D
Doug Kanter
John1023 said:
In the future, put your question in the body of the message, instead of just
in the subject line.
One way to compare two cells is to use the IF worksheet function. The info
below is taken directly from the Excel help system, which you also have on
your computer. Some of the formatting below will probably be messed up when
posted online. Go to your help system and search for "IF worksheet function"
to see this all more clearly.
IF
See Also
Returns one value if a condition you specify evaluates to TRUE and another
value if it evaluates to FALSE.
Use IF to conduct conditional tests on values and formulas.
Syntax
IF(logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false)
Logical_test is any value or expression that can be evaluated to TRUE or
FALSE. For example, A10=100 is a logical expression; if the value in cell
A10 is equal to 100, the expression evaluates to TRUE. Otherwise, the
expression evaluates to FALSE. This argument can use any comparison
calculation operator.
Value_if_true is the value that is returned if logical_test is TRUE. For
example, if this argument is the text string "Within budget" and the
logical_test argument evaluates to TRUE, then the IF function displays the
text "Within budget". If logical_test is TRUE and value_if_true is blank,
this argument returns 0 (zero). To display the word TRUE, use the logical
value TRUE for this argument. Value_if_true can be another formula.
Value_if_false is the value that is returned if logical_test is FALSE. For
example, if this argument is the text string "Over budget" and the
logical_test argument evaluates to FALSE, then the IF function displays the
text "Over budget". If logical_test is FALSE and value_if_false is omitted,
(that is, after value_if_true, there is no comma), then the logical value
FALSE is returned. If logical_test is FALSE and value_if_false is blank
(that is, after value_if_true, there is a comma followed by the closing
parenthesis), then the value 0 (zero) is returned. Value_if_false can be
another formula.
Remarks
a.. Up to seven IF functions can be nested as value_if_true and
value_if_false arguments to construct more elaborate tests. See the
following last example.
b.. When the value_if_true and value_if_false arguments are evaluated, IF
returns the value returned by those statements.
c.. If any of the arguments to IF are arrays, every element of the array
is evaluated when the IF statement is carried out.
d.. Microsoft Excel provides additional functions that can be used to
analyze your data based on a condition. For example, to count the number of
occurrences of a string of text or a number within a range of cells, use the
COUNTIF worksheet function. To calculate a sum based on a string of text or
a number within a range, use the SUMIF worksheet function. Learn about
calculating a value based on a condition.
Examples
On a budget sheet, cell A10 contains a formula to calculate the current
budget. If the result of the formula in A10 is less than or equal to 100,
then the following function displays "Within budget". Otherwise, the
function displays "Over budget".
IF(A10<=100,"Within budget","Over budget")
In the following example, if the value in cell A10 is 100, then logical_test
is TRUE, and the total value for the range B5:B15 is calculated. Otherwise,
logical_test is FALSE, and empty text ("") is returned that blanks the cell
that contains the IF function.
IF(A10=100,SUM(B5:B15),"")
Suppose an expense worksheet contains in B2:B4 the following data for
"Actual Expenses" for January, February, and March: 1500, 500, 500. C2:C4
contains the following data for "Predicted Expenses" for the same periods:
900, 900, 925.
You can write a formula to check whether you are over budget for a
particular month, generating text for a message with the following formulas:
IF(B2>C2,"Over Budget","OK") equals "Over Budget"
IF(B3>C3,"Over Budget","OK") equals "OK"
Suppose you want to assign letter grades to numbers referenced by the name
AverageScore. See the following table.
If AverageScore is Then return
Greater than 89 A
From 80 to 89 B
From 70 to 79 C
From 60 to 69 D
Less than 60 F
You can use the following nested IF function:
IF(AverageScore>89,"A",IF(AverageScore>79,"B",
IF(AverageScore>69,"C",IF(AverageScore>59,"D","F"))))In the preceding
example, the second IF statement is also the value_if_false argument to the
first IF statement. Similarly, the third IF statement is the value_if_false
argument to the second IF statement. For example, if the first logical_test
(Average>89) is TRUE, "A" is returned. If the first logical_test is FALSE,
the second IF statement is evaluated, and so on.