We can create random data using RANDBETWEEN and INDEX functions. What if you want to create random data that favors some values over others? People have told me that they copy and paste or manually drag the values to repeat them. See how we can automate this with just four easy steps! Continue reading
I visit many different Excel blogs. Every once in a while I learn something completely new that really boggles my mind! And in this case the Chess world overlaps the Excel world so it was REALLY amazing (and nerdy)! How do I start to explain how awesome this is? Continue reading
Have you ever visited excelxor.com ? It’s an amazing blog with a lot of Excel formula challenges. Here’s one challenge: “given the the 6-by-4 array on the left we may wish to create the single-column on the right” Continue reading
Sometimes life is stranger than fiction. If we were to create this requirement as a hypothetical case many would say that it would never happen. Well, this was a real question that someone had for me. Read this post to see the requirements and how I solved this. I’ve also included alternative solutions from the Excel community. Continue reading
We have a bunch of names in a column. We need to create a unique and alphabetically sorted list. BE CAREFUL! Before we jump into a solution we should ask a couple of key questions. Does the solution need to be dynamic? Do we need to teach the solution to our co-worker or client? Continue reading
There are many factors to consider when creating a solution in Excel. Are we building the solution for someone else with basic Excel skills? Should we use a complex formula in only one column to save space or use helper formulas to simplify the solution? Let’s take a look at this question from Mike Girvin’s ExcelIsFun YouTube channel. Continue reading
In the movie Forrest Gump I’m sure you remember when Bubba lists different ways to prepare shrimp: “You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey’s uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that’s about it.“ Continue reading
Oz du Soleil and I have been trading Excel ideas for a couple of years now. During ModelOff’s Global Training Camp in Toronto (Sept 22&23) I met Oz in person! Oz flew in from Oregon to deliver one of the Excel sessions. At one point Oz asked the following question: “Given a list of 10 names, how can Excel display all the name pairs?” Continue reading
Such a clear question originating from the classic: “How many unique items per group“? Continue reading
Extracting insights from text can get messy! The good news is that challenging requirements can often lead to very creative solutions! Continue reading