Conditional Cell Formatting

[Thomas M.]

Excel 2007

I have an 8 x 8 grid in which I want to flag all cells that are not evenly
divisible by .5. I can do this for a single cell with the following formula
as the conditional formatting criteria:

=MOD($R$8,0.5)>0

The obvious drawback is that this formula refers to the specific cell, so to
set it up in an 8 x 8 grid would require 64 separate conditional formatting
rules. There's got to be a better way.

Is it possible to create one conditional formatting rule which uses a
formula for the conditional formatting criteria, can be applied to a range,
and acts upon each cell in the range separately and not on the range as a
whole?

--Tom

 

[Bob Umlas]

Sure - select the 8x8 grid, use the active cell as the formula, but have it
be relative (no "$")
=MOD(R8,.5)>0
if R8 is the ACTIVE cell.

 

[T. Valko]

Is it possible to create one conditional formatting

rule which uses a formula for the conditional formatting criteria

Yes, use relative references

Let's assume your range is A1:H8

Select *the entire range* of cells you want to format starting from cell A1.
Cell A1 will be the active cell. The active cell is the one cell in the
selected range that *is not* shaded.

The formula you enter will be *relative* to the active cell:

=MOD(A1,0.5)>0

The cell reference will automatically adjust for the other cells.

 

[Thomas M.]

I have mixed feelings about that answer. On the one hand, I am glad that it
works and my problem is solved. On the other hand, I'm embarrassed that *I*
didn't think of that! ;-)

Seems obvious in retrospect! Thanks for the help.

--Tom

 

[Thomas M.]

Thanks for the reply. As in my reply to Bob, I must confess to being a bit
embarrassed that I didn't think of that. It seems so obvious in retrospect.

Thanks for the help.

--Tom

 

[T. Valko]

You're welcome. Thanks for the feedback!