Argh, I am just trying to figure out Excel to get it to do a grade sheet for me. I’ve been to what I thought was a fine website explaining everything I need (http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rzach/teaching/grades.html), but when I try to type in a function to get the thing to do something, all that shows up is the function itself, not the end result of the instructions. What could I be doing wrong? thanks dopers,
xo, C.
Are you putting the = in front of the formula? You can’t even do a simple 1+1 unless you type it in as =1+1.
Yep. I typed it exactly as I understand functions to be typed, with the equal sign first. I entered the reference cell numbers as directed, and used the proper punctuation. I also fiddled around with a setting on the task bar that seemed to move the text around a bit in the cell, but I think that was only to determine the formatting of numbers inside the cell, or to center the entry. Could that need re-setting?
Hm. I’m not an Excel guru, so we might have to escalate you to Tier 2 support :p, but try going to Tools->Options…->Calculation and make sure Automatic is checked. That’s the only other thing I can think of offhand.
One other question: if you open the sample spreadsheet, do the functions on that work as intended for you? It’s possible that your version of Excel doesn’t actually use some of the functions that page talks about, although that seems unlikely.
You might also have display formulas toggled on. Try:
CTRL + `
(that’s the accent on the ~ key, not the apostrophe).
It’s almost certainly a problem with the cell formatting.
Right click the cell with the formula and go to format cells. Then make sure that it’s of category type “General”. Hit ok. Now make sure you have the cell selected and hit F2 then enter.
One way that formulas don’t work in Excel is if the format of the cell is set to “Text”. Select the cell with the formula, then choose “Format”, “Cells” from the top menu, then click on “General” in “Category:” under “Number”. You then need to re-enter the formula: click on it in the Formula Bar after “fx”, then hit the Enter key: the formula should then calculate rather than display.
Format of the cells was my first thought, too.
Nada. But I do keep getting a message now that the formula I typed contains an error. I don’t see where. Crap.
At least that means that it’s being treated as a formula, and not as text.
Another handy way to force calculation to take place if you happen to have automatic calculation turned off is to hit the F9 key.
I notice that on the website, the formula is written with the word, FALSE, in it. I’ve tried it that way, and without the word, as it is on the sample worksheet that accompanies the article. I don’t know what that word tells it, but either way it didn’t work. I appreciate the suggestions. Any others?
Can you type out the formula so we can take a look?
FALSE is an “argument” in Excel. That is, Excel is trying to determine if the criteria returned in the formula is true or false.
Ok, here ya go. This is what I’m typing in the bar at the top where it also enters the info into the cell I have highlighted: =VLOOKUP(B4;$A$31:$B$43;2)
In this case, I have a grade listed in B4. I want to convert it to a numerical amount and I have a two column array of equivalences, letters to numbers. The two columns cover the cells from A31 through B43. In other words, the A column lists the grades from cell 31 through cell 43. In the B column in the same rows, I have the numerical equivalent. I want the program to look up the letter grade I have in B4, compare it to the two column list and return whatever is in the second column next to the grade that is in B4. I’ve also tried the whole thing and added a semicolon and the word FALSE after the number 2, as the directions said. Neither way is working for me.
What’s with the semi-colons? shouldn’t those be commas? That might be your problem.
Yeah, I’m going to say those semicolons should be commas too. See the Microsoft help page for confirmation.
Right, it should be:
=VLOOKUP(B4,$A$31:$B$43,2,FALSE)
Yow. Did it. But the errors are originally on the website that I went to in the first place. Should teach me that the SDMB should be my first line of defense against ignorance.
Its support and resolution like this, make me plunk down the coin every renewal.
declan