Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By : David Ringstrom
Book Image

Exploring Microsoft Excel’s Hidden Treasures

By: David Ringstrom

Overview of this book

David Ringstrom coined the phrase “Either you work Excel, or it works you!” after observing how many users carry out tasks inefficiently. In this book, you’ll learn how to get more done with less effort. This book will enable you to create resilient spreadsheets that are easy for others to use as well, while incorporating spreadsheet disaster preparedness techniques. The time-saving techniques covered in the book include creating custom shortcuts and icons to streamline repetitive tasks, as well as automating them with features such as Tables and Custom Views. You’ll see how Conditional Formatting enables you to apply colors, Cell icons, and other formatting on-demand as your data changes. You’ll be empowered to protect the integrity of spreadsheets and increase usability by implementing internal controls, and understand how to solve problems with What-If Analysis features. In addition, you’ll master new features and functions such as XLOOKUP, Dynamic Array functions, LET and LAMBDA, and Power Query, while learning how to leverage shortcuts and nuances in Excel. By the end of this book, you’ll have a broader awareness of how to avoid pitfalls in Excel. You’ll be empowered to work more effectively in Excel, having gained a deeper understanding of the frustrating oddities that can arise daily in Excel.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
1
Part 1: Improving Accessibility
6
Part 2:Spreadsheet Interactivity and Automation
12
Part 3: Data Analysis

The FILTER function

The =FILTER(B3:E12,B3:B12=H2) formula in cell G6 of Figure 10.17 displays all the beaches for the name entered in cell H2, in this case, Ninety Mile Beach. Earlier in the chapter, you saw that functions such as VLOOKUP, MATCH, and XLOOKUP stop looking after finding an initial match. The FILTER function gives you a way to return multiple values from a list:

Figure 10.17 – The FILTER function

Tip

It’s best not to embed criteria within the formula itself. Using input cells such as cell H2 enables you or other users to change the criteria without having to edit the formula.

The FILTER function has two required arguments and one optional argument:

  • Array – This required argument is a list composed of one or more columns that you wish to filter, which, in this case, is B3:E12.
  • Include – This required argument is the cell coordinates of the column that you wish to filter on and the criteria itself, which...