A To Z of Excel Functions | Series 3
A To Z of Excel Functions - Series 3
61. ISERROR FUNCTION
What Does It Do ?
This function tests a cell or calculation to determine whether an error has been generated.
It will show TRUE for any type of error and FALSE if no error is found.
Syntax
=ISERROR(CellToTest)
The CellToTest can be a cell reference or a formula.
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
62. ISEVEN FUNCTION
What Does It Do ?
This function tests a number to determine whether it is even.
An even number is shown as TRUE an odd number is shown as FALSE.
Note that decimal fractions are ignored.
Note that dates can be even or odd.
Note that text entries result in the #VALUE! error.
Syntax
=ISEVEN(CellToTest)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
 |
| CLICK TO LEARN MORE & DOWNLOAD! |
63. ISLOGICAL FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function tests a cell to determine whether the cell contents are logical.
The logical values can only be TRUE or FALSE.
If the cell does contain a logical value, the result TRUE is shown.
If the cell does not contain a logical value, the result FALSE is shown.
Syntax
=ISLOGICAL(CellToTest)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
64. ISNA FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function tests a cell to determine whether it contains the Not Available error #N/A.
The #N/A is generated when a function cannot work properly because of missing data.
The #N/A can also be typed in to a cell by the user to indicate the cell is currently empty,
but will be used for data entry in the future.
The function is normally used with other functions such as the =IF() function.
Syntax
=ISNA(CellToTest)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
65. ISNONTEXT FUNCTION
What Does It Do ?
This functions tests an entry to determine whether it is a number, rather than text.
It would be used to ensure that only numeric entries are used in calculations, rather
than text which looks like a number, such as typing the letter O instead of zero 0.
The function is normally used with other function such as the =IF() function.
Syntax
=ISNONTEXT(CellToTest)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
66. ISNUMBER FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function examines a cell or calculation to determine whether it is a numeric value.
If the cell or calculation is a numeric value the result TRUE is shown.
If the cell or calculation is not numeric, or is blank, the result FALSE is shown.
Syntax
=ISNUMBER(CellToTest)
The cell to test can be a cell reference or a calculation.
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
67. ISODD FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function tests a number to determine whether it is odd.
An odd number is shown as TRUE an even number is shown as FALSE.
Note that decimal fractions are ignored.
Note that dates can be odd or even.
Note that text entries result in the #VALUE! error.
Syntax
=ISODD(CellToTest)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
68. ISREF FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function shows TRUE if given a cell address, or FALSE for any other type of value.
Its a bit of an odd one, and is normally used in macros rather than on the worksheet.
Syntax
=EDATE(StartDate,Months)
Formatting
=ISREF(ValueToTest)
The ValueToTest can be any type of data, but when used on the worksheet, it cannot be a
reference to the contents of another cell, as the reference will itself be evaluated by the function.
69. ISTEXT FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This functions tests an entry to determine whether it is text.
If the entry is text is shows TRUE.
If the entry is any other type it shows FALSE.
Syntax
=ISTEXT(CellToTest)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
70. LARGE FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function examines a list of values and picks the value at a user specified position
in the list.
Syntax
=LARGE(ListOfNumbersToExamine,PositionToPickFrom)
Formatting
The result will be formatted as a normal number.
Example
The following table was used to calculate the top 3 sales figures between Jan, Feb and Mar.
71. LCM FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function calculate the Least Common Multiple, which is the smallest number
that can be divided by each of the given numbers.
Syntax
=LCM(Number1,Number2,Number3... through to Number29)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
72. LEFT FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function displays a specified number of characters from the left hand side of a
piece of text.
Syntax
=LEFT(OriginalText,NumberOfCharactersRequired)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
Example
The following table was used to extract the first name of a person from their full name.
The =FIND() function was used to locate position of the space between the first and second name.
The length of the first name is therefore the position of the space minus one character.
The =LEFT() function can now extract the first name based on the position of the space.
73. LEN FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function counts the number of characters, including spaces and numbers, in a piece of text.
Syntax
=LEN(Text)
Formatting
No special formatting is required.
74. LOOKUP (ARRAY) FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function looks for a piece of information in a list, and then picks an item from the last cell in the adjacent row or column.
It always picks the data from the end of the row or column, so it is no good if you need to pick data from part way across a list,(use VLOOKUP or HLOOKUP).
The way in which the function decides whether to pick from the row or column is based on the size of the table.
If the table has more rows than columns:
the function will look down the left most column
trying to find a match for the piece of information
you asked it to look for.
When a match is found, the function will look
across to the right most column to pick the
last entry on the row.
If the table has the same amount of rows and columns
the function will look down the left most column and
work in just the same way as if the table had more
rows than columns, as in the description above.
If the table has more columns than rows :
the function will look across the top row trying
to find a match for the piece of information you
have asked it to look for.
When a match is found, the function will then look
down to the bottom cell of the column to pick
the last entry of the column.
Syntax
=LOOKUP(WhatToLookFor,RangeToLookIn)
The WhatToLookFor should be a single item.
The RangeToLook in can be either horizontal or vertical.
Be careful not to include unnecessary heading in the range as these will cause errors.
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
75. LOOKUP (VECTOR) FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function looks for a piece of information in a list, and then picks an item from
a second range of cells.
Syntax
=LOOKUP(WhatToLookFor,RangeToLookIn,RangeToPickFrom)
The WhatToLookFor should be a single item.
The RangeToLook in can be either horizontal or vertical.
The RangeToPickFrom must have the same number of cells in it as the RangeToLookin.
Be careful not to include unnecessary heading in the ranges as these will cause errors.
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
76. LOWER FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function converts all characters in a piece of text to lower case.
Syntax
=LOWER(TextToConvert)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
 |
| Learn More & Download Grading & Result App |
77. MATCH FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function looks for an item in a list and shows its position.
It can be used with text and numbers.
It can look for an exact match or an approximate match.
Syntax
=MATCH(WhatToLookFor,WhereToLook,TypeOfMatch)
The TypeOfMatch either 0, 1 or -1.
Using 0 will look for an exact match. If no match is found the #NA error will be shown.
Using 1 will look for an exact match, or the next lowest number if no exact match exists.
If there is no match or next lowest number the error #NA is shown.
The list of values being examined must be sorted for this to work correctly.
Using -1 will look for an exact match, or the next highest number if no exact match exists.
If there is no exact match or next highest number the error #NA is shown.
The list must be sorted for this to work properly.
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
78. MAX FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function picks the highest value from a list of data.
Syntax
=MAX(Range1,Range2,Range3... through to Range30)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
79. MEDIAN FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function finds the median value of a group of values.
The median is not the average, it is the half way point where half the numbers in the group are
larger than it and half the numbers are less than it.
If there is no exact median number in the group, the two nearest the half way point are
added and their average is used as the median.
Syntax
=MEDIAN(Range1,Range2,Range3... through to Range30)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
80. MID FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function picks out a piece of text from the middle of a text entry.
The function needs to know at what point it should start, and how many characters to pick.
If the number of characters to pick exceeds what is available, only the available characters
will be picked.
Syntax
=MID(OriginalText,PositionToStartPicking,NumberOfCharactersToPick)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
81. MIN FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function picks the lowest value from a list of data.
Syntax
=MIN(Range1,Range2,Range3... through to Range30)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
82. MINUTE FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
The function will show the minute of the hour based upon a time or a number.
Only the fraction part of the number is used as it is this which relates to time of day.
Syntax
=MINUTE(Number)
Formatting
The result will be shown as a normal number between 0 and 59.
83. MMULT FUNCTION
The following tables were used by a company producing boxes of chocolates.
The types of chocolate produced were Milk, Dark and White.
The company boxed the chocolates in three differing mixtures of Milk, Dark and White.
In the run up to Christmas customers ordered various quantities of each box.
The chocolate company now needed to know what quantity of each type of chocolate to produce.
The =MMULT() function was used to multiply the contents of boxes by the customer orders.
The result of the =MMULT() is the total number of each type of chocolate to produce.
How It Was Done
Cells C36 to E36 were selected.
The formula =MMULT(C32:E32,C26:E28) was typed, (but not yet entered).
The keys Ctrl+Shift+Enter were pressed to confirm the entry as an array.
The formula then showed the correct result.
Getting The Dimensions Correct
The dimensions of the Result range are directly related to the two input ranges.
The number of rows in the Result should be equal to the rows in Range1.
The number of columns in the Result should be equal to the columns in Range2.
What Does It Do?
This function multiplies one range of values with another range of values.
The ranges do not have to be of equal size.
The dimensions of the result range is in direct proportion to dimensions of the two input ranges.
It is an Array function and must be entered using the Ctrl+Shift+Enter combination.
Syntax
=MMULT(Range1,Range2)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
84. MOD FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function calculates the remainder after a number has been divided by another number.
Syntax
=MOD(Number,Divisor)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
85. MODE FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function displays the most frequently occurring number in a group of numbers.
For it to work correctly there must be at least two numbers which are the same.
If all the values in the group are unique the function shows the error #N/A.
When there is more than one set of duplicates, the number closest to the beginning
of the group will be used. (Which is not really an accurate answer!)
Syntax
=MODE(Range1,Range2,Range3... through to Range30)
86. MONTH FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function extracts the month from a complete date.
Syntax
=MONTH(Date)
Formatting
Normally the result will be a number, but this can be formatted to show the actual
month by using Format, Cells, Number, Custom and using the code mmm or mmmm.
87. MROUND FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function rounds a number up or down to the nearest multiple specified by the user.
Syntax
=MROUND(NumberToRound,MultipleToUse)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
88. N FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function converts a numeric entry to its mathematical value.
Anything which will not convert is shown as 0 zero.
Excel does not really need this function, due to the fact that Excel calculates in this way
naturally. The function is included for compatibility with other spreadsheet programs.
Syntax
=N(NumericEntry)
Formatting
No special formatting is needed.
89. NA FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function is a place marker used to indicate that required information is Not Available.
It can be type directly in to a cell as =NA() or it can be used as part of a calculation.
When the =NA() is used, any calculations which depend upon the cell will also show #NA.
It is used to indicate that all the data has not yet been entered in to the spreadsheet.
Syntax
=NA()
Formatting
No special formatting is required.
90. NETWORKDAYS FUNCTION
What Does It Do?
This function will calculate the number of working days between two dates.
It will exclude weekends and any holidays.
Syntax
=NETWORKDAYS(StartDate,EndDate,Holidays)
Holidays : This is a list of dates which will be excluded from the calculation, such as Xmas
and Bank holidays.
Formatting
The result will be shown as a number.
Note
The calculation does not include the last day. The result of using 1-Jan-98 and 5-Jan-98 will
give a result of 4. To correct this add 1 to the result. =NETWORKDAYS(Start,End,Holidays)+1
👈Go To Series 1
👈Go To Series 2
👉Go To Series 4
Comments
Post a Comment