 will convert to 010900

1000 will convert to 001000

We can now use a Right() function to extract the minutes from the middle 2 characters of the converted string

Right(235900,3,2) = 00

Right(010900,2) = 00

Right(001000,2) = 00

To convert Seconds to a Time we simply divide by 86400 (86,400 is how many seconds are in a day = 24 * 60 * 60)

Total Time

To get the total Time we simply add the Hour, Minutes and Seconds together

=(LEFT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/24)+(MID(TEXT(A1,"000000"),3,2)/1440)+(RIGHT(TEXT(A1,"000000"),2)/(24*3600))

 

Download

You can download a copy of the above file and follow along, Download Here.

 

Formula Forensics “The Series”

You can learn more about how to pull Excel Formulas apart in the following posts

Formula Forensic Series

 

Formula Forensics Needs Your Help

I urgently need more ideas for future Formula Forensics posts 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 like above or;

If you have a formula that you would like explained but don’t want to write a post also send it to Chandoo or Hui.

 

 

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27 Responses to “Sum of Values Between 2 Dates [Excel Formulas]”

  1. dexter says:

    I would apply a filter and use function subtotal, with option 9. This way you can see multiple views based on the filter.

  2. Michael Azer says:

    hey Chandoo, the solutions you proposed are very efficient, but if I wanted to be fancy I would do it this way .. the references are as your example workbook.
    =SUM(INDIRECT("C"&(MATCH(F5,B5:B95)+4)):INDIRECT("C"&(MATCH(F6,B5:B95)+4)))

  3. Luke M says:

    I like things simple:
    =SUMIF(B5:B95,">="&F5,C5:C95)-SUMIF(B5:B95,">"&F6,C5:C95)

  4. Matt S says:

    use something like: =SUM(OFFSET(B1,0,0,DATEDIF(A1,D1,"d")))
    and have D1 be the date that I want to sum to.

  5. Tom J says:

    In Excel 2003 (and earlier) I'd use an array formula to calculate either with nested if statements (as shown here) or with AND.

    {=SUM(IF(B5:B95>F5,IF(B5:B95<F6,C5:C95,0),0))}

    Note that I truly made this for BETWEEN the dates, not including the dates

  6. Andrew says:

    I turned the data set into a table named Dailies.
    I named the two limits StartDate and EndDate.

    And used an array formula:

    {=SUM((Dailies[Date]>=StartDate)*(Dailies[Date]<=EndDate)*Dailies[Sales])}

  7. Frank Linssen says:

    If I would still be using the old Excel I would do it as follows:

    SUMIF($B$5:$B$95,"<="&H6,$C$5:$C$95)-SUMIF($B$5:$B$95,"<"&H5,$C$5:$C$95)

    Works as simple as it is.

    Regards

  8. ikkeman says:

    =sum(index(c:c,match(startdate,c:c,1)+1):index(c:c,match(enddate,c:c,1))

  9. ikkeman says:

    =sum(index(c:c,match(startdate,b:b,1)+1):index(c:c,match(enddate,b:b,1))

  10. ram says:

    Great examples and thanks to Chandoo. You have simplified my work.

  11. Rony says:

    Hi! great tips I have found in your page, have you seen this
    http://runakay.blogspot.com/2011/10/searching-in-multiple-excel-tabs.html

  12. [...] I'm not sure I understand your question fully, but have a look at this: Sum of Values Between 2 Dates [Excel Formulas] | Chandoo.org - Learn Microsoft Excel Online [...]

  13. Amanda says:

    Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

  14. abdalurhman says:

    =SUMIF(A2:A11;">="&B13;B2:B11)-SUMIF(A2:A11;"<"&A11;B2:B11)

  15. Eliza says:

    awesome... thank yoo Chandoo!

  16. dockhem says:

    which is most efficient and fast, if all are efficient ?

  17. jmassiah says:

    Thank you for this formula, I've just spent ages trying to find something to work on my data, I knew it would be possible! Don't care if others think there are easier/other ways to do it, you explained it so I understood it and could apply it to what I was doing so I'm happy!

  18. Nagaraju says:

    The above said example is awesome for calculating values between dates,

    can you pls let know how to calculate sale values if we have 10 sales boys for
    ex: 1,rama
    2,krishna
    3,ashwin
    4,naga
    5,suresh

    how much rama sale value between 1/jan/2015 to 10/jun/15
    how much krishna sale value between 10/jan/2015 to 15/july/2015
    i think you understood can you pls let me know the formula for how to calculate the sale between diffrent sale man sale value from master data file

    Thanks,
    Nagaraju

  19. Viv says:

    Hi

    I have a list of people's names in column A, I have a list of dates in column B which records the dates they have been off sick, in column C I have either 1 if it is a full sick day or 0.5 if it is a half day.

    What I would like to do is to add up the number of dates a specific person has been off within two dates.

    For example, I want to look at my list of names and to find Joe Bloggs (column A), then add up all his sick days (column C). The start date will be in cell E1 and the end date will be in F1.

    If this possible using SUMIFS?

    List of names are in range A2:A100

    List of dates in B2:B100

    List of sick days (either 0.5 or 1 in C2:C100

    The start date is in cell E2

    The end date is in cell F2

    Your help would be greatly appreciated.

    • Loknathan says:

      Yes, with the help of SUMIFS you can have the solution.
      Note: you need have an extra col. D2 where you will input Name of the person.
      =SUMIFS(C2:C100,A2:A100,D2,C2:C100,">="&E2,C2:C100,"<"&F2)

      Col. A Col. B Col. C Col.D Col. E Col. F
      Name Date Sales
      ABC 28-Jun-11 1 MNO 28-Jun-11 25-Sep-11
      XYZ 29-Jun-11 0.5
      MNO 30-Jun-11 1
      PQR 1-Jul-11 1

      • Loknathan says:

        Typo ERROR / Correction in formula:
        Yes, with the help of SUMIFS you can have the solution.
        Note: you need have an extra col. D2 where you will input Name of the person.
        =SUMIFS(C2:C100,A2:A100,D2,B2:B100,">="&E2,B2:B100,"<"&F2)

  20. Viv says:

    Hi

    I have a list of people's names in column A, I have a list of dates in column B which records the dates they have been off sick, in column C I have either 1 if it is a full sick day or 0.5 if it is a half day.

    What I would like to do is to add up the number of dates a specific person has been off within two dates.

    For example, I want to look at my list of names and to find Joe Bloggs (column A), then add up all his sick days (column C). The start date will be in cell E1 and the end date will be in F1.

    If this possible using SUMIFS?

    List of names are in range A2:A100

    List of dates in B2:B100

    List of sick days (either 0.5 or 1 in C2:C100

    The start date is in cell E2

    The end date is in cell F2

    Your help would be greatly appreciated.

    Viv

  21. AC says:

    Thanks for this - it solved the problem that I was having. However can someone please explain to me why the "" needs to be around >= and <= as well as why we need to add & in order for the formula to work? Thanks in advance!

  22. Ufoo says:

    This formula works perfectly as well. Any ideas?: =SUM(INDEX(C5:C95,MATCH(H5,B5:B95,1)):INDEX(C5:C95,MATCH(H6,B5:B95,1)))

  23. Ufoo says:

    ikkeman had posted the same thing.

  24. murray says:

    I am trying to sum total a range of cells between date ranges ie column n has $ amounts column d has the transaction dates ie 1/3/2015 or 25/3/2015 or 25/4/2015 column b has the text saying drp or distribution - reinv

    In another cell I am trying to sum or total (in column n) with the value of a range of different dates (column d) that contain different text (column b) ie cell n48 is 50, n65 is 85, n165 is 36

    with the dates ie cell d48 is 1/3/2015, d65 is 25/3/2015 and d165 is 25/4/2015

    with different text that says drp or distribution - reinv ie cell b48 is drp, b65 is distribution - reinv, b165 is drp

    If I wanted to sum the amounts between 1/3/2015 to 31/3/2015 with drp then the total would be 50. Also if I wanted to sum the amounts between 1/4/2015 to 30/4/2015 with drp the sum total would be 36 If I wanted to sum the amounts between 1/3/2015 to 31/3/2015 with drp and distribution - reinv the sum would be 115

    What would the formula be for these different questions

    hope you can help, it has been driving me nuts and cant work it out

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