Excel First

Excel Solutions

  • Read Data into a Dictionary of Arrays

    There are many scenarios where we need to categorize and split raw data.
    In this scenario, we will split data by category, using a Dictionary of Arrays.

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  • Combine data files with Power Query

    Data variety is a challenge when you need to combine it into a single table. Power Query will fail if the current file type is different than the reference file type or if the file does not contain the exact headers found in the reference file.

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  • Pattern Matching in Power Query

    In Power Query there is no tool yet for matching regular expressions (patterns).Only in Power BI we can run scripts in R and Python, hopefullyRead More

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  • How to Fill PDF Forms in Excel

    If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro installed, then you can use this Excel App to Fill PDF Forms automatically.

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  • LEN function: Basic and Advanced Examples

    LEN function: basic text function, widely used. Advanced examples: Count Items from a range based on text length. Return the smallest text in range.

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  • SUBSTITUTE function: Basic and Advanced Examples

    SUBSTITUTE function can be very useful combined with other functions, to get your desired results. Applications examples: Substitute last occurrence only, Extract partial string after last delimiter, Extract item from delimited text, based on item position.

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  • Working with Excel Functions and Formulas

    Excel Functions are built into Excel and their functionality and arguments cannot be modified by users. An Excel Formula is designed by the user and it can contain multiple Excel Functions, Defined Names, Constants, Range references.

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  • Can’t Open Pivot Table Source file

    Pivot Table fails to refresh, because the Data Source reference is not relative anymore, it contains the file name too. If you receive the message: Can’t open Pivot Table Source file, the workbook will not work anymore as expected.

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  • Working With a Defined Name

    In Excel, you have the option to assign a Name to a cell, or to a Range of cells. This name is reffered to as a Defined Name.

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  • Selecting Excel Table Components

    Selecting Excel Table Components is slightly different from selecting normal ranges in a worksheet, because we have 3 major Excel Table Components, which are special ranges: the Headers Row, the Data Body Range, the Totals Row.

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  • Order of Precedence

    The Order of Precedence used by Excel to calculate formulas is extremely important to know when building complex formulas.

    Of course, Excel will respect all mathematical rules you learned in school, there are only a few more Operators in Excel: the Range Operators, single Space Operator, Union Operator, the Concatenation Operator and the Exponentiation Operator.

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  • Excel Table Components

    An Excel Defined Table is a special object in Excel which adds a lot of new options and functionalities when working with data ranges. Whith Defined Tables, you can manipulate data more easily than before, adding power and flexibility to your applications.
    To create a Defined Table, select the data range, or simply select any cell within the data range, and click the Table button from the Insert tab from Ribbon. The shortcut key is Ctrl+T to create a Defined Table.

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  • Excel Reference Operators

    There are 3 Reference Operators in Excel: “:” (colon) is the Range Operator, “,” (comma) is the Union Operator, ” ” (space) is the Intersection Operator.

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  • Excel Cell Modes

    When you try to edit a conditional formatting formula, and you click the left or right arrows to move across formula’s text, Excel inserts unwanted cell references. Same thing happends when you try to edit a defined name formula, or a chart series…

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  • Excel CRM Tool for Personal Use

    If you’re looking for a Client Relationship Management tool, and you don’t want to spend thousands on a CRM solution, then try this free Excel CRM.

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  • Dynamic Hyperlinks in Excel

    Adding a hyperlink to a specific worksheet or cell is an easy thing to do. But what if you need the hyperlink to be dynamic, no matter if you insert or delete sheets, change the order of sheets, and you want the hyperlink to “know” which is the next or previous sheet, without manually adjusting all hyperlinks?

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  • Use Excel to Create Mass Letters

    This article describes a solution for creating mass letters from Excel, using a Word Document as the Letter template and a Map between Excel Defined Names and Word Document Bookmarks.

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  • Add New Controls to Excel UserForm

    In this article, you will find code for adding new controls to excel userfom, for adding items to comboboxes and to add values from a range of cells to a combobox list.

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  • Linear Interpolation In Excel

    Excel does not provide a function for linear interpolations. If your data table has a high granularity, and you need precise results, you have to create your own linear interpolation formula. You will find in this article an excel formula, and a User Defined Function for Linear Interpolation.

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  • Excel Table Tennis ScoreBoard

    This Excel Table Tennis ScoreBoard is dedicated to all Table Tennis fans πŸ™‚ , hope they will find this Excel Table Tennis ScoreBoard useful.

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Customized Excel Applications, adapted to your needs.

Combine data files with Power Query

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Data variety is a challenge when you need to combine it into a single table. If data is consistent over time, the usual tools within power Query will not fail, but this scenario rarely happens in the real life.

Most common issues when combining data:

  • there is a change in headers, refreshing the query fails to identify new headers;
  • data comes in a different format than expected: xlsx, csv.

Download the demo files to try the solution:

Make sure you unzip the files on a location from your computer, then update the path from Settings sheet (in the file named GetCSV and XLSX from folder.xlsx) to point to your Data folder new location.

Why Power Query fails to refresh when there is a change in source data?

When you use the default tool “Combine Files” when you Get Data from Folder with Power Query, the application will analyze the first data file from that folder, or you can select the file that will serve as reference.

(more…)

How to Fill PDF Forms in Excel

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Fill PDF Forms in Excel

In a previous article: Use Excel to populate PDF Form Fields, I presented a manual method to transport data between Excel and PDF forms, that can be used without a paid version of Adobe Acrobat.

If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro installed OR a trial version (even if it expires and you don’t want to purchase a license), then you can use an Excel App to Fill Out PDF Forms automatically, directly from Excel.

(more…)

Excel CRM Tool for Personal Use

If you’re looking for a Client Relationship Management tool,

you can try the Excel CRM. The lite version has 3 modules active: Contacts, Organizations and Calendar, these are the most popular.

Download Excel CRM: Excel CRM lite.xslm

The full version has a lot more modules, as you will see on the opening page. Each module has it’s corresponding User Form:

Contacts User Form:

Excel CRM Contacts Form

Contacts Form

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Linear Interpolation In Excel

Unfortunately,

Excel does not provide a function for linear interpolations. If your data table has a low granularity (you have only units, not sub – units), and you need precise results, you have to create your own linear interpolation formula. You will find in this article an excel formula, and a User Defined Function (UDF) for Linear Interpolation in Excel. Read More

Excel Table Tennis ScoreBoard

Here is a ScoreBoard View:

This one is dedicated to all Table Tennis fans πŸ™‚ , hope they will find this Excel Table Tennis ScoreBoard useful.

I’ve built this application for our table tennis team, High-Tech, you will find us in the list of teams and players πŸ™‚

The Excel Table Tennis ScoreBoard will work in Excel 2007+ versions, on 32-bit and 64-bit versions, not tested in Excel 2003. (forget about this version, there are many new excellent features in the newer versions) Read More

Hide Excel Sheets if Macros are not Enabled

Scenario:

If your workbook contains macros designed to assist you or your users in typing data, or you have UDF’s – User Defined Functions for specific calculations, then if the users do not enable macros after opening the file, your codes are useless…

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Use Excel to populate PDF Form Fields

Did you ever need to fill out multiple PDF forms faster and without mistakes?Β  I’m sure that, if you’ve done this manually, on regular basis, you agree that it is tedious and time consuming.

Update:

If you have Adobe Acrobat Pro installed OR a trial version (even if it expires and you don’t want to purchase a license), then you can use an Excel App to Fill Out PDF Forms automatically, directly from Excel. Read the article and download the tool from here: excel-app-to-fill-out-pdf-forms

If you prefer the manual method, then continue reading this page for an alternative method.

Read More

Read Data into a Dictionary of Arrays

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There are many scenarios where we need to categorize and split raw data.
In this scenario, we will split raw data into new workbooks, by category, using a Dictionary of Arrays.

Normally, it’s best to combine data into a single location, as I did in this article.

The main challenge is to find an efficient way to read data into categories:

  • the table might not be sorted by category:
  • reading and writing data row by row is very slow.
Dictionary of Arrays
Dictionary of Arrays: Unsorted Data

Download the demo file to try the solution:

Which is the most efficient way to collect and write data?

Based on my experience, even reading data row by row from a list object is a slow operation, the fastest way to read data is to load it into an array.

A bi-dimensional array is the best option to paste data into a worksheet, fits perfectly into a range of cells that has the same dimensions: rows and columns.

Because we want to separate data by category, we have to create an array of data for each category.

We will store the arrays into a dictionary object in this exercise, using category as a dictionary key.

(more…)

Pattern Matching in Power Query

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In Power Query there is no tool yet for matching regular expressions (patterns).
Only in Power BI we can run scripts in R and Python, hopefully these languages will be added to Excel Power Query.

Until then, to solve this problem, with a little imagination, we can design our own pattern matching process.

Here is a file you can download and test:

Read More

LEN function: Basic and Advanced Examples

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LEN function type: Text

Description: Returns the number of characters in a text string
LEN is a basic function widely used, many formulas built for text processing will need this function.

Take a look at the advanced applications examples:

Applications:

Read More

SUBSTITUTE function: Basic and Advanced Examples

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SUBSTITUTE function type: Text

Description: Substitutes the old text with new text in a text stringBeyond its basic use, which is fairly simple, the SUBSTITUTE function can be very useful combined with other functions, to get your desired results. Take a look at the advanced applications examples:Applications:
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Working with Excel Functions and Formulas

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Can’t Open Pivot Table Source file

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Can’t Open Pivot Table Source…

Like a good Excel fan, I switched to Excel 2016 to try the new version.While working on a Dashboard for a client, with a lot of Pivot Tables and charts in it, at some point, after moving some pivot tables and charts into other sheets, within the same workbook, I received this unexpected error message – Can’t Open Pivot Table Source:
Cannot Open Pivot Table Source file

Can’t Open Pivot Table Source file

(more…)

Working With a Defined Name

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What is a Defined Name?

 In Excel, you have the option to assign a Name to a cell, or to a Range of cells. This name is reffered to as a Defined Name.A Defined Name will give more flexibility than before, you can refer to it in your formulas, or chart series.Also, the name can be located anywhere in your workbook, you don’t need to use cell or range references.
(more…)

Selecting Excel Table Components

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Selecting Excel Table Components is slightly different from selecting normal ranges in a worksheet, because we have 3 Excel Table Components which are special ranges:
(more…)

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