Bacon Bits: » Number Formatting

Forcing Trailing Negatives

datapig — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:27:51 +0000

Argento writes and asks:

“How can I produce numbers with minus symbol at the end of the number?”

In other words, Argento wants to show his numbers with trailing negatives. That is to say, instead of showing -125, he needs to show his numbers as 125-.

I’m not an accountant, so I never really understood why anyone would want to see trailing negatives. To me, it just looks as though you keep forgetting to finish writing your math problem.

Nevertheless, you can force trailing negatives easily with a custom number formatting.

First, highlight the numbers you are working with.

Then right-click and select Format Cells.

When the Format Cells dialog box opens, enter this as a custom format:

#,##0;#,##0-

This tells Excel to represent negative numbers with the number itself and a minus symbol at the end of the number.

The result is a cosmetic effect that represents negative numbers with a trailing minus symbol.

There you go Argento. No need to thank me with a box of cookies in the mail (preferably before Halloween).

Suppressing Zeros in Chart Labels

datapig — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:47:49 +0000

Susan writes me and asks if there is a way to suppress zeros in chart labels.

“I have a chart that’s dynamic in that I can choose a month that’s represented. For each month, and Sales Rep, there are up to 5 possible revenue streams, but not every Sales Rep has revenue for all revenue streams each month. Is there a way to remove the zero values from the labels in my chart?”

I want to drive traffic to this site, so I better answer her question.

The Problem:

Susan’s issue is that not every data point is represented by her sales reps. Here, you’ll notice that Kim has no Service Contracts for the month selected.

This not only causes the data label to show ($0), but it also muddles the placement of the Service Contract data label.

The Solution:

An easy solution is to use a Number Formatting on the source data so that zeros (0) are suppressed. In this example, the source data is formatted as a currency as shown here:

A close of look at the syntax shows this:

$#,##0;($#,##0)

This is actually two number formats in one. The syntax to the left of the semicolon represents the formatting needed for positive numbers. The syntax to the right of the semicolon represents the formatting needed for negative numbers. As you can see, negative numbers will be wrapped in parentheses with this formatting.

Now, if we add another semicolon, we tell Excel that we want another format for zeros. Any syntax placed to the right of a second semicolon will represent the formatting for zeros. If we were to use this:

$#,##0_);($#,##0);”n/a”

All zeros would be formatted to show as n/a.

What’s interesting is that if we put nothing after the second semicolon, Excel assumes that you don’t want to show zeros at all. So this syntax would suppress the showing of zeros altogether.

$#,##0_);($#,##0);

All you have to do to apply this concept is add a custom format to the source data for your chart.

With the custom format in place, you’ll notice the Kim’s zero doesn’t show in either the chart or the source data table.

Even more nifty, a quick look a the formula bar shows that the zero is still there. This means the value in the cell is intact – it’s only hidden with the custom format.

This allows the data label to remain effective in case Kim decides to actually get off her butt and start selling Service Contracts.

Using Bullet Points in Excel

datapig — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 11:22:32 +0000

Harkem (one of my 12 fans) wrote me recently and asked:

“How can I use bullet points in Excel? Much of my PowerPoint presentations are made of Excel ranges that are copied and pasted as pictures. I remove the gridlines to make it look seamless in PowerPoint. I’d like to be able to use bullet points in Excel to enhance the illusion.”

Well Harkem, you’ve come to the right place. I happen to know the answer.

Let’s say I want to add bullet points to this list of topics. I could manually type in some asterisks or dashes, but that would be tedious and ugly.

There is a better way.

Step 1: Find a symbol and insert somewhere in your workbook

The first step is to find the symbol that would make an appropriate bullet point. Here I’ll choose a diamond.

After you choose the symbol, insert it into any empty cell in your worksheet.

Step 2: Copy the symbol

Highlight the inserted symbol and press Ctrl+C on the keyboard to copy the symboal.

Step 3: Add a Custom Number Format to the target text

Highlight the range of cells you would like the bullet points to be applied, right-click, and then choose Format Cells.

The Format Cells dialog box, you’ll add your own custom format.

Here, entered the diamond by pasting the copied symbol. I followed it with a space, then the “at” symbol (@).

After you confirm the custom number format, you’re bullet point will be applied to your text.

The benefit of using this technique is that you can edit the text and Excel will automatically place your bullet point.

Plus, you can copy the format to any range of cells to apply the same bullet points.

I’ve gone crazy and added all kinds of bullets to my list. I’m living the dream.

There you go Harkem. Now send me some cookies or bacon.

Handling Different Data Types with One Chart

datapig — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 05:08:24 +0000

Ahh…data types; Currency, Number, Percent. What a joy to have such a diverse set of numerical variations designed to make your life hell.

Anyone who has had to handle varying numerical formats knows how tedious it can be to build a reporting structure that can handle all formats.

If you’ve ever built one chart for Percents, one for Currencies, and one for Numbers, then you’re reading the right blog post.

Today, I’ll to show you a technique that allows one chart to accurately show any data type.

The Problem

For this example, I’m using the model shown here in this screenshot.

It’s a simple model that uses a ListBox to pull data from a table of metrics into a staging area.

The idea is to build a chart that responds to changes in the list box.

Here, I’ve built a chart that uses the values in C4:K4 as the source. As you can see, the chart formatting works fine for a Number metric.

The problem comes in when I choose a Percent metric. You’ll notice that when I select Resolution%, the chart Y Axis looks funny.

This is because the range I have my chart connected to is formatted as a Number format.

The Solution

The fix boils down to pointing your chart to a different range of cells, formatted appropriately for the metric selected.

You could do this manually by simply selecting a different range for your chart. The trick is to have Excel do it for you.

The solution is to tie your chart to a dynamic named range that will decide which range to point to.

Step 1: Tag your data

In preparation for this technique, add an identifier to your data, specifying the appropriate format for each metric.

In this example, I tag Percent metrics in a new field called Type with a P. I tag all Currency metrics with a C. And I tag Number metrics with an N.

You’ll notice that in Row 4, I’ve included the Type field in my staging area. This ensures that when the user selects a metric, the correct type tag will be identified.

I then add two additional ranges (Rows 5 and 6) that is a copy of my original staging area (Row 4). The difference is that I alter the number formatting so that each format type is represented. In this screenshot, you can see that row 4 is formatted as a Number, row 5 is formatted for Currency, and row 6 is Percent.

Step 2: Create a Named Range

The next step is to create a named range that will essentially point to the appropriate data range based on the tag type.

Do this, we’ll use:

=if(Sheet1!$C$4=”N”, Sheet1!$D$4:$L$4, if(Sheet1!$C$4=”C”, Sheet1!$D$5:$L$5, Sheet1!$D$6:$L$6))

This formula basically tells Excel that if the tag type is N then use the Number range, if the tag type is C then use the Currency range, else use the Percent range.

For this example, I’ve named my Named Range ‘ChartSource’.

Step 3: Use the Named Range as your Series Value

Edit the chart’s data source and change the ‘Series values’ reference to point to the named range.

In this case, the chart is now pointed to ChartSource.

Once that is done, your chart will keep up with the changes in number formats!

I know that’s a lot to take in, so I’ve made a sample file available for you to play with.

Check it out: Download the sample file here

Finding a More Acceptable Green

datapig — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:10:22 +0000

While working on a report, I decided to use some awesome custom number formatting.

This screenshot shows how I expertly apply a custom format so that any number greater than 1000 is colored green.

At this point, I’m thinking this is going to be great!

Unfortunately, this is Excel’s idea of green.

Now, we all have our opinions, but I’m telling you this is neon green. No….this is Ghostbusters green; slime green. Dare I say booger green?

To solve my green problem I decided to use a custom color tag instead of a standard VB color.

The standard VB colors are Black, White, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Magenta, and Cyan. These make up the first 8 of Excel’s legacy palette (the standard 56 colors that were the default in versions pre-2007).

Although you would typically specify a custom color by name, you can actually call up any one of the 56 colors defined in the standard color palette by number. You see, every color in the standard 56-color palette is represented by a number.

To call up a color by number, you would use [ColorN], where ‘N’ represents a number from 1 to 56.

In this example, I use [Color10] to represent green.

Here is the full syntax that tells Excel to color every number greater than 1000 green:

[Color10][>1000]#,##0.0;[Red]#,##0.0

As you can see, I get a more acceptable green.

Your next question should be, “how do you know which number represents which color”?

Well, you can run this small macro to get a list of colors and their associated numbers.

Sub ColorList()
Dim i As Integer
For i = 1 To 56
Cells(i, 1).Interior.ColorIndex = i
Cells(i, 2).Value = i
Next i
End Sub

Running the macro will give you a list similar to the list you see here (although your colors may be different based on your current color palette).

There you have it. Go and liberate yourself from booger green.