Conditional Format Formula Issue

[Guest]

Hi,

I am trying to use CF on a non-contiguous range of cells. I'm basically
trying to tell it to place a top border on the cell if it is NOT the same as
the cell above it. I have also tried only contiguous cells, with no luck
either(and would certainly have no problems applying it multiple times if a
solution required doing so).

The only way it has sort of "worked" is to enter it in only 1 cell, however,
the moment I add it to another cell, it stops working for both cells(or any
value when I try to use the formula on >1 cells). I originally had other CF's
applied, but even deleting those rules does not get this to function for me.

Is this formula too volatile for what i'm trying to accomplish? Or do I have
something else wrong with it?

=IF(CELL("contents")<>CELL("contents",INDIRECT(SUBSTITUTE(CELL("address"),ROW(),ROW()-1))),TRUE,FALSE)


Regards,
Steve

 

[Bob Phillips]

Why not just use

=B2=B1

and copy down

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)

 

[Guest]

Is there a way to copy & increment Conditional Format formulas? I have tried
dragging this down & it keeps the same CF formula for every cell I copy to. I
was sure to not use "$" or anything...but it doesnt seem to increment. I was
hoping my formula would work since I have over 400 cells to format. I tried
Paste Special & got the same result. Hmm...

Also...not that I think it matters much, but the idea for the CF formula
would be

=B2<>B1

Not sure if that changes the thought.

 

[T. Valko]

I have over 400 cells to format.

What cells do you want formatted? You don't have to list all 400 but list
several. Is there a pattern?

 

[Guest]

the cells do have a definitive pattern which will remain static. The contents
within the cells will change dynamically(FYI, may not matter).

There are 2 ways I believe which satisfy the same result/formatting I'm
trying to get. Each row would need to be incremented as it goes down the
column though.

Formula placed in C7
=C7<>C8
Formatting should render a bottom outline in C7 if TRUE.

Formula placed in C7
=C7<>C6
Formatting should render a top outline in C7 if TRUE.

I know C6 is not in the range of cells listed below, but I think either
method ends up comparing to a cell out of range at one end or the other(i.e.
C51 or C6). I plan to format for blanks, so even if C7 or C50 are blank(which
C6 & C51 are as well), they should still render the correct result, as I'll
have the blank value CF as a precedent...or at least thats the plan.

Cells for formatting are:

$C$7:$C$50;$H$7:$H$50;$M$7:$M$50;$R$7:$R$50;$W$7:$W$50;$AB$7:$AB$50;$AG$7:$AG$50;$AL$7:$AL$50;$AQ$7:$AQ$50


Regards,
Steve

 

[T. Valko]

Try this:

I don't know if you need/want to account for empty cells or not.

Select the range C7:C50.
C7 is the active cell. It's fill color is clear while the other selected
cells have a blueish color.
Goto Format>Conditional Formatting
Formula Is: =C8<>C7
Click the Format button
Select the Borders tab
Select the line style and the location for the border
OK out

With the range C7:C50 still selected
Goto Edit>Copy
Then select your other ranges:
H7:H50; M7:M50; R7:R50 etc
Then Goto Edit>Paste Special>Formats>OK

 

[Guest]

I tried this & to my surprise it "almost" worked for me. By almost, I mean
that it formatted cells where data is equal 2 consecutives rows...but
anything >2 did not format.

I tried a slight variance, however, and it seems to have solved my problem.

I changed the formula entered in C7 to
=C7<>C8(as opposed to =C8<>C7)

And I only entered it in C7(w/o highlighting C7:C50)...then copy&paste
special>formats to every other cell.

Oddly enough, I could swear I tried it that way before. I'm not necessarily
convinced the variance made the difference, as I had other CF's in play as
well...but it is working perfectly now & I am extremely happy with the
results.

Thank you for the help Biff.

Regards,
Steve

 

[T. Valko]

Glad you got it working. Thanks for the feedback!