Last week in the Chandoo.org Forums a user asked a question
“How do I convert a Roman Numeral to a Number eg: MMMCCCLVII to 3357”
User Xlstime presented the solution of:
=MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
Today we are going to look at how and why that simple formula works
As always at Formula Forensics you can follow along using a sample file: Download Sample File
Solution
Excel has a Roman function wherein =Roman(3357, 0) will return MMMCCCLVII
I knew there was no such reverse Roman function prior to Excel 2013 and so my initial thought was to look at a VBA Solution.
See notes on the Arabic Excel function at the end of the post.
However Xlstime presented =MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
How does this work?
lets start by pulling it apart from the inside out
=MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
The Indirect Function simply takes its inputs and converts them to a Range, in this case 1:3999.
We will study why 3999 later
=MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
The next function working out is Row()
Excel will convert the function ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”)) to an array of Row Numbers
={1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9;10;11; …. 3995;3996;3997;3998;3999}
You can see this if you goto cell D7 in the Sample File, press F2 and then F9
I limited the numbers to 300 as Excel cannot display more than 8,192 digits
Stepping out one more function:
=MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
The Roman() function converts its inputs into Roman Numbers
eg: Roman(58) will return LVIII
But as we are feeding it an array of numbers from 1 to 3999 Excel handles all these and converts them to an Array of Roman Numbers
Goto D9 in the sample file =ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:300”))) press F2 and then F9
Excel returns an array of roman numbers
={“I”;”II”;”III”;”IV”;”V”;”VI”;”VII”;”VIII”; … “CCXCVI”;”CCXCVII”;”CCXCVIII”;”CCXCIX”;”CCC”}
We have limited the example to 300 as Excel cannot display more than 8,192 characters when processing a Function using F9.
Stepping out one more function
=MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
The Excel Index() function is taking the Array of Roman Numerals and Converting it into a single Column array
This isn’t technically needed but it simplifies the solution
If you goto cell D11 in the sample file =INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0) press F2 and then F9
Excel returns an array of roman numbers
={“I”;”II”;”III”;”IV”;”V”;”VI”;”VII”;”VIII”; … “CCXCVI”;”CCXCVII”;”CCXCVIII”;”CCXCIX”;”CCC”}
This is exactly the same as the previous output from the Roman() function above, Except that it is now a Single Vertical Array. This is important for the next function.
Stepping out one more function
=MATCH(A2,INDEX(ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0),0)
We can see here that the Array of Roman Numerals is now being fed into a Match() function.
Match uses the Syntax =Match(Lookup value, Lookup Array, Match Type)
Match returns the position of the Lookup value within the array
So in our example
The Lookup value is A2 or our Roman Numeral MMMCCCLVII
The Lookup Array is an array of Roman Numerals from 1 to 3999
={“I”;”II”;”III”;”IV”;”V”;”VI”;”VII”;”VIII”; … “MMMCMXCV”; “MMMCMXCVI”; “MMMCMXCVII”; “MMMCMXCVIII”; “MMMCMXCIX”}
and the Match Type is 0 or an exact Match
So the Match function will lookup the value MMMCCCLVII in the array and find it in position number 3357, which happens to correspond to the Number of the Roman Numeral and Return 3357 as the result.
Why are we limited to 3999 numbers.
The Excel Roman() function is limited to numbers up to 3999
Why 3999?
Because in Roman Numerals there is no Letter for 5,000 and 4,000 would be shown as M before the Letter for 5,000.
Why did we need the Index() function?
If you goto D17 in the sample file you will see the formula:
=MATCH(A2,ROMAN(ROW(INDIRECT(“1:3999”))),0)
It is the same formula as above but without the Index() function
You will see that it is returning a #VALUE! error
If you edit the formula with F2 and then press F9 to process the function you will see it now shows 3357
What s happening here?
Pressing F9 is the same as Array Entering the Function
so if you edit the function pressing F2 and now Array Enter the function by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter, excel now returns 3357
The Index() function puts a wrapper around the array for processing by the Match() function and so Array Entering is avoided.
Most array formulas that require Ctrl+Shift+Enter can be rewritten incorporating an INDEX wrapper and will not require the Ctrl+Shift+Enter confirmation.
The Excel Arabic Function
In 2013, Microsoft introduced the Arabic function to Excel
To use simply use =Arabic(A2) or =Arabic(“MMMCCCLVII”)
You can read about the Syntax of the function in the Excel Help.
Download
You can download a copy of the above file and follow along, Download Sample File.
A Challenge
Can you solve the problem another way ?
Post your solutions in the comments below.
Other Posts in this Series
The Formula Forensics Series contains a wealth of useful solutions and information specifically about how Normal Formula and specifically Array Formula work.
You can learn more about how to pull Excel Formulas apart in the following posts: http://chandoo.org/wp/formula-forensics-homepage/
If you have a formula and you want to understand how it works contact Hui and it may be featured in future posts.
25 Responses to “Shift Calendar Template – FREE Download”
Hi Chandoo,
your recent postings include only Excel 2007 templates. Unfortunately the company I work at still runs Excel 2003. Is it possible to get your awesome files in other excel version as well?
Thanks so much for your great excel stuff!
Is it possible to do this for shifts with hours instead of days? To organise a three shift day?
Thanks in advance,
Stelios
In my organization there are 45 employees i need split then into three shifts ex:A shift:14,B shift:14,C shift:14 and week off:3 kindly help me on this.
@Masthan
You need to understand what rules your company has for the various shifts / roster combinations
Chandoo, I once did a shift control spreadsheet for my team. I put one person in each line, the columns were the days. I put a shift code in each cell indicating in which shift that person should work, or if the person were out that day. I have two codes for being out. One is for vacations and one is to compensate days worked in weekends. This way I was able to count how many persons I have in each shift, how many were on vacations and how many were out compensating (that's the term we use here) weekend worked hours.
Later I included the possibility of a person be in two lines one for normal hours other for overtime. This is mainly used for planning purposes. If you would like I can send you an example. The only problem of this spreadsheet is that we don't have a person view, only this consolidated view.
Hi George, I would like to have a copy of your spreadsheet if you can share it.
Thanks in advance, Chuck
Hi Chandoo,
Where is the code located ? is it VBA ? If so , how do you hide it ? Or it is .NET ?
Thx
@Idan
.
No VBA or code, it is all done with Mirrors.
Only Joking,
.
But there is no VBA or code,
It is all done with Named Formulas and Lookups.
Have alook at the cells in the calander area and Named Formulas in the Formulas, Name Manager Tab.
How can i calculate between two or more different workbooks? Please, reply me as early as possible.
@Anand
Open the workbooks you want to link to
Start a formula = and click and change between workbooks as required.
You can use the View, Switch window menu to change workbooks mid formula
The format for using workbooks is
=[Workbook.xlsm]Sheet1!$A$1
or
=SUM('[Book2.xls]Sheet1'!$A$1:$D$10)
etc
Hi Chandoo,
I am working with a call centre wherein i ned to update at the month end 20 to 30 employees login hours which are defict to track it at the month end is very difficult is there any template which can be made to track that why on a particular day a guy who needs to be on calls was why not on calls.
Thank you so much Chandoo. This is really helping me. As usual, you rock.
What's FortyTwoDays and Calendar in Name manager?
Both are unused and FortyTwoDays doesn't make any sense.
I have a SQL db that contains records of events scheduled/completed on a particular date. Can this method ous building a calendar be used to display those events on the respective day?
Positively awesome!
I'm attempting to help a friend create a schedule for adult classes - and of course its not"paid help". Here is the scenario:
20 classes, instructor, room#, student class size, start date, number of class days (need to subtract weekends)
class
instructor
room
students
start
#days
PATH
karen
201
21
01/01/13
11
BILLING
jane
401
15
01/12/13
13
MEDISOFT
mike
301
11
01/25/13
9
he'd like to see these classes show up in different colors within the same month's calendar chart. He can draw it, but I'd like to see it done automatically through data, and I just can't visualize it, but I KNOW this will work - can you help?
Jan 🙂
Dear chandoo,
Try many way to download still can't access. Any way we want to try out 3 shifts with 3 guys in a group .eg Group A Morn, Group B Night and Group C Rest. And every each group must work on sunday to take turns. In fact we are security teams so that's why sunday is required to work. Pls guide and show how to put in the working calendar. Thank you in advance.
I've been trying to copy and/or recreate this to use in a workbook I'm doing for the transportation department I'm working for. I need to have the calendar on the first sheet in my document (it has graph's from data on another sheet). I'm trying to use it to track (with the conditional formatting) accidents and injuries. I've redone the conditional formatting to do 4 different accident types (no injury, near miss, OSHA recordable injury and work loss injury), but when I enter the formula's you have in the calendar portion where it says "DateOfFirst-FirstWeekDay" I can't figure out how you did that. Are you able to help?
I would like to use Excel to solve the following problem for a community work. I want to create a Driver schedule for a given month from a pool of volunteers for a community service. Each of these volunteers can drive only on specific days in a week. I would like to populate the driving schedule for each weekday with primary, secondary and tertiary drivers in a random fashion so that I do not overburden one person. I would greatly any help you can provide.
Hi chandoo,
Thanks for your valuable effort for create this template and let me know how to add multiple employees in the the Roaster.
Hi Chandoo,
This article on shift roaster is very helpful. Could you please let me know how i can use the same for n number of resources who work 24/7, considering their leaves and holidays?
Thanks,
Savitha
Hi Chandoo,
This article on shift roaster is very helpful to all. Could you please let me know how i can use the same if I want to add for some more shifts, since the color is not getting change if I add more shifts like 4,5 etc.,
Thanks,
Murali
nice post
How can I change the date to 2017 under Shift Data worksheet.
solution 1:
mydata=B2:C16
stoplist=E2:E8
=LET(RNG,A2:A16,SMR,C2:C16, F,(RNG=E2)+(RNG=E3)+(RNG=E4)+(RNG=E5)+(RNG=E6)+(RNG=E7)+(RNG=E8),SUM(SMR)-SUM(SMR*F))
=LET(RNG,A2:A16,SMR,C2:C16,RH,N(B2:B16=B2), F,(RNG=E2)+(RNG=E3)+(RNG=E4)+(RNG=E5)+(RNG=E6)+(RNG=E7)+(RNG=E8),TOT,SUM(SMR)-SUM(SMR*RH*F),SUM(SMR*RH)-SUM(SMR* RH*F))
ALTERNATE SOLUTION
=SUM(C2:C16)-SUM(FILTER(C2:C16,ISNUMBER(BYROW(A2:A16,LAMBDA(a,TOROW(SEARCH(a,E2:E8),2))))))
=SUM((B2:B16=B2)*(C2:C16))-SUM((ISNUMBER(BYROW(A2:A16,LAMBDA(a,TOROW(SEARCH(a,E2:E8),2))))*(B2:B16=B2)*(C2:C16)))
let
Source = Excel.CurrentWorkbook(){[Name="Table1"]}[Content],
#"Replaced Value" = Table.ReplaceValue(Source,null,";",Replacer.ReplaceValue,{"Column1"}),
#"Transposed Table" = Table.Transpose(#"Replaced Value"),
#"Removed Other Columns" = Table.SelectColumns(#"Transposed Table",{"Column1", "Column2", "Column3", "Column4", "Column5", "Column6", "Column7", "Column8", "Column9", "Column10", "Column11", "Column12", "Column13", "Column14", "Column15", "Column16", "Column17", "Column18", "Column19", "Column20", "Column21", "Column22", "Column23", "Column24", "Column25", "Column26", "Column27", "Column28", "Column29", "Column30", "Column31", "Column32", "Column33", "Column34", "Column35", "Column36", "Column37", "Column38", "Column39", "Column40", "Column41", "Column42", "Column43", "Column44", "Column45", "Column46", "Column47", "Column48", "Column49", "Column50", "Column51", "Column52", "Column53", "Column54", "Column55", "Column56", "Column57", "Column58", "Column59", "Column60", "Column61", "Column62", "Column63", "Column64", "Column65", "Column66", "Column67", "Column68", "Column69", "Column70", "Column71", "Column72", "Column73", "Column74", "Column75", "Column76", "Column77", "Column78", "Column79", "Column80", "Column81", "Column82", "Column83", "Column84", "Column85", "Column86", "Column87"}),
#"Merged Columns" = Table.CombineColumns(#"Removed Other Columns",{"Column1", "Column2", "Column3", "Column4", "Column5", "Column6", "Column7", "Column8", "Column9", "Column10", "Column11", "Column12", "Column13", "Column14", "Column15", "Column16", "Column17", "Column18", "Column19", "Column20", "Column21", "Column22", "Column23", "Column24", "Column25", "Column26", "Column27", "Column28", "Column29", "Column30", "Column31", "Column32", "Column33", "Column34", "Column35", "Column36", "Column37", "Column38", "Column39", "Column40", "Column41", "Column42", "Column43", "Column44", "Column45", "Column46", "Column47", "Column48", "Column49", "Column50", "Column51", "Column52", "Column53", "Column54", "Column55", "Column56", "Column57", "Column58", "Column59", "Column60", "Column61", "Column62", "Column63", "Column64", "Column65", "Column66", "Column67", "Column68", "Column69", "Column70", "Column71", "Column72", "Column73", "Column74", "Column75", "Column76", "Column77", "Column78", "Column79", "Column80", "Column81", "Column82", "Column83", "Column84", "Column85", "Column86", "Column87"},Combiner.CombineTextByDelimiter("|", QuoteStyle.None),"Merged"),
#"Split Column by Delimiter" = Table.ExpandListColumn(Table.TransformColumns(#"Merged Columns", {{"Merged", Splitter.SplitTextByDelimiter(";", QuoteStyle.Csv), let itemType = (type nullable text) meta [Serialized.Text = true] in type {itemType}}}), "Merged"),
#"Added Prefix" = Table.TransformColumns(#"Split Column by Delimiter", {{"Merged", each "|" & _, type text}}),
#"Replaced Value1" = Table.ReplaceValue(#"Added Prefix","||","|",Replacer.ReplaceText,{"Merged"}),
#"Split Column by Delimiter1" = Table.SplitColumn(#"Replaced Value1", "Merged", Splitter.SplitTextByDelimiter("|", QuoteStyle.Csv), {"Merged.1", "Merged.2", "Merged.3", "Merged.4", "Merged.5", "Merged.6", "Merged.7", "Merged.8"}),
#"Removed Columns" = Table.RemoveColumns(#"Split Column by Delimiter1",{"Merged.1"}),
#"Removed Duplicates" = Table.Distinct(#"Removed Columns")
in
#"Removed Duplicates"