Lykes asked Formula Forensics “How does a formula work?” Lykes has been using the formula without understanding it.
The formula counts how many times the letters from a list of letters occur in a list of words.
Today we look at a Lykes question.

Background – Spreadsheet Risk Management

In the Managing Spreadsheet Risk series so far we have looked at the concept of spreadsheet risk and how to manage it both at a company level and at a spreadsheet level using Excel functionality. In this final article we are going to have a quick look at an example of spreadsheet auditing software.

What to look for in a Spreadsheet Risk Management Software

First off I should state that there is a wide range of spreadsheet auditing solutions in the marketplace of different types and styles and at a variety of costs. In this section I would like to take a little time to explain the criteria we applied when we were sourcing auditing software.

We love to compare. The instinct to compare leaves no one. Even my two year old twins compare their toys with each other (and fight).

It would make Excel hugely popular if Microsoft builds a handy data comparison tool right in to it. Alas, they have customizable ribbon, 3d effects & equation editor…

Since comparison is one of the main uses of Excel, we have written extensively about it here.

But there is always one more interesting comparison problem. Today, I want to share one such problem, based on a comment left by N-Man.

Count How Many Times a List of Values Occurs in a Range
(or How Can I Simplify My Formula)

Today in Formula Forensics we look at how to count how many times a range of values occurs within a Range of cells and in the process simplify a very nasty formula.

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”.

This post will show you how you can display numbers whilst Dividing or Multiplying the cells value by any Power of 10 !

It has been a while since we had an Excel Links feature. So here we go again. But before jumping in to all the Excel goodness, let me share a few tidbits about our Bangkok adventure.

Houston, We’ve Had a Problem!
In the initial emails requesting a solution to yesterday’s Formula Forensics, Chandoo’s solution, although Technically correct, Didn’t work ?
This post looks at the problem and what was wrong with the data causing the error.