Month: December 2017

Add the Current Date When Data is Added to a Cell(Dynamic) – Google Sheets

Google Apps Script: NOW, TODAY

A colleague of mine had recently asked me if there was a way to automatically display the day’s date when a cell has data in it without having to use Google Apps Script.

My answer: “Why yes, there is Jim.”

There are two really cool tools that you can use in Google Sheets to get the current date or time and date:

The NOW formula provides a date and time stamp at the time of execution or when the NOW() function is entered into the sheet.

NOW Google Sheets

The TODAY formula provides just the date at the time of execution or when the TODAY() formula is entered into the sheet.

TODAY Google Sheets

Change the date when a cell is edited

That’s all well and good but I want this formula to occur when a user enters something in a cell.

Done:

To achieve this, we can use an IF statement. First, we will state if the cell is empty, then no date should appear. However, if the cell has a value in it, then the date and/or time the value was entered will appear in the corresponding cell.

Here’s the formula:

=IF(A2 ="", "", TODAY())  <<Formula is celll D2

ِAs you can see in the  IF statement we are saying; if there is nothing in cell A2 then don’t do anything, otherwise, if it contains a value then add today’s date in this cell, D2.

Now, if you want to have this ready for all rows for when a user adds to your data, then drag the formula all the way down to the bottom of the sheet.

Here is an example:

IF value DATE Google Sheets

Ready to add some data? Here is what is would look like:

Current Date Added When Cell is Entered

The NOW() and TODAY() functions are Dynamic. This means that they will update automatically. To keep these dates from changing, copy the cell and press <CTRL>+<SHIFT>+<V> or paste special> paste as value.

A Warning on NOW() and TODAY()

These two functions are Dynamic and will update constantly. If you are looking to get the date or time of something so that it does not update automatically then check out this tutorial :

Add the Current Date to a Sheet When Data Is Added So That The Date Does Not Change(Static) – Google Sheets

Give it a try.

Did you enjoy the tutorial? Want to upskill and get a solid step-by-step course to become a pro at Google Sheets? Check out my course, Google Sheets: Learn the Essentials with Three Detailed Projects. Sign up today.

 
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~Yagi

 

Google Apps Script – Iterating Through Ranges in Sheets the Right and Wrong Way

Google Apps Script: SpreadsheetApp, getRange, getLastRow, getDataRange

I was trying to rush out some Google Apps Script code to deal with a task on Google Sheets recently. Basically, I had to search through a heap of data and find certain values and do something too them.

My column was reaching across the page to something like Column BK and my rows were over 1000 deep. Running this code was taking forever!!!

My immediate instinct was:

What have I done wrong?

…and my instinct was right.

The Good and Bad Way to Search Through Code

So after looking at my code again, I discovered that for some reason I go it into my head that I should be searching each cell for the value I needed and then doing something with it.

Sounds logical right? It’s sorta what you are meant to do.

The problem is that I was calling the sever and asking for the range in each cell as I was looping through the entire document. This is super costly and inefficient in terms of time.

Google talks about this in their Google Apps Script Best Practice page under Batch Operations.

Also, if you do run a costly code like this, then you will get a little red light in your Script tool bar that represents your Execution Hints:

Google Apps Script Execution Hints

Clicking on Execution Hints and expanding the side bar with provide you with a far-too-deserving-polite dressing down about your slow and server costly code.

Method Range.getValue is heavily used

The Good

Continue reading “Google Apps Script – Iterating Through Ranges in Sheets the Right and Wrong Way”

Skewed Random Range in Google Sheets (RANDBETWEEN)

Google Sheets: RANDBETWEEN

The Standard RANDBETWEEN

We can achieve a random range of numbers in Google Sheets by using the RANDBETWEEN formula. The formula is quite simple to use. Just add your start range and your end range:

=RANDBETWEEN(start range, end range)

For example, if I want to get a random number between zero(o) and 60 I would do the following:

=RANDBETWEEN(0,60)

The result will provide a whole random number somewhere between these two and including these numbers.

If I were to repeat this formula over a reasonable sample, say 300 times, we should see a fairly even spread of numbers occurring a roughly the same frequency, just like in the graph below:

But what if we wanted to have fewer random numbers in our list at the lower or upper end or on both ends?

Continue reading “Skewed Random Range in Google Sheets (RANDBETWEEN)”

How do I Randomly Assign People to a Group Without Doubling Up on the Same Group in Google Sheets

Google Sheets: TRANSPOSE, arrays, Randomize Ranges

Random Combinations Without Repetition Using Arrays, TRANSPOSE and Randomize Ranges

Say you have a list of  30 people and a 30 list of groups. After every half hour for six hours the people must change to another group, but they cannot go back to a group they have already been in.

How can we schedule 12 sessions where every person can randomly go to another group without going to the same group twice?

This is pretty much the same issue I face when scheduling my teachers to proctor exams randomly each quarter for different classes. The rules I need to follow are:

  1. No teacher should proctor the same class twice.
  2. Assignment to proctor a class should seem random.
  3. The teacher that teaches the class cannot proctor their own class.
  4. Each week has an exam over the term. The term runs for 8 weeks plus a final requiring a total of 9 proctor sessions.

Continue reading “How do I Randomly Assign People to a Group Without Doubling Up on the Same Group in Google Sheets”