Excelbuddy.com » Formatting http://www.excelbuddy.com Your own little excel nerd! Sat, 14 Jan 2012 05:00:34 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 SPLIT FIRST and LAST NAME http://www.excelbuddy.com/split-first-and-last-name/ http://www.excelbuddy.com/split-first-and-last-name/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 03:26:54 +0000 Zaigham http://www.excelbuddy.com/?p=885 Split First & Last name

The following formula is useful when you have one cell containing text which needs to be split up. One of the most common examples of this is when a person’s Forename and Surname are entered in full into a cell. The formula uses various text functions to accomplish the task. The technique uses the space between the names to identify where to split. It is assumed that the name to be split is in Cell A2.

Finding the “First Name”

=LEFT(A2,FIND(” “,A2,1))

Finding the “Last Name OR Surname”

=RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(” “,A2))

Finding the “Last Name OR Surname” when a Middle name is present.

The formula above cannot handle any more than two names. If there is a middle name also, the last name formula will not show the correct results. To solve the problem you have to use a much longer formula.

=RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(“#”,SUBSTITUTE(A2,” “,”#”,LEN(A2)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A2,” “,”")))))

Finding the “Middle Name”

=LEFT(RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(” “,A2,1)),FIND(” “,RIGHT(A2,LEN(A2)-FIND(” “,A2,1)),1))

]]> http://www.excelbuddy.com/split-first-and-last-name/feed/ 0 Merge Cells in Excel http://www.excelbuddy.com/merge-cells-in-excel/ http://www.excelbuddy.com/merge-cells-in-excel/#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:48:05 +0000 Excelbud http://excelbuddy.com/?p=385 Merging cells in an Excel spreadsheet is extremely useful.  By merging cells, you can greatly enhance the look and feel of a spreadsheet.

The following example will demonstrate to use this feature.

  1. Start with a spread sheet like below.
    1-merge
  2. Highlight or select a range of cells in the spreadsheet.
    2-merge
  3. In the “Home Tab” select “Merge & Center”
    3-merge
  4. The final result will combine cells A1, B1, and C1 while centering the text.
    4-merge

Expanded Tip

There are several other options you can use to merge cells.  The drop-down list has several other options you can utilize.  Each of the options are self explanatory.  However, if you have any questions, please let me know below.

5-merge

]]> http://www.excelbuddy.com/merge-cells-in-excel/feed/ 1 Conditonal Formatting – Shading Alternate Rows http://www.excelbuddy.com/conditonal-formatting-shading-alternate-rows/ http://www.excelbuddy.com/conditonal-formatting-shading-alternate-rows/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 00:05:17 +0000 Excelbud http://excelbuddy.com/?p=106 This Excel function is very useful when dealing with long lists of data.  However, it is extremely easy to use once you know the simple formula.

  1. First, start with a list. Select the complete list by left clicking in cell A2 and holding until cell A19.
    list
  2. Next, Select ‘Conditional Formatting’ located under the Format dropdown menu. Select “New Rule.”
    drop2
  3. From the “New Formatting Rule” box, select “Use a formula to determine which cells to format.” Once selected, enter “=MOD(row(),2) ” into the formula field as shown.
    list3
  4. Next, click the Format button. Select a color and click OK.
    list41
  5. The selected rows should now be formatted in an alternating color pattern. You are now able to insert rows without disturbing the formatting.
    list5
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