How to create Heat Map in Excel

To Create Heat Map in excel follow these steps:

To run a macro at schedule time

If you want to keep your workbook open and run code at a specified time, later on, then try this..
Insert a new code module to your project -or- use one that you already have in your project.
Create a scheduler subroutine as shown below:

Sub Scheduler()

'-- RUNS SUB(S) (OR FUNCTIONS) AT TIME SCHEDULED.

    Application.OnTime TimeValue("11:46:40"), "TheScheduledSub"

End Sub

Create a subroutine (or function) that you want to run. Here is one for this example:

Sub TheScheduledSub()

    Debug.Print "TheScheduledSub() has run at " & Time

End Sub

Scheduler() will execute TheScheduledSub() at the exact time specified inside Scheduler(), defined by TimeValue. You can read more about TimeValue here.

You could probably pass the time value you want the Scheduler() sub to execute your sub(s) or function(s) in as a parameter in the sub.
You could probably run a sub 5 hours from now, lets say. I.E. Application.OnTime Now + TimeValue("05:00:00"), "TheScheduledSub"

There are many ways to use Excel formulas to decrease the amount of time you spend in Excel and increase the accuracy of your data and your reports.

Excel Formulas You Should Definitely Know:

1. SUM

Formula: =SUM(5, 5) or =SUM(A1, B1) or =SUM(A1:B5)

The SUM formula does exactly what you would expect. It allows you to add 2 or more numbers together. You can use cell references as well in this formula.

The above shows you different examples. You can have numbers in there separated by commas and it will add them together for you, you can have cell references and as long as there are numbers in those cells it will add them together for you, or you can have a range of cells with a colon in between the 2 cells, and it will add the numbers in all the cells in the range.

2. COUNT

Formula: =COUNT(A1:A10)

The count formula counts the number of cells in a range that have numbers in them.

This formula only works with numbers though:

It only counts the cells where there are numbers.

3. COUNTA

Formula: =COUNTA(A1:A10)

Counts the number of non-empty cells in a range. It will count cells that have numbers and/or any other characters in them.

The COUNTA Formula works with all data types.

It counts the number of non-empty cells no matter the data type.

4. LEN

Formula: =LEN(A1)

The LEN formula counts the number of characters in a cell. Be careful though! This includes spaces.

Notice the difference in the formula results: 10 characters without spaces in between the words, 12 with spaces between the words.

5. TRIM

Formula: =TRIM(A1)

Gets rid of any space in a cell, except for single spaces between words. I’ve found this formula to be extremely useful because I’ve often run into situations where you pull data from a database and for some reason extra spaces are put in behind or in front of legitimate data. This can wreak havoc if you are trying to compare using IF statements or VLOOKUP’s.

I added in an extra space behind “I Love Excel”. The TRIM formula removes that extra space. Check out the character count difference with and without the TRIM formula.

6. RIGHT, LEFT, MID

Formulas: = RIGHT(text, number of characters), =LEFT(text, number of characters), =MID(text, start number, number of characters).

(Note: In all of these formulas, wherever it says “text” you can use a cell reference as well)

These formulas return the specified number of characters from a text string. RIGHT gives you the number of characters from the right of the text string, LEFT gives you the number of characters from the left, and MID gives you the specified number of characters from the middle of the word. You tell the MID formula where to start with the start_number and then it grabs the specified number of characters to the right of the start_number.

I used the LEFT formula to get the first word. I had it look in cell A1 and grab only the 1st character from the left. This gave us the word “I” from “I love Excel”

I used the MID formula to get the middle word. I had it look in cell A1, start at character 3, and grab 5 characters after that. This gives us just the word “love” from “I love Excel”

I used the RIGHT formula to get the last word. I had it look at cell A1 and grab the first 6 characters from the right. This gives us “Excel” from “I love Excel”

7. VLOOKUP

Formula: =VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, range_lookup)

By far my most used formula. The official description of what it does: “Looks for a value in the leftmost column of a table, and then returns a value in the same row from a column you specify…”.  Basically, you define a value (the lookup_value) for the formula to look for. It looks for this value in the leftmost column of a table (the table_array).

Note: If at all possible use a number for the lookup_value. This makes it a lot easier to make sure the data you are getting back is a correct match.

If it finds a match of the “lookup_value” in the left column of the “table_array” it will return the value in the column you specify using the “index_num”. The “index_num” is relative to the left most column. So, if you have the table_index look in column A and you want what is returned to be what’s in column B the “index_num” would be 2 because the leftmost column, column A in this case, is the 1st column in the table array and column B is the 2nd column (hence the 2 for the index number). If you want what is in column C to be returned you’d put 3 for the index_num. The “range_lookup” is a TRUE or FALSE value. If you put TRUE it will give you the closest match. If you put FALSE it will only give you an exact match. I only use FALSE when using the VLOOKUP formula.

Example:

You have 2 lists: 1 with a sales person’s ID and the sales revenue for the quarter. Another with the sales person’s ID and the sales person’s name. You want to match up the sales person’s name to the sales person’s revenue numbers for the quarter. They are all jumbled around so to manually match this, even for a small number of salesmen would leave room for a high margin of error and take a lot of time.

The first list goes from A1 to B13. The 2nd list goes from D1 to E25.

In cell C1 I would put the formula =VLOOKUP(B18, $A$1:$B$13, 2, FALSE)

B18 = the lookup_value (the sales person’s ID. This is a number that appears on both lists.)

$A$1:$B$13 = the “table_array”. This is the area I want the formula to search the leftmost column (column E in this case) for the “lookup_value”. I went to F because if it finds match in column E, I want it to return what’s in column F. (The money signs are there so that the table_array will stay the same no matter where the formula is moved or copied to. This is called an absolute reference.)

2 = the index_num. This tells the formula the number of columns away from the left most column to return in case of match. So, if you find a match between the lookup_value and the leftmost column of the table array, return what’s in the same row in the 2nd column of the table (the 1st column is always the leftmost column. It starts at 1, not 0).

FALSE= tells the formula I want it to only return the value if it’s an exact match.

I would then copy and paste that formula along all the cells in column C next to the first list. This would give me a perfectly aligned list with the sales person’s ID, sales person’s revenue for the quarter, and the sales person’s name.

In order to get a nice neat list of Sales Person ID, Sales Person Name, and Sales Person Revenue all next to each other I used the VLOOKUP formula to compare 1 list to another.

This is a complicated formula, but an extremely useful one. Check out some other examples: 

8. IF Statements

Formula: =IF(logical_statement, return this if logical statement is true, return this if logical statement is false)

When you’re doing an analysis of a lot of data in Excel there are a lot of scenarios you could be trying to discover and the data has to react differently based on a different situation.

Continuing with the sales example: Let’s say a salesperson has a quota to meet. You used VLOOKUP to put the revenue next to the name. Now you can use an IF statement that says: “IF the salesperson met their quota, say “Met quota”, if not say “Did not meet quota” (Tip: saying it in a statement like this can make it a lot easier to create the formula, especially when you get to more complicated things like Nested IF Statements in Excel).

It would look like this:

In the example with the VLOOKUP we had the revenue in column B and the person’s name in column C (brought in with the VLOOKUP). We could put their quota in column D and then we’d put the following formula in cell E1:

=IF(C3>D3, “Met Quota”, “Did Not Meet Quota”)

This IF statement will tell us if the first salesperson met their quota or not. We would then copy and paste this formula along all the entries in the list. It would change for each sales person.

Having the result right there from the IF statement is a lot easier than manually figuring this out.

9. SUMIF, COUNTIF, AVERAGEIF

Formulas: =SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range), =COUNTIF(range, criteria), =AVERAGEIF(range, criteria, average_range)

These formulas all do their respective functions (SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE) IF the criteria are met. There are also the formulas: SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, AVERAGEIFS where they will do their respective functions based on multiple criteria you give the formula.

I use these formulas in our example to see the average revenue (AVERAGEIF) if a person met their quota, Total revenue (SUMIF) for the just the sales people who met their quota, and the count of sales people who met their quota (COUNTIF)

10. CONCATENATE

A fancy word for combining data in 2 (or more) different cells into one cell. This can be done with the Concatenate excel formula or it can be done by simply putting the & symbol in between the two cells. If I have “Steve” in cell A1 and “Quatrani” in cell B1 I could put this formula: =A1&” “&B1 and it would give me “Steve Quatrani”. (The “ “ puts a space in between what you are combining with the &). I can use =concatenate(A1, “ “, B1) and it will give me the same thing: “Steve Quatrani”

Finding The Right Excel Formulas For The Job

There are 316 built in functions in Excel. You’re not going to sit there and memorize what all of them do (or at least I hope not!). Luckily Excel has a built in wizard that helps you find the correct formula for what you’re looking to do (if there is one).

Click the “fx” next to the formula bar in Excel

This brings up a menu and in there you can type in a description of what you are trying to do and it will bring up the correct excel formula:

I typed in “remove extra spaces” and it returned the TRIM formula that we went over earlier.

More Excel Formulas

There is so much more that I use on a regular basis such as Time formulas (NOW, TODAY, MONTH, YEAR, DAY, etc.), other formulas like AND and OR, along with many others.

The real power comes in combining these functions into complicated excel formulas.

Learn Excel Formulas Today!

Breaking Down Complicated Excel Formulas

=IFERROR(TRIM(IF(LEN(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE))>0,SUBSTITUTE(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE), ” “, “”),”")), “”)

Do you see formulas like the one above and run away screaming AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Well I don’t blame ya!

This can be a really intimidating formula even for the most seasoned Excel user.

I have a solution for you that makes it easy to both break down, and build up complicated combinations of Excel formulas but first check out this short video by fellow Udemy trainer, Mynda Treacy, that will reveal tips on how to get inside the mind of an Excel formula:

So What’s Going on With This Excel Formula?

Let’s break down all the Excel functions in it:

• IFERROR
• TRIM
• IF
• LEN
• VLOOKUP
• SUBSTITUTE

I’m not going to go in depth into each formula, but you’ll get the point.

Let’s start with the innermost formula. This is the end result that you are trying to accomplish.

We want to take a phrase (that we get with a VLOOKUP) that has a space in it and SUBSTITUTE that space with nothing. So it will take a phrase like “Excel Formula” and make it “ExcelFormula”.

SUBSTITUTE(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE), ” “, “”)

We use the VLOOKUP formula to get the actual phrase we want from a different sheet in the Excel Workbook if it matches what’s in cell F7.

VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE)

We use an IF statement to say IF the number of characters (LEN) of what’s returned from the VLOOKUP is above 0, then run the VLOOKUP, otherwise, put nothing here. This way if the VLOOKUP returns nothing, then nothing will happen and this will prevent most errors.

IF(LEN(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE))>0,SUBSTITUTE(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE), ” “, “”),”")

We then wrap it with the TRIM function which gets rid of all extra spaces, besides 1 space in between words. Sometimes when you’re getting data from a database extra spaces can be added after a word. This can make it really hard to compare data from different sources, so the TRIM function comes in handy a lot!

TRIM(IF(LEN(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE))>0,SUBSTITUTE(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE), ” “, “”),”")

Finally we wrap it in the IFERROR formula. This formula will be triggered if the other formulas wind up giving you an error. It could look something like #N/A and that’s pretty ugly. This can happen for legitimate reasons, but you don’t want to hand your boss a sheet full of #N/A symbols.

What happens is IF the combined formulas return any excel error, it will make the cell blank, otherwise it will show the results of the formula.

=IFERROR(TRIM(IF(LEN(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE))>0,SUBSTITUTE(VLOOKUP(F7, Sheet2!$A$1:$B$10000, 2, FALSE), ” “, “”),”")), “”)

There you have it, this long complicated formula broken down into simple step by step functions.

You can use the same method for building up a long formula

Our goal is to SUBSTITUTE the spaces for nothing so we start with that. We then have to pull it in from another sheet so we use VLOOKUP for that, etc., etc.

You always start with the innermost formula, the end result that you are looking for. Then you use other formulas to help you deal with the different situations you’ll have to deal with working with large datasets.

To automate google search and provide top 10 links

If you would like automate the Google search and would like to know what are all the top 10 websites for the particular search, Here is the macro that automate all your Google searches:

Macro Code:

'' Change this if you want rankings for a region-specific google website, like www.google.co.uk
'' Or, change it to a specific data center IP, like the Caffeine test server: 209.85.225.103
Const GOOGLE_WEBSERVER = "www.google.com"

'' Amount of default-sized result pages to scan
Const PagesToScan = 1

'' Builds the URL of a SERP for a term, starting at a certain result
Function BuildSERPURL(ByVal term As String, ByVal start As Long) As String
BuildSERPURL = "http://" & GOOGLE_WEBSERVER & "/search?start=" & start & "&q=" & term
End Function

'' Fetches a page from the internet
Function FetchPage(ByVal url As String) As String
Dim req As WinHttp.WinHttpRequest
Set req = New WinHttp.WinHttpRequest
req.Option(WinHttpRequestOption_UserAgentString) = "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.0)"
req.Open "GET", url
req.Send
FetchPage = req.ResponseText
End Function

'' Separates and retrieves the hostname from a URL
Function GetHostname(ByVal url As String)
GetHostname = url
End Function

'' Finds an empty row for a new competitor site. Returns the row index
Function FindNextRow()
For Each cell In ActiveSheet.Columns(2).Cells
If Len(cell.Text) < 1 Then
FindNextRow = cell.row
Exit Function
End If
Next
FindNextRow = -1
End Function

'' Processes a single search term
Sub ProcessTerm(ByVal term As String, ByVal myurl As String)
Dim sheet As Worksheet
Dim url As String, contents As String
Dim row As Long, start As Long, page As Long
Dim foundMyUrl As Boolean

Set sheet = Application.ActiveSheet
start = 0
foundMyUrl = False
For page = 1 To PagesToScan
url = BuildSERPURL(term, start)
contents = FetchPage(url)

Dim pos As Long, posEnd As Long
pos = 1
pos2 = 1
Const sig = "

Const Sig2 = "')"">"

'' Find first link
pos = InStr(pos, contents, sig)
pos2 = InStr(pos, contents, Sig2)


While (pos > 0)

pos = pos + Len(sig)
pos2 = pos2 + Len(Sig2)


'' Find end of link
posEnd = InStr(pos, contents, """")
posEnd2 = InStr(pos2, contents, "

")
If posEnd < 1 Then
MsgBox "Failed to parse Google results page"
Exit Sub
End If

'' Extract the URL from the link
url = Mid(contents, pos, posEnd - pos)
a = Mid(contents, pos2, posEnd2 - pos2)

start = start + 1

'If InStr(url, myurl) > 0 Then
'' This my URL. Everything from here on is below me
'foundMyUrl = True
'Else
hostname = GetHostname(url)
row = -1

'' Locate this competitor URL in the existing list
On Error Resume Next
'row = Application.WorksheetFunction.Match(hostname, sheet.Columns(3), 0)
On Error GoTo 0

If row < 2 Then
'' This competitor does not already exist, so add a new row for it
row = FindNextRow
sheet.Cells(row, 2).Value = hostname
sheet.Cells(row, 3).Value = a
'sheet.Cells(row, 5).Value = 0
'' Row exists
End If

'' Count this appearance either below or above me
'If foundMyUrl Then
' sheet.Cells(row, 5).Value = sheet.Cells(row, 5).Value + 1
' Else
'sheet.Cells(row, 4).Value = sheet.Cells(row, 4).Value + 1
'End If
' End If

'' Find next link
pos = InStr(pos, contents, sig)
pos2 = InStr(pos2, contents, Sig2)
Wend
sheet.Cells(row, 2).ClearContents
sheet.Cells(row, 3).ClearContents
Next

Columns("C:C").Select
Selection.Replace What:="", Replacement:=" ", LookAt:=xlPart, _
SearchOrder:=xlByRows, MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False, _
ReplaceFormat:=False
Selection.Replace What:="", Replacement:=" ", LookAt:=xlPart, _
SearchOrder:=xlByRows, MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False, _
ReplaceFormat:=False

Range("A1").Select

End Sub

'' Main routine
Sub CompetitorResearch()
Dim sheet As Worksheet
Set sheet = Application.ActiveSheet

'' Retrieve my url
Dim myurl As String
myurl = sheet.Cells(2, 1).Text

'' Work through the list of search terms and process each one
row = 2
While (sheet.Cells(row, 1).Text <> "")
Dim term As String
term = sheet.Cells(row, 1).Text
ProcessTerm term, myurl
row = row + 1
Wend

'' Order the result list by "Above me" and then by "Below me", so stronger competitors appear first

'sheet.Range("C:E").Sort sheet.Columns(4), xlDescending, _
sheet.Columns(5), , xlDescending, _
, , xlYes

End Sub

Excel macro to scrape the image from image url

If you would like to download the images from more than 1000 URLs, here is the excel macro to download all the images at one go.

The macro will automatically download all the jpg files from the given urls.

Macro Code:

Private Declare Function URLDownloadToFile Lib "urlmon" _
Alias "URLDownloadToFileA" (ByVal pCaller As Long, _
ByVal szURL As String, ByVal szFileName As String, _
ByVal dwReserved As Long, ByVal lpfnCB As Long) As Long


Public Function DownloadURLtoFile(sSourceURL As String, _
sLocalFileName As String) As Boolean


DownloadURLtoFile = URLDownloadToFile(0&, _
sSourceURL, sLocalFileName, &H10, 0&) = 0&

End Function

Sub DownLoadPics()
Dim cell As Range, rngListOfURL As Range

PTH = Cells(2, 4)

Set rngListOfURL = Sheet1.Range("A2:A1354")

For Each cell In rngListOfURL
If DownloadURLtoFile(cell.Value, PTH & cell.Offset(, 1).Value & ".jpg") Then
cell.Offset(, 2).Value = "Successfully downloaded"
Else
cell.Offset(, 2).Value = "Error - no download"
End If
Next cell

End Sub

VB References - Microsoft Internet Controls not found

It should be located in your system in the following folder.

Use the "Browse" option from the "References" and add the following dll files

C:\WINDOWS\system32\shdocvw.dll

If it isn't in this directory, search files and folders for shdocvw.dll Once you have it located you can then load into your references.

To Copy Charts from Excel to PPT using Macro

Using macro you can automate the process of copy the ranges and charts from excel to PPT.

The sample code is :

Sub Chart2PPT()
Dim objPPT As Object
Dim objPrs As Object
Dim objSld As Object
Dim shtTemp As Object
Dim chtTemp As ChartObject
Dim objShape As Shape
Dim objGShape As Shape
Dim intSlide As Integer
Dim blnCopy As Boolean

Set objPPT = CreateObject("Powerpoint.application")
objPPT.Visible = True
objPPT.Presentations.Add
objPPT.ActiveWindow.ViewType = 1 'ppViewSlide

For Each shtTemp In ThisWorkbook.Sheets
blnCopy = False
If shtTemp.Type = xlWorksheet Then
For Each objShape In shtTemp.Shapes 'chtTemp In shtTemp.ChartObjects
blnCopy = False
If objShape.Type = msoGroup Then
' if ANY item in group is a chart
For Each objGShape In objShape.GroupItems
If objGShape.Type = msoChart Then
blnCopy = True
Exit For
End If
Next
End If
If objShape.Type = msoChart Then blnCopy = True

If blnCopy Then
intSlide = intSlide + 1
objShape.CopyPicture
' new slide for each chart
objPPT.ActiveWindow.View.GotoSlide Index:=objPPT.ActivePresentation.Slides.Add(Index:=objPPT.ActivePresentation.Slides.Count + 1, Layout:=12).SlideIndex
objPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Paste
End If
Next
If Not blnCopy Then
' copy used range
intSlide = intSlide + 1
shtTemp.UsedRange.CopyPicture
' new slide for each chart
objPPT.ActiveWindow.View.GotoSlide Index:=objPPT.ActivePresentation.Slides.Add(Index:=objPPT.ActivePresentation.Slides.Count + 1, Layout:=12).SlideIndex
objPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Paste
End If
Else
intSlide = intSlide + 1
shtTemp.CopyPicture
' new slide for each chart
objPPT.ActiveWindow.View.GotoSlide Index:=objPPT.ActivePresentation.Slides.Add(Index:=objPPT.ActivePresentation.Slides.Count + 1, Layout:=12).SlideIndex
objPPT.ActiveWindow.View.Paste
End If
Next

Set objPrs = Nothing
Set objPPT = Nothing
End Sub

Introduction to Macro

When you find yourself repeatedly performing the same actions or tasks in your spreadsheets, it might be time for you to create a macro. A macro is a recording of each command and action you perform to complete a task. Then, whenever you need to carry out that task in your spreadsheets, you just run the macro instead.

Macros can be activate by a couple of keystrokes or by a worksheet button so they are easy to execute, and, provided they were recorded correctly, they will always carry out the same steps in the same order with no chance for operator error.

Although complex macros can be created in Excel using the Macro editor, it also possible to create relatively simple ones using the Excel macro recorder. If you are new to using macros in your spreadsheets, this is the right place for you to learn macros