Thread: Question about time/date functionality and data table

I volunteer on a communications team for an emergency organization, and I've got a problem that I'm hoping can be solved within excel.

When our responders arrive in the field, one bottleneck is equipment checkout and check-in. The process is currently manual and takes too much time. We're hoping to pair a barcode scanner with an excel worksheet to make the process go a little smoother.

Here are the steps as I envision them:

1. Scan the barcode on responders badge

The barcode essentially references their unique call sign and inserts that number into the first cell. Excel references the corresponding user data from another worksheet (their unit number, call sign, etc) and inserts it into the relevant cells on our equipment checkout form.

***The time & date of the corresponding scan is automatically inserted into an adjacent cell by excel with no additional user input***

2. Scan the barcode on corresponding piece of equipment being checked out (gps unit, radio, etc)

Similar outcome as step 1. Item is scanned, barcode number appears in an excel cell, excel looks up corresponding data (make, model, etc) and inserts it corresponding cells.

3. When equipment is returned at end of mission, the process is essentially repeated, with excel automatically logging the date/time of return.

Issues:

* Can excel insert a date/time into a cell simply by recognizing that an input has occurred in another cell?
* Which function is most relevant to the worksheet/database look up that I mention above?

Since we already use excel extensively for other data collection in the field, I'd prefer that we make this work in excel vs. some other piece of software (if at all possible)

Lastly, my apologies if something similar has already been posted, but if it has, I haven't had any luck in finding it.

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my apologies if something similar has already been posted, but if it has, I haven't had any luck in finding it.

If someone searched the forum using the terms in your thread title they would not find a relevant post. Key to the thread title: think "search friendly"

* Can excel insert a date/time into a cell simply by recognizing that an input has occurred in another cell?

Yes, but it will require the use of VBA coding, using the worksheet_change event.

* Which function is most relevant to the worksheet/database look up that I mention above?

It depends on how your look up table is structured. More than likely, you will need to use an INDEX/MATCH formula as it is the most flexible of the look up methods. Similar functions include VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, LOOKUP - see the Excel help file for details.

To get a precise answer, you would need to upload a sample workbook that EXACTLY duplicates the strcuture of your real workbook and which contains representative (but non-sensitive) data.