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

  • Thread starter Thread starter GSalisbury
  • Start date Start date
G

GSalisbury

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,
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 said:
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 said:
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Have a look at

http://www.dataschenk.com/Newsletters/Tips/ExDateStamp.htm

Greetings from New Zealand
Bill K

GSalisbury said:
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 said:
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 said:
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Tools>options>calculation and check iteration

also see

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

--
Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

(No private emails please)


GSalisbury said:
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 said:
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 said:
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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 said:
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 said:
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 said:
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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 said:
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 said:
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 said:
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
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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 said:
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 said:
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 said:
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
Click to expand...
like
it
the way it is.
Geo.

Unable to test this until the date changes, but it works OK with
Click to expand...
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
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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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.
 
I left out that A26 has a Date Format and the B, F, J and N 26es have Time
formats.

GSalisbury said:
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 said:
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
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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