Is there an "if ... do nothing" mechanisim?

Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
question.
Please point me to it if it's there.
Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...

Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something is
elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current] date
and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something in a
cell.

What I have is:

Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3...

What I'm trying to do is-

. when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the Date
cell [once].
. when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets Time
cell [once].

I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two days
later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
intended values of when the data was entered.

Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
solution exists.

TIA.
gs

Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with NOW() in
place of TODAY().

Put this in A2.

=IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))

--
Ian
--
"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
> I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
> question.
> Please point me to it if it's there.
> Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
>
> Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something is
> elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current] date
> and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something in
> a
> cell.
>
> What I have is:
>
> Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
> v3...
>
> What I'm trying to do is-
>
> . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the Date
> cell [once].
> . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets Time
> cell [once].
>
> I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two days
> later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
> intended values of when the data was entered.
>
> Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
> solution exists.
>
> TIA.
> gs
>
>

Ian,
Thanks.
That was sort of one of my attempts (not the NOW part) and what I get is:
"Cannot resolve circular references" using the A2=A2 syntax.
That is what my problem is - how to tell it to leave a cell alone I like it
the way it is.
Geo.

"Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with NOW() in
> place of TODAY().
>
> Put this in A2.
>
> =IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))
>
> --
> Ian
> --
> "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
> > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
> > question.
> > Please point me to it if it's there.
> > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
> >
> > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something is
> > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current]
date
> > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something
in
> > a
> > cell.
> >
> > What I have is:
> >
> > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
> > v3...
> >
> > What I'm trying to do is-
> >
> > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the Date
> > cell [once].
> > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets
Time
> > cell [once].
> >
> > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two
days
> > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
> > intended values of when the data was entered.
> >
> > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
> > solution exists.
> >
> > TIA.
> > gs
> >
> >
>
>

Have a look at

http://www.dataschenk.com/Newsletter...xDateStamp.htm

Greetings from New Zealand
Bill K

"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ian,
> Thanks.
> That was sort of one of my attempts (not the NOW part) and what I get is:
> "Cannot resolve circular references" using the A2=A2 syntax.
> That is what my problem is - how to tell it to leave a cell alone I like
> it
> the way it is.
> Geo.
>
> "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with NOW() in
>> place of TODAY().
>>
>> Put this in A2.
>>
>> =IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))
>>
>> --
>> Ian
>> --
>> "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
>> > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
>> > question.
>> > Please point me to it if it's there.
>> > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
>> >
>> > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something
>> > is
>> > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current]
> date
>> > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something
> in
>> > a
>> > cell.
>> >
>> > What I have is:
>> >
>> > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
>> > v3...
>> >
>> > What I'm trying to do is-
>> >
>> > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the
>> > Date
>> > cell [once].
>> > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets
> Time
>> > cell [once].
>> >
>> > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two
> days
>> > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
>> > intended values of when the data was entered.
>> >
>> > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
>> > solution exists.
>> >
>> > TIA.
>> > gs
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

Tools>options>calculation and check iteration

also see

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/timestamp.html

--
Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

(No private emails please)


"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ian,
> Thanks.
> That was sort of one of my attempts (not the NOW part) and what I get is:
> "Cannot resolve circular references" using the A2=A2 syntax.
> That is what my problem is - how to tell it to leave a cell alone I like
> it
> the way it is.
> Geo.
>
> "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with NOW() in
>> place of TODAY().
>>
>> Put this in A2.
>>
>> =IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))
>>
>> --
>> Ian
>> --
>> "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
>> > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
>> > question.
>> > Please point me to it if it's there.
>> > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
>> >
>> > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something
>> > is
>> > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current]
> date
>> > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something
> in
>> > a
>> > cell.
>> >
>> > What I have is:
>> >
>> > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
>> > v3...
>> >
>> > What I'm trying to do is-
>> >
>> > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the
>> > Date
>> > cell [once].
>> > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets
> Time
>> > cell [once].
>> >
>> > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two
> days
>> > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
>> > intended values of when the data was entered.
>> >
>> > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
>> > solution exists.
>> >
>> > TIA.
>> > gs
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

Bill,
Peo,
Thanks for the links to the timestamp macros - they're keepers.
For the low-level sheet I'm playing with (tracking blood pressure and pulse
readings) the NOW function and the Iteration Option seems to do more less
what I want (I think).
I'll have to play with it a little more at work (that's what work is for
isn't it<g>) to see it I can parse the date and time pieces out of the
ddd.ttt return.
I'll post back with my results.
Again, thanks.
Geo.

"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ian,
> Thanks.
> That was sort of one of my attempts (not the NOW part) and what I get is:
> "Cannot resolve circular references" using the A2=A2 syntax.
> That is what my problem is - how to tell it to leave a cell alone I like
it
> the way it is.
> Geo.
>
> "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with NOW()
in
> > place of TODAY().
> >
> > Put this in A2.
> >
> > =IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))
> >
> > --
> > Ian
> > --
> > "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> > > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
> > > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
> > > question.
> > > Please point me to it if it's there.
> > > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
> > >
> > > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something
is
> > > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current]
> date
> > > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something
> in
> > > a
> > > cell.
> > >
> > > What I have is:
> > >
> > > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
> > > v3...
> > >
> > > What I'm trying to do is-
> > >
> > > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the
Date
> > > cell [once].
> > > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets
> Time
> > > cell [once].
> > >
> > > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two
> days
> > > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
> > > intended values of when the data was entered.
> > >
> > > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
> > > solution exists.
> > >
> > > TIA.
> > > gs
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>

Of course there is also the shortcut to enter the time
hold <cntrl><shift>push : (colon)
or for the date hold <cntrl> push ; semicolon

--
Greetings from New Zealand
Bill K
"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Bill,
> Peo,
> Thanks for the links to the timestamp macros - they're keepers.
> For the low-level sheet I'm playing with (tracking blood pressure and
> pulse
> readings) the NOW function and the Iteration Option seems to do more less
> what I want (I think).
> I'll have to play with it a little more at work (that's what work is for
> isn't it<g>) to see it I can parse the date and time pieces out of the
> ddd.ttt return.
> I'll post back with my results.
> Again, thanks.
> Geo.
>
> "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Ian,
>> Thanks.
>> That was sort of one of my attempts (not the NOW part) and what I get is:
>> "Cannot resolve circular references" using the A2=A2 syntax.
>> That is what my problem is - how to tell it to leave a cell alone I like
> it
>> the way it is.
>> Geo.
>>
>> "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with NOW()
> in
>> > place of TODAY().
>> >
>> > Put this in A2.
>> >
>> > =IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))
>> >
>> > --
>> > Ian
>> > --
>> > "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
>> > news:[email protected]...
>> > > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find
>> > > it.
>> > > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
>> > > question.
>> > > Please point me to it if it's there.
>> > > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
>> > >
>> > > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something
> is
>> > > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current]
>> date
>> > > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter
>> > > something
>> in
>> > > a
>> > > cell.
>> > >
>> > > What I have is:
>> > >
>> > > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
>> > > v3...
>> > >
>> > > What I'm trying to do is-
>> > >
>> > > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the
> Date
>> > > cell [once].
>> > > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets
>> Time
>> > > cell [once].
>> > >
>> > > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two
>> days
>> > > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
>> > > intended values of when the data was entered.
>> > >
>> > > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and
>> > > a
>> > > solution exists.
>> > >
>> > > TIA.
>> > > gs
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

Bill,
Thanks.
I really don't know any of Excel's shortcut keys - I'll have to try to
remember these I can see how they'd come in handy.
I was looking for something a little more auto-entered.
I think I found what I wanted - see other response.
Geo.

"Bill Kuunders" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Of course there is also the shortcut to enter the time
> hold <cntrl><shift>push : (colon)
> or for the date hold <cntrl> push ; semicolon
>
> --
> Greetings from New Zealand
> Bill K
> "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Bill,
> > Peo,
> > Thanks for the links to the timestamp macros - they're keepers.
> > For the low-level sheet I'm playing with (tracking blood pressure and
> > pulse
> > readings) the NOW function and the Iteration Option seems to do more
less
> > what I want (I think).
> > I'll have to play with it a little more at work (that's what work is for
> > isn't it<g>) to see it I can parse the date and time pieces out of the
> > ddd.ttt return.
> > I'll post back with my results.
> > Again, thanks.
> > Geo.
> >
> > "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> Ian,
> >> Thanks.
> >> That was sort of one of my attempts (not the NOW part) and what I get
is:
> >> "Cannot resolve circular references" using the A2=A2 syntax.
> >> That is what my problem is - how to tell it to leave a cell alone I
like
> > it
> >> the way it is.
> >> Geo.
> >>
> >> "Ian" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> news:[email protected]...
> >> > Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with
NOW()
> > in
> >> > place of TODAY().
> >> >
> >> > Put this in A2.
> >> >
> >> > =IF(B2="","",IF(A2="",TODAY(),A2))
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Ian
> >> > --
> >> > "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> >> > news:[email protected]...
> >> > > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find
> >> > > it.
> >> > > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase
my
> >> > > question.
> >> > > Please point me to it if it's there.
> >> > > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
> >> > >
> >> > > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if
something
> > is
> >> > > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with
[current]
> >> date
> >> > > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter
> >> > > something
> >> in
> >> > > a
> >> > > cell.
> >> > >
> >> > > What I have is:
> >> > >
> >> > > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1
v2
> >> > > v3...
> >> > >
> >> > > What I'm trying to do is-
> >> > >
> >> > > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the
> > Date
> >> > > cell [once].
> >> > > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the
sets
> >> Time
> >> > > cell [once].
> >> > >
> >> > > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say
two
> >> days
> >> > > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as
the
> >> > > intended values of when the data was entered.
> >> > >
> >> > > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough
and
> >> > > a
> >> > > solution exists.
> >> > >
> >> > > TIA.
> >> > > gs
> >> > >
> >> > >
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

Thanks all for the input.
I was able to construct what I needed.
IYI, this is an example of some of it with Tools/Options Iteration controls
"on":

this is A26:
=IF( AND(B26="",F26="",J26="",N26=""), "", IF(A26="",NOW(), A26 ) )

this B26, F26, J26 and N26 (F, J and N reference their adjacent 3 cells):
=IF( AND(C26="",D26="",E26=""), "", IF(B26="",ROUND(NOW()*$IV$2,0)/$IV$2,
B26 ) )

this is an x26 (someday I'll concatenate it with A26):
=IF(A26<>"",
LOOKUP(WEEKDAY(A26),{1,2,3,4,5,6,7;"Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"
}), "" )

The $IV$2 in the B26 et.al. references a cell with a value for rounding to
nearest minutes. In my case it's 288 for nearest 5 minutes. I got this,
actually, from an 11/22 post in this group. Many thanks Bob Phillips. It was
an amazing coincidence of timing as that is exactly what I would have wanted
to do with the result.

"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
> I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
> question.
> Please point me to it if it's there.
> Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
>
> Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something is
> elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current] date
> and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something in
a
> cell.
>
> What I have is:
>
> Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
v3...
>
> What I'm trying to do is-
>
> . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the Date
> cell [once].
> . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets Time
> cell [once].
>
> I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two days
> later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
> intended values of when the data was entered.
>
> Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
> solution exists.
>
> TIA.
> gs
>
>

I left out that A26 has a Date Format and the B, F, J and N 26es have Time
formats.

"GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks all for the input.
> I was able to construct what I needed.
> IYI, this is an example of some of it with Tools/Options Iteration
controls
> "on":
>
> this is A26:
> =IF( AND(B26="",F26="",J26="",N26=""), "", IF(A26="",NOW(), A26 ) )
>
> this B26, F26, J26 and N26 (F, J and N reference their adjacent 3 cells):
> =IF( AND(C26="",D26="",E26=""), "", IF(B26="",ROUND(NOW()*$IV$2,0)/$IV$2,
> B26 ) )
>
> this is an x26 (someday I'll concatenate it with A26):
> =IF(A26<>"",
>
LOOKUP(WEEKDAY(A26),{1,2,3,4,5,6,7;"Sun","Mon","Tue","Wed","Thu","Fri","Sat"
> }), "" )
>
> The $IV$2 in the B26 et.al. references a cell with a value for rounding to
> nearest minutes. In my case it's 288 for nearest 5 minutes. I got this,
> actually, from an 11/22 post in this group. Many thanks Bob Phillips. It
was
> an amazing coincidence of timing as that is exactly what I would have
wanted
> to do with the result.
>
> "GSalisbury" <salsburyg at comcast dot net> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Sorry if this is already discussed somewhere but I just can't find it.
> > I'm basically new to Excel and maybe just don't know how to phase my
> > question.
> > Please point me to it if it's there.
> > Anyway (I'm v7.0 in Office95 PRO if that matters)...
> >
> > Can I form an "if already there leave it alone otherwise if something is
> > elsewhere do this" statement? Specifically I'm dealing with [current]
date
> > and time values. I'm trying to capture the date/time I enter something
in
> a
> > cell.
> >
> > What I have is:
> >
> > Date Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2 v3 Time v1 v2
> v3...
> >
> > What I'm trying to do is-
> >
> > . when something is in any Time cell put the current date in the
Date
> > cell [once].
> > . when something is in a vn cell put the current time in the sets
Time
> > cell [once].
> >
> > I can get it to appear to work but when I open the file let's say two
days
> > later the dates and times all change to "then" they don't stay as the
> > intended values of when the data was entered.
> >
> > Hopefully what I'm trying to do and is happening is clear enough and a
> > solution exists.
> >
> > TIA.
> > gs
> >
> >
>
>