Imagine you work at MI5 as a HR officer. You want to find all agents who have license to kill (licence 7). Your data looks like this:
How would you go about it?
If you filter the list or use FIND() or SEARCH() formulas, you will end up with agents who also have licenses 77, 17 or not7. So how would you solve this problem?
Of course, you do what any smart person does. You summon Excel and ask it nicely by using some wicked pattern matching logic.
Finding all cells with 7 in them
Assuming the licenses are in column [licenses], you can use below formula to check if it has 7:
Step 1: Make an extra column, say [Two more commas] and use this formula.
=", "&[@licenses]&", "
Step 2: Now use below formula to find if a license has 7 in it:
=COUNTIFS([@[Two more commas]] , "* 7,*") > 0
This formula returns TRUE if [@licenses] has 7.
So how does it work?
There are three cases for licenses with 7 in them, as shown below.
Once we prefix & suffix COMMASPACE to this, we end up with a text that has the pattern:
<COMMA SPACE number><COMMA SPACE number>...
Now, we simply look for the pattern SPACE7, in this by using the * wildcard along with COUNTIFS.
=COUNTIFS([@[Two more commas]], "* 7,*")
We add a check to see if the count is greater than ZERO (ie did we find the pattern?)
So there you go. Now you can find the agent who can nab the targets.
Related: Using wildcards * ? in Excel VLOOKUP & other functions | Introduction to SUMIFS formula
Adding a few plot twists
Now, your MI5 career would be awfully boring, if there are no plot twists. So Q calls you in to her office and says, “We need a list of all agents who have any of the licenses 7, 65 or 63. Oh, while you are at it, tell me which agents have all three licenses.”
Damn you Q
the evil is you
for making me do
work I don’t want to
Damn you Q.
Added later: Okay, My James Bond knowledge is not very good. M is the boss of MI5, not Q. So let’s assume M calls you in to her office and gives you this task. As usual, you go:
Why do this M?
Everything is ho hum
and then you come
to tell my work is not yumm
Why do this M?
So you are back to your desk. Now the licenses to find are in a named range called list.
You can use COUNTIFS() pattern find logic to get the answer.
For sake of simplicity, let’s assume that you have a new column in your data table called as [Two more commas]
Does the agent have any of the licenses in list?
=SUMPRODUCT(COUNTIFS([@[Two more commas]],"* "&list&",*"))>0
The internal COUNTIFS returns an array of values, which the SUMPRODUCT simply adds up.
Does the agent have all of the licenses in list?
=SUMPRODUCT(COUNTIFS([@[Two more commas]],"* "&list&",*")) = COUNTA(list)
Now, let’s hope Q doesn’t add more plot twists. And if she does, you can always post them in the comments so internet can solve them.
Related: Introduction to Excel SUMPRODUCT function
How would you find license to kill?
I am sure COUNTIFS is not the only way to do this. So what would you do in this case? Will you use formulas / VBA or Power Query? Or something else altogether? Go ahead and share your approach in the comments section.
Note: Thanks to Brian who emailed me this problem.
27 Responses to “How to Embed Youtube videos in to Excel Workbooks?”
Thank you!!
The trick is to get that URL for video. Some videos have this feature disabled... hmm...
very cool. how did you record what you do on Excel? it didn't seem like you was using a camcorders.
This is a great tip. Is it possible to insert a PDF on an excel worksheet? I usually receive quotations in pdf format, and would like to show the quote on a worksheet, rather than using hyperlinks. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
Your instructions didn't work for me, ether in Excel 2010 or 2007, and I tried several times, following the instructions very carefully and to the letter.
What I found out is that, for some odd reason, copying the YouTube URL then adding the ?fs=1&hl=en_US to the end would not work at all for me.
But if I went to the Embed code in YouTube and copied value parameter (minus quotes) and pasted it into the movie property, the movie would play. The Embed code value parameter includes the link and the extra bit you included at the end. No need to copy that as an extra step.
Best feedback on here. Worked like a charm after removing extra YT code. Thanks..
@Gregory,
Thanks your instructions.
I have carefully followed the Instructions mentioned by you and still i am unable to do embed the video in excel.
Please help and your immedate reply will be higly appreceiable.
Regards
Sonu Monga
A Chartered Accountant
If you are using excel 2010 or higher. then there is nothing like Shockwave flash player.
In that case you have to use windows media player.
There is a control naming Windows Media Player in that list.
Insert that contol and then open properties and insert link in URL.
It will work.
@Gregory,
Thanks your instructions.
I have carefully followed the Instructions mentioned by you and still i am unable to do embed the video in excel.
Please help and your immedate reply will be higly appreceiable.
Regards
Sonu Monga
Chartered Accountant
It wouldn't play because you need to indicate the exact location of flash file....by 'Embedding' the file, you get the the exact URL, so it can be played....some videos can't be 'embedded' that's why it won't work....
My developer tools does not list a control for "Shockwave flash object". Where/How do I find it?
Hi Chandoo,
why don't use OCX Window media player ???
you can play your own local video or music
just indicate exact location (Full path or URL)
i.e :
C:\Users\Public\Music\Sample Music\Kalimba.mp3
C:\Users\Public\Videos\Sample Videos\Wildlife.wmv
with macro and userform :
Sub PlayMedia()
On Error Resume Next
UserForm1.WindowsMediaPlayer1.URL = ThisWorkbook.Path & "/" & ActiveCell.Value
' ----- or
' ----- UserForm1.WindowsMediaPlayer1.URL = Exact location
End Sub
Very cool. I also could not get the instructions to work, but was able to use Gregory's suggestion about the embed code. Thanks for posting!
Thanks Chandoo. This is very cool. I was able to make it work using the embed code copying from http: up to _US as you indicated. This is a great way to provide additional training or message as you package your deliverable.
[...] Trying to become a bit flashier with your dashboards? Maybe you’re just looking to include additional material. Take a look at this quick tool to embed YouTube videos in excel workbooks. [...]
Hi Chandoo,
Excellent tip. Very useful.
Is there anyway to link the path in the properties to a cell value so that the user can select the video from a drop down and then have the video play?
Thanks Myles.... to link the path to a cell, I guess you need to use macros..
nothing happend in Embed Youtube videos in to Excel Workbooks, it shows only white blank screen.
Hi Chandoo, How Do I put more than one URL in movie field?
Hi Chandoo,
very good tip.
But how do I start the embeded video in an xlsm file once the tab is selected or through VBA programming?
Appreciating your answer
Steve
Query:
I have created 4 sheets excel file, but when i print this file to PDF it generates two sheets one PDF and two Sheets one PDF … can i know the setting which i had to change. because i want all 4 sheets in one PDF
while Printing i did setting as "Print Entire Workbook"
Awaiting for your reply.
Help!! THis works great, but I'm trying to use VBA to change the URL, which I can do. The problem I am having is getting it to play via VBA.
The object has both .play and .playing = true properties, but neither will actually play the video after updating the .movie url. The correct video appears within the object, but I can't get it to play from VBA... which I really need it to do.. Thoughts?
Hello
Go to Developerr tab and select more control then find windows media player just click it.
after that you have to right click on the embeded object and select properties there you need to add your video file path.(dont forget to include extension like .avi, .mov etc.) in URL field. Then Press Alt+11 and deselct design mode. Once you close the module your video start playing.....
For the life of me, I cannot get this to work. I have followed Chandoos instructions to the letter and also tried using the embed code as Gregory suggested, all I get is a blank white box where the video should be. Is there any other reason that this might not work? Flash version perhaps? Quite frustrating.
Hi I was wondering if was a way after adding a video if one could save to HTML format and it would work?
Hi Chandoo,
This is very helpful, however, is there a way to auto-play the embedded youtube video as soon as somebody opens the excel file? Can you share the macro for the same?
Hi,
Very cool, how is it possible to start automatically the video when the excel sheet is open?
I would like to start the video when i open the worksheet :).
Best regards.
Hello
When trying this method, I got Flash-embedded videos are no longer supported. Is there a solution for this problem?