Conditional formatting in MS Excel - little-known aspects of the popular table processor

The family of office products from Microsoft Corporation under the general name Excel is a series of powerful table processors that are very popular with ordinary users of personal computers and with specialists of a narrow profile for whom this powerful software package has long become an indispensable assistant in working with mathematical, graphic , Statistical and other data.

This software product is an information technology designed for the professional processing of large data sets. Excel allows you to automate and visualize the execution of a wide variety of one-type calculations, as well as to process numerical and text information in large volumes.

For example, to carry out a fast, accurate and effective analysis of finance, income, taxes, etc. The main functions of this powerful software product have long been well studied by all stakeholders. But Excel has a lot of secrets and tricks, known only to a narrow circle of specialists. One of these secret sides is conditional formatting. This function provides a very wide range of unusual features.

A tool called "conditional formatting" allows you to achieve extremely interesting results and an amazing visual perception of boring data sets. The possibilities of using this function for solving various tasks are also very diverse. Conditional formatting allows you to overlay a specific cell format when its content matches the predefined conditions. This type of formatting is convenient and extremely clear when analyzing large data sets.

Conditional formatting in Excel, without exaggeration, is a powerful tool that opens up unprecedented prospects for working with spreadsheets and allows you to take a fresh look at arrays of dry digits. This unusual opportunity is especially impressive in all kinds of presentation works. Conditional formats allow you to easily detect various exceptions that are knocked out of a common set of data. Important trends also will not disappear from the analyst's view. This can be extremely useful in the processing of statistical data. Conditional formatting in Excel 2007 has a number of interesting advanced features, such as color gradients, various fill data lines, special icons added to cells and allowing you to quickly track the relationships between various indicators.

Use conditional formatting is also very simple - just a few clicks. Let's say you create a table in which certain cells contain certain indicators. You need to achieve a change in the tone of the fill cells in accordance with the change in the numerical values of the data contained in them. For example, if a cell contains a negative number, the fill color automatically turns red, and if it is a positive value, it turns green.

To do this, you simply need to use the "Format" menu, in which to click the "Conditional Formatting" option. In this case, the cell to which you want to set the desired format must be highlighted. In the "Conditional Formatting" dialog that opens, you must specify a condition in which the cell will change its fill color. Using the button "Format" of the same dialog box, describe the desired design.

If you need to change the formatting of one cell depending on the data of the other, then you need to resort to the "Formula" item of the left drop-down list of the conditional formats window. The distance between cells does not matter. The formula can also be any: although the calculation of statistical reliability, even the value of depreciation of assets. For example, if you want, when there is a multiple of four in the cell A1, a certain cell or several cells acquire a yellow fill, then as the condition you should enter the following formula: "= STATUS (A1; 4) = 0". Then use the "Format" button to specify the desired fill color. Next, by copying and pasting, the formatting is transferred to the desired cell or range.