Recently, Paul, a reader, of the Chandoo Blog Post: Colors-in-excel-chart-labels-trick asked a question:
“Hi Chandoo,
Is it possible to change the background label color on chart depending on the value? ”
I answered with a general “Yes” and offered two solutions
1. Using CF to color the background cells behind the chart
2. A VBA Solution to change the chart colors
This post will examine how to implement each method:
I have attached sample files which includes both examples Excel 2007-13 Sample or Excel 97-2003 Sample
You can follow along in this file before attempting it on your own data.
Using Conditional Formatting to Color the background cells
In the sample file goto the CF Technique worksheet
In CF Technique worksheet you will see a set of data with dates and Scores for each date
Below the main table is a calculation of the slope of the line of best fit through the data
This shows either a positive number when the data is trending upwards or a negative number when it is trending downwards
For the purpose of this we can simply change the yellow cell C13 from 90 to 10 to change the slope from a Positive to a Negative value
Next to the chart is a simple X-Y Chart showing the Scores vs the Date (Blue) and a Line of best fit (Dashed Red)
The chart is exactly covering the range E3:L15, this is achieved by placing the chart roughly in position and then holding the Alt Button whilst dragging the corners or edges of the chart.
Note: The use of Alt forces Excel to Snap the object onto the cell edges and lock it there, so that when the column width or row height changes, the Chart will resize with it.
Next we set the colors of the Chart Area and Plot Area to Transparent (No Color)
The Chart area is the Background area of the chart, White in the following example
The Chart area is the Background area of the chart, Yellow in the following example
We can see that the chart area has no color in the above picture as we can see the Grid Lines through the Chart Area.
Format the Chart Area
Select the Chart
Right Click in the Chart Area,
Format Chart Area
Click on the Fill Tab and set the Fill to No Fill
Format the Plot Area
With the chart selected, Right Click in the Plot Area,
Format Plot Area
Click on the Fill Tab and set the Fill to No Fill
Click outside the chart
Apply a Conditional Formatting to the Range behind the Chart
Select the range E3:L15 (You won’t be able to use a mouse) or drag the chart out of the way first.
Goto Conditional Formatting Tab
New Rule
Use a formula to determine which cells to format
Enter the formula: =$C$15>0
Select the Format Button and select a Light Redish Color
Ok
Goto Conditional Formatting Tab
New Rule
Use a formula to determine which cells to format
Enter the formula: =$C$15<=0
Select the Format Button and select a Light Greenish Color
Ok
Now change the value of C15 from 90 to 10
The chart should change as per the below image:
Advantages:
- Doesn’t require VBA (VBA not permitted on some corporate systems)
- Simple to setup for those unfamiliar with VBA
Disadvantages:
- The Chart is locked to the cells and can’t be moved moved independently of the background cells
- More difficult to implement multiple color scenarios
- Harder to permit independent changes to the Chart and Plot areas
Using VBA to directly change the color of the Chart Chart Area
In the sample file goto the VBA Technique worksheet
You will see the same set of data with dates and Scores for each date
Select the Chart and notice that the Chart is called “Chart 1”
Goto VBA, Press Alt+F11
Double click on the VBA Technique code module
Copy and paste the following code into the module
Private Sub Worksheet_Calculate()
Dim myColor As Long
Dim myChart As String
Application.EnableEvents = False
If ActiveSheet.Name <> "VBA Technique" Then Exit Sub
myChart = "Chart 1"
If [c15] <> [OldSlope] Then
If [c15] > 0 Then
myColor = RGB(250, 190, 145) 'Apricot
Else
myColor = RGB(135, 235, 145) 'Pale Green
End If
ActiveSheet.ChartObjects(myChart).Activate
' Color the Chart Area
With ActiveSheet.Shapes(myChart).Fill
.Visible = msoTrue
.ForeColor.RGB = myColor
.Transparency = 0
.Solid
End With
' Color the Plot Area
ActiveChart.PlotArea.Select
With Selection.Format.Fill
.Visible = msoTrue
.ForeColor.RGB = myColor
.Transparency = 0
.Solid
End With
ActiveWorkbook.Names.Add Name:="OldSlope", RefersToR1C1:="=" + CStr(Cells(15, 3).Value)
End If
Application.EnableEvents = True
Range("C17").Select
End Sub
Return to the Excel worksheet
Now change the value of C15 from 90 to 10
If the Chart area doesn’t change color follow the following few steps
Goto VBA (Alt+F11)
Open the Immediate window (Ctrl+G)
Type in Application.EnableEvents = True press enter
Go back to Excel (Alt+F11)
Advantages:
- Allows the Chart to be moved independently of the background cells
- Allows a much simpler implementation of multiple color scenarios
- Allows independent changes to the Chart and Plot areas as well as other Chart Elements
Disadvantages:
- Requires VBA (not permitted on some corporate systems)
Other Chart Conditional Formatting Posts
You may also be interested in the following Chart Formatting posts:
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/08/19/selective-chart-axis-formating/
http://chandoo.org/wp/2011/08/22/custom-chart-axis-formating-part-2/
Closing
What do you think of these techniques?
Let us know in the comments below.
19 Responses to “How to Distribute Players Between Teams – Evenly”
An excellent solution, especially for large data sets.
Another solution without using solver would be to assign the player with the highest score to Team 1, the 2nd to team 2, 3rd to team 3, 4th to team 3, 5th to team 2, 6th to team 1, 7th to team 1 and it continues. This method would end up with a Std Dev of 0.001247219. This works best with a distribution with lower Std Dev for the dataset.
Full Disclosure: this is not my idea, remember reading something a few years ago. Think it may have been Ozgrid
thinking back I now remember why I read about it. About 10 years back I had to distribute around 300 team members into 25-30 odd teams. Used this method based on their performance scores. I used the method I described to do this and the distribution was pretty fair.
Solver would have saved me a ton of time though 🙂
I think the issue with you first Solver approach was that you took the absolute value of the sum of team deviations (which should always be zero except for rounding) instead of the sum of the absolute values (which is a reasonable measure of how unbalanced the teams are).
Here's another simple algorithm you could use: you start from the top (with players sorted from high to low), and at each step allocate the next player to whichever team has the smallest total so far. You can implement it dynamically with some formulas so it will update automatically when the data changes.
If the scores were more widely distributed (so that this might end up with not all teams the same size), you could add a constraint to only pick among the teams which currently have fewest players at each step, or just stop adding to any team when it hits its quota.
When I tried it on the sample, I got the three teams below, with a STDEV of 0.000942809 (i.e. about half of what Solver got to).
Team 1: John, Hugo, Tom, Josh, Eric, Zane, Charles, Andrew
Team 2: Barry, Michael, Kenny, Joe, Xavier, Patrick, Oliver, William
Team 3: Henry, Steven, Ben, Frank, Kyle, Edward, Cameron, Lachlan
Thanks for sharing!
Hi,
I was looking at all the solutions and this is closest to what I intended to do. I am dividing a bunch of players into 3 soccer teams. Players availability is also a factor while deciding the teams.
So the steps the excel needs to do is as follows:
1) In availability column if "yes" go to next
2) Equally divide 'Goalkeepers', 'Strikers', 'Defenders' basis their quality
So the end result gives each 3 teams a balance of players playing at different positions.
Can this be done on Google spreadsheet with only availability as an input from the user and rest calculates by itself.
Sorry for asking such a pointed question, but I have been struggling to find a solution for it for sometime now!
Hi Ishaan,
I am working on a similar problem at the moment, so I am wondering if you ever found a solution and if you are willing to share what you did.
Hi everyone, this is a variation of the famous Knapsack Problem https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knapsack_problem.
I had to use a VBA implementation recently as part of a problem, where we ar trying to allocate teams of an organization into different locations (we are a large company with many different team). The goal was to optimally allocate teams to individual buildings without putting too many teams into one building and not splitting teams apart.
As we had around 400 teams of different sizes, solver couldn't handle it anymore. Luckily there is a Knapsack algorithm implementation in VBA readily available on the internet :).
I also went with a heuristic approach first!
An interesting mathematical solution but what if Eric and Xavier can't stand each other or Patrick is best friends with Steven - the real life problems that effect "even" teams.
@Joe
You can add more criteria like
If Eric and Xavier can't stand each other
=OR(AND(E15=1,E16=1),AND(F15=1,F16=1),AND(G15=1,G16=1))
It must be False
If Patrick is best friends with Steven
=OR(AND(E5=1,E17=1),AND(F5=1,F17=1),AND(G5=1,G17=1))
It must be True
Note that the 2 formulas above are exactly the same
except for the ranges
One must be True = Friends
One must be False = Not Friends
Nice Post!
Just one question What if number of players are not even or equally divisible.
Nice post Hui!
I download your workbook and just try to change in options the Precision Restriction from 10E-6 to 10-8 and the Convergence from 10E-4 to 10E-10. The process take almost the same time, but the results was great.
The standard deviation I got was 0,000471.
Team 1: John, Tom, Kenny, Frank, Eric, Xavier, Edward, Zane
Team 2: Steven, Hugo, Ben, Joe, Josh, Oliver, Cameron, William
Team 3: Barry, Henry, Michael, Kyle, Patrick, Charles, Andrew, Lachlan
Great application of Solver! Thanks for the link!
Great explanation. Well done... However, I tried with 6 teams of 4 players and solver never did finish.
How about vba code for the same data set.
I have 3 column A B C wherein A has text and B has number Wherein C is blank. And in C1 been the header C2 where I want the name to come evenly distributed the number which is in Column B.
My Lastcolumn is 1000.
Sorry if I'm being slow here, but how is 'Team Score' calculated? I've gone through the explanation several times but it seems to just appear.
@Hrmft
This process uses the Solver Excel addin
Solver is effectively taking the model and trying different solutions until it gets a solution that meets all the criteria
Then solver puts the solution into the cell and moves to the next cell
So yes it appears to "just appear"
Hi ! Thank you so much ! Works great 🙂
I cannot get the fourth Equation to work in my excel spreadsheet
You have =($E$2:$G$25=0)+($E$2:$G$25=1)=1 as a SUMIF solution, I have, =($F$2:$H$13=0)+($F$2:$H$13=1)=1 as my solution but it does not work. The only thing I changed is the ranges. Any suggestions?
Thank you.
Jim
I cannot get the fourth Equation of TURE or FALSE statements to work in my excel spreadsheet You have =($E$2:$G$25=0)+($E$2:$G$25=1)=1 as a SUMIF solution, I have, =($F$2:$H$13=0)+($F$2:$H$13=1)=1 as my solution but it does not work. The only thing I changed is the ranges. Any suggestions?
Sorry I left some of it out in the previous question,
Thank you. Jim