Tricky comparing question

[Corben]

I have my list of Criteria in Column A - (In this case the Criteria are names)
In column B, C, D, and so on are days of the month.

I paste the raw data underneath the spreadsheet in the coresponding columns.
So, day 1 is under column B. Day 2 under column C and so on.

I have formulas setup in the spreadsheet to count every time it sees the
name in the data for each day. Those formulas work great, so I dont want to
change them.

Here is a small example of the layout.
A B C D E
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
John 1 0 1 1
Mark 2 0 0 0
Steve 0 3 1 0
Dan 0 0 1 1

John Steve John John <--This data is pasted
from a text file
Mark Steve Dan Dan
Mark Steve Steve Jason

Notice that in column E, the name Jason is in the data, but not anywhere in
column A. So there are 3 names in the data list, but only 2 are counted. So I
would then have to insert a new row for Jason.

What I would like to do is to somehow compare the names after I paste the
data in, and if there is a name that is not in column A, then it would point
that out - maybe changing the text color to red, or returning a value into
another cell.

Thank you in advance for any ideas.

[SteveG]

Corben,

You could use conditional formatting. Select the first cell you want to see if is in your list of criteria (in my example B5). Go to Format>Conditional formatting. Change the Cell value is option to Formula is. Enter this formula.

=COUNTIF($A:$A,B5)=0

Click on Format, Font and change the text color option to Red. Click ok and ok. Use the format painter to apply this to all other cells where you will be pasting in the data. This is where column A is not one of the columns where you will be pasting the data.

HTH

Steve

[Bob Phillips]

Use conditional formatting.

Select all of the imported data, let's assume it starts at A40

Format>Conditional Formatting
Change Condition 1 to Formula Is
Enter the formula
=ISNUMBER(MATCH(A40,$A$2:$A$20,0))
Click format
Select the pattern tab
Choose a colour
OK out

That should work, change the cell references to suit.

--
HTH

Bob Phillips

(remove nothere from email address if mailing direct)

"Corben" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I have my list of Criteria in Column A - (In this case the Criteria are
names)
> In column B, C, D, and so on are days of the month.
>
> I paste the raw data underneath the spreadsheet in the coresponding
columns.
> So, day 1 is under column B. Day 2 under column C and so on.
>
> I have formulas setup in the spreadsheet to count every time it sees the
> name in the data for each day. Those formulas work great, so I dont want
to
> change them.
>
> Here is a small example of the layout.
> A B C D E
> Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
> John 1 0 1 1
> Mark 2 0 0 0
> Steve 0 3 1 0
> Dan 0 0 1 1
>
> John Steve John John <--This data is
pasted
> from a text file
> Mark Steve Dan Dan
> Mark Steve Steve Jason
>
> Notice that in column E, the name Jason is in the data, but not anywhere
in
> column A. So there are 3 names in the data list, but only 2 are counted.
So I
> would then have to insert a new row for Jason.
>
> What I would like to do is to somehow compare the names after I paste the
> data in, and if there is a name that is not in column A, then it would
point
> that out - maybe changing the text color to red, or returning a value into
> another cell.
>
> Thank you in advance for any ideas.

[Corben]

Thanks,
I tried this in a few of the cells - Cell range for Day 1 is B250-B1000
so I tried in B251, B252, B253 and it worked, but I'm not sure what you
meant by applying it to all other cells.



"SteveG" wrote:

>
> Corben,
>
> You could use conditional formatting. Select the first cell you want
> to see if is in your list of criteria (in my example B5). Go to
> Format>Conditional formatting. Change the Cell value is option to
> Formula is. Enter this formula.
>
> =COUNTIF($A:$A,B5)=0
>
> Click on Format, Font and change the text color option to Red. Click
> ok and ok. Use the format painter to apply this to all other cells
> where you will be pasting in the data. This is where column A is not
> one of the columns where you will be pasting the data.
>
> HTH
>
> Steve
>
>
> --
> SteveG
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