Conditional Formatting II
March 14th, 2005
To illustrate the application of conditional formatting, we consider the need to highlight dates in a spreadsheet that are fast approaching or are already past.
The original spreadsheet without highlighting.
Before we apply conditional, we define any custom cell formats we may need. In this case, we have cells highlighted orange and cells highlighted yellow. We open the conditional formatting dialog and evaluate two conditions. The order is important here. In the conditional formatting dialog, once a cell evaluates TRUE, it will not be evaluated again. With that in mind, we first evaluate if a date is past due. We then evaluate if a date is fast approaching.
The modified spreadsheet with conditional formatting applied. Using this technique, the spreadsheet has become more readable and any key dates or deadlines can be more readily identified.
Conditional Formatting III
March 15th, 2005
We continue our look at the application of conditional formatting in OOo Calc. Here, we wish to apply alternate coloring to even and odd rows. Prior to invoking the conditional formatting dialog, we select all cells in the sheet. This was covered in an earlier tip
The trick here is using the mod function to identify odd rows to which we apply the custom format.
The result after the conditional formatting is applied to the entire sheet.
Here is a Flash animation showing how to do this ….
Conditional Formatting IV : Masking errors
April 11th, 2005
Here is another application of conditional formatting. In a prior tip, we reviewed the ISERR function and how it could be used to hide error conditions in any cell in the Calc document.
We can achieve the same effect with conditional formatting as follows.
Original spreadsheet with this pesky error messages.
As before, we need to create a custom cell format prior to opening the conditional formatting dialog. We set the font color to be the same as the backgorund color and we label this style as blank
Now select the cells whose errors we wish to mask and open theConditional Formatting dialog (below) We still use the ISERR function - this time embedded in the condition applied to the selected cells.
The final result. Whichever method you apply to mask the error message is your decision. The advantage of the conditional formatting approach is that the original cell formulas are not complicated with theISERR calls and it is easier to turn the conditional formatting on and off.
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Adding a background graphic
For a more visually presentable spreadsheet, it is possible to add a background image. Here is a quick tutorial on adding an image to the background.
We first activate the built in gallery of images, icons & backgrounds by selecting Tools - Gallery
Select the Backgrounds option and drag the desired background onto the spreadsheet.
The selected image is active when placed. Adjust it’s position and size so that it fills the spreadsheet. Then select Arrange - To Background as shown below.
We are done. If you have alternative technique for placing graphic backgounds on spreadsheets, I’d like to hear from you.
Update: To bring the background image to the foreground again, the following steps need to be performed.
Open the Navigator as shown below.
Under Graphics, select the required image - in our example, there is only one. The anchor symbol should appear as shown below.
To bring the now selected graphic to the foreground, selectArrange - To Foreground by right-clicking on a empty part of the background as shown below.
