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Conditions Behind Conditional Formatting HIGHLIGHT CELL RULES

This is the old tried-and-true method of conditional formatting where we create criteria using comparison operators. If that criterion is found to b e true, the cell is formatted a ccordingly. We might use this for account balances BELOW a certain value, s ales figures ABOVE a certain value, grade point averages above or below a certain range or any variety of scientific test results like p H values, temperatures or blood sugar results. The comparison can b e for numbers, dates, times and even text. For text, criteria like CONTAINS provides flexibility. There are a couple more choices from this option including Highlighting duplicate values. It can also b e used for blank/non-blank cells and cells with calculations that return errors, so even though it is old school it is also VERY popular and commonly used.

TOP/BOTTOM RULES
A variation on Highlight Cells is the Top/Bottom Rules. This type of conditional formatting identifies the top or bottom values in a range of cells based on a cutoff value. That value can either be a specific number of items or a p ercentage. For example, highlight the top 5 sales this quarter or the top 10% of the class based on GPA. Identify the 10 most frequently requested h elp d esk questions or the 3% of services least frequently used. These rules can also get a little more elegant. For example we could configure it to format based on a calculation such as highlight all student reviews that are lower than the AVERAGE review or all employees who exceed the a verage p erformance rating during an annual review process. Those a verages would of course b e fluid, based on the current values that have b een entered. The threshold value would then b e calculated from those values and could change at any time. This option allows us to d esignate values above or b elow a certain number of s tandard d eviations as well.

DATA BARS
Data bars were introduced in 2007 but have been enhanced in 2010. In 2007 the lowest value in a range had a zero level bar and the largest had a bar that filled the entire cell. The other values had bars that fell somewhere in b etween. Sales of a million dollars, a s an example, might have no bar, if it were the lowest value in a range. In addition, in the original version the bar lengths were NOT proportional to their values thus making them a bit d eceiving. In 2010 this has b een changed. Now, the bar length is based on comparison to a baseline value, like 0. The new data bars also display their numbers in a different color if they are n egative values and n egative values d isplay to the left of the zero point. That sounds logical d oesnt it? But in 2007, b oth p ositive and negative numbers were displayed exactly the same so that magical zero point could have b een for a negative number.

The Conditions Behind Conditional Formatting

2010 PCKeys Technology Solutions

Lastly, in 2007 the bars were a gradient color. Many think gradients make things more elegant which may b e true but what it d id in this case is it made the a ctual value of the bar hard to s ee since the gradient faded off a t the end. In 2010, the d efault bar is solid but it can b e changed to a gradient if we prefer. Both gradient and solid options are a vailable from the gallery without having to configure any settings. The fill, b orders and formatting for both positive and n egative numbers can b e configured b y choosing More Options from the fly-out or b y editing the rule once it is created.

COLOR SCALES
Color scales are visual guides so we can b etter understand data d istribution and variation. They can b e set to use 2 or 3-color s cales. For example, the lowest values might b e red and the h ighest values green. The amount of red or green then illustrates where on the s cale b etween the two that particular value lays. A 3-color scale would display color for the high, low and midpoint value. When s electing from the Gallery of presets for color scales, the top color represents h igher values. We can hover over the gallery options to s ee h ow they will look on our worksheet via Live Preview. The settings are simple and involve d esignating the low, high and possibly midpoint values as well as the colors for each. ICON SETS Icon sets were also introduced in 2007 and have b een updated for the 2010 release. These will display an icon from a s et of 3, 4 or 5 icons based on a cells value, compared to designated threshold values. The sets may appear the same but in 2010 we can customize our s ets to our liking and even choose to NOT show an icon for a certain value level. The icons can be changed from the Edit rules window after the rule is created or b y clicking More Options from the fly-out d uring creation.

A NOTE ON FUNCTIONALITY
Its important to realize that for any type of conditional formatting, if a calculated field in the range to which the condition is based returns an error, the condition will NOT b e applied to the entire range.

DETERMINING THRESHOLD VALUES FOR CONDITIONS

When d efining conditions for conditional formatting, Excel generally a ccepts four d ifferent types of designations: values, p ercentages, p ercentiles or formulas. Values are easy! They can usually b e either a typed in or hard-coded value or can reference a cell. Percentages break the derived value into even groups or distributions, while p ercentiles are used when we want to visualize how a certain value relates to a group of values such as the top 25th p ercentile. Percentage and p ercentile can both have values ranging from 0-100. A formula result, as we might guess, bases the b enchmark on a calculated value. The formula result must return a number, date or time value. Of all of these, values and formulas are fairly easy to u nderstand, but p ercentage and percentile often give p eople a h eadache. They are NOT interchangeable. Lets s ee if we can clarify it a little.

The Conditions Behind Conditional Formatting

2010 PCKeys Technology Solutions

Percent refers to a specific number and is used only when a specific number is known and used. For example, she received 80% on h er final exam, or 67% of the forecasts were correct. If it would b e accurate and make s ense to use the p ercent symbol with your reference, then this is correct. The word percentage is used when you do not know a specific n umber but are making a generalization such as, A large p ercentage of p eople find these terms confusing. Percentile is used when describing a value as part of a series of points or values based on 100. A percentile requires a percent to b e known as well as the values for other members of the group. The 10th p ercentile is the value b elow which 10% of the values are found. An example using a ll three: A total of 100 p eople take a class. There are a total of 500 p oints possible in that class. Susan received 400 points in the class. All 99 of the other s tudents received 300 points or less in the class. Heres what we now know: Susan got 80% We only care about Susans score as it relates to the total possible points. We divide her score by the total possible then multiply b y 100 to get her p ercent. A large percentage of the class did not do well. OK, we do have to assume that anything b elow a B is considered not doing well for this to be true. We could use this as a generalization based on what we know or if we couldnt recall the exact number. Susan is in the 99th percentile In order to d etermine this, we have to know Susans p ercent as well as those of the rest of the class (or we could calculate them knowing the raw s cores and total possible points). We can then calculate the percentile mathematically. Susan did better than 99% of the class so this statement is correct.

The Conditions Behind Conditional Formatting

2010 PCKeys Technology Solutions