Copy cell formatting using Lookup formulae google spreadsheet - google-sheets

I am making a spreadsheet for my D&D game in google spreadsheets, and am having some trouble with a vertical lookup. I have the workspace set up such that the first sheet is a search sheet, and the second is a database sheet.
In the search sheet, you type in the name of a spell, and then using VLOOKUP formulae it retrieves the data from the database. That does work. However, it does not copy over the formatting.
One of the pieces of information copied over is the spell description. Inside this description, which is fitted all in one cell, I sometimes use italics to emphasize certain parts. The italic formatting for those few words is not copied over with VLOOKUP. I was wondering if this was possible.
I tried to google this problem, and found somebody else asking this not too long ago on the google forums, but there were no replies there. Hoping to have a bit more luck here.
Example
In cell Sheet2!A1 is 'Name', in Sheet2!C1 is 'Description with italics'
In cell B2 on the active sheet is the searchbar (filled with 'Name')
I currently retrieve the information using:
=VLOOKUP($B$2,Sheet2!A1:C,3,false)
This would return
'Description with italics'
I would like to get
'Description with italics' returned instead.

Partial formatting of cell content was introduced recently and has very limited support in Google Sheets. About the only thing it is good for is formatting of headers and other informational elements, like
| Invoices sent | Invoices not sent |
To save yourself frustration, I suggest using partial formatting just for that, and not for data.
Formulas do not preserve partial formatting, even the simplest =A1 removes it.
Scripts do not support creation of copying of partial formatting, either.

Related

Google Sheet Array Formula to automatically transpose responses from a Google Form into a single cell

I want to tweak an Array Formula that I'm trying to use to transpose a set of responses from a Google Form into a single 'list' in a cell in the linked Google Sheet.
Here is a simplified mock-up of the Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BKgjGK2RbXC5FkCgBOU53dLEb3fDeQADujenrqRgnT0/edit?usp=sharing
As you can see, I have a working Array Formula 'hidden' in the header for Column A, which takes the content from columns B:K in each row and transposes them with line breaks to make a nice neat list in the first cell at the start of each row (A2, A3, A4, etc.) Here is the Array Formula for ease of reference:
=ARRAYFORMULA({"Points to Develop";
transpose(query(transpose ($B$2:$B&CHAR(10)&$C$2:$C&CHAR(10)&$D$2:$D&CHAR(10)&$E$2:$E&CHAR(10)&$F$2:$F&CHAR(10)&$G$2:$G&CHAR(10)&$H$2:$H&CHAR(10)&$I$2:$I&CHAR(10)&$J$2:$J&CHAR(10)&$K$2:$K)
))})
The problem I'm having is that the formula stops working as soon as a new Google Form is submitted, as the new row of responses arrives at the top and 'pushes the formula down'/throws everything out of alignment, when all I want is for it to stay in place and run automatically every time a Form is submitted. As you can probably gauge by my limited technical terminology, I'm very much a novice at this!
How can I fix this formula, or is there a simpler or better alternative that will achieve the same results?
As often happens in life, the nature of the problem turned out to be the source of the solution. Here’s a condensed version of my thoughts as I slowly found my way to an answer (you can almost hear the hamster wheels turning in my head!):
The problem with formulas in a Google Sheet linked to a Google Form is that each new entry/submission from the form always arrives in Row 2 …
In fact, the only thing that stays ‘in place’ in the Google Sheet is the Header Row/Row 1 …
So, rather than using a formula that refers to a ‘Row 2’ that will become ‘Row 3/4/5/etc.’ as new Google Forms are submitted, I should use a formula that always refers to Row 1, that is, by using OFFSET
The obvious (if inelegant) formula that resulted from this is [I've also placed this in the final column in the Google Sheet that I linked to in my original question]:
= ARRAYFORMULA({"Points to Develop [Working OFFSET Formula]"; transpose(query(transpose(OFFSET(A1:A,1,1)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,2)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,3)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,4)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,5)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,6)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,7)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,8)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,9)&CHAR(10)&OFFSET(A1:A,1,10)))) })
I am sure that there are neater ways of getting to the same result, but this is one that works for me … and is within my levels of comprehension, so I can fine-tune and fix it as needed.

Can I make Google Sheets evaluate a string input as if it were a formula?

I am creating a home budget for myself in Google Sheets, working in Chrome on Windows 10. In the end, the budget will be composed of separate sheets for each month, containing tables for each Friday (payday) within that month. All such tables will follow a certain format and will pull arrays of budget data from an auxiliary sheet.
However, trial-and-error (mostly error) is abundant, and one quails at the thought of having to paste corrections across 52 tables. Is there any way to have each table emulate a formula set down in a template? For example, ideally, my template would contain something like:
=INDEX(IF(condition(relativeCell),namedRange1,namedRange2)
and the final product would pull that formula (with relative reference) to each table. If I discover a mistake or need to make a change, I can simply change the template, and all of the live tables would update their formulas.
Can this be done in Google Sheets?
Failing that, I already have a function that returns a cell's formula as string text. Can this be used to get the desired effect?
there is a formula called INDIRECT which does exactly that:
https://support.google.com/docs/answer/3093377?hl=en

Using text from a cell in a formula in Google Sheets

I would like to use the text from a cell in a formula in Google Sheets.
I have a document with multiple sheets that a variety of people can edit with a H,M,L (high, medium, low) value from a drop-down list. Each person has their own tab in the Google Sheet.
I then have a dashboard that populates based on their choices of H,M,L. I know that I can use the formula =('Jay Delacruz'!C6) for example to populate a cell in another sheet by manually selecting the cells on the other sheet.
However, I am looking to make quite a few of these documents automatically with another Google Script that I am running that creates the individual sheets from a roster of names on the first tab.
My question is, is it possible to have a =('Jay Delacruz'!C6) type formula that instead of the sheet reference it can pull the name of the person from the roster, as this will match exactly the sheets that are automatically generated by the script I have running.
So I would essentially have a pre-populated dashboard of formulae that would become valid once the sheets are created with the names, as created by the other script.
If it makes it a little clearer, there is a link below to make a copy of the Sheet I am working with. All names were randomly generated, so don't reference any real people or data.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NiXqko8SibD6VsfrnFcj7e7c99Hg-RoSlHVAYWb0E94/copy
Thank you in advance!
Liam
Try
=INDIRECT(C1&"!C6")
Also see here for more info on INDIRECT() function.

Highlight if cell exists in a range in other sheet

I'm trying to highlight a row (or cell, if that's easier) if that value exists in a range in an other sheet in the same document.
Details: In Google Sheets, I have one sheet named "Application", with email addresses in column D. In a different different sheet (named "Accepted") I have the same data copied from the application sheet, also in column D.
I want to highlight the cells with email addresses in the "Application" sheet which has been copied over to the "Accepted" sheet.
I know Conditional formatting with Custom formula is the way to go, but I'm unable to find the correct syntax.
What is the correct formula for this?
In Google Spreadsheets conditional formatting across sheets is not nearly as straightforward as within a single sheet, because of security and therefore authorisation. You may, for speed for example, prefer to copy the content of Accepted into Application to avoid that issue, or write a script instead. At least keep the ranges as small as practical.
However it is possible, though may be slow and require authorisation.
Please clear any conditional formatting from Application ColumnD then:
Select ColumnD in Application, Format, Conditional formatting..., Format cells if... Custom formula is and
=COUNTIFS(IMPORTRANGE("k e y","Accepted!D:D"),D1)>0
with highlighting of your choice and Done.
k e y above represents the unique identification code for Accepted (will look something like 1u4vq8vDne-aKMVdJQPREGOxx7n99FqIb_kuJ_bG-PzM).

Exporting values of unchecked items in Google Forms checklist

Using Google Forms checkboxes to collect survey responses into a Sheets doc, I find that I can only get the values of checked lines to fill the spreadsheet.
I'm trying to get the unchecked CheckBox values to fill a different cell in the spreadsheet as well, has anyone found out a way to do this?
I'd appreciate any help!
I have a way with spreadsheet formulas.
The drawbacks are the necessities of
manual input of all possible options
copying and pasting a formula for each response (can be done in advance, but if not enough formulas are pasted for the number of responses, the sheet will break)
An ideal solution would automatically detect all possible responses, and could theoretically accept an infinite number of responses without breaking and needing maintenance.
With that said, he's an example of what I suggest:
Google Sheet
Google Form
All possible options on the form must be typed into cells A2:A
cells B2:B show comma+spaces if the corresponding cell in A2:A is not blank, with =arrayformula(if(isblank(A2:A),"",", ")). These commas and spaces are needed later in a concatenate().
Raw data from the Form Responses spreadsheet was brought into D2:E with =arrayformula('Form Responses 1'!A2:B)
G2:G holds the important formulas. They must be copied and pasted to each individual cell for each row.
First, all possible responses in $A$2:$B are filtered based on if the cell in column A can be found in the text in column E.
=filter($A$2:$B,arrayformula(iserror(search($A$2:$A,E2))))
Next, some error catching. I added an iferror() to catch a "N/A, no results found in filter evaluation", and an if(isblank(),"",) to catch if no timestamp is in column D meaning no response was recorded in this row.
=if(isblank(D2),"",iferror(filter($A$2:$B,arrayformula(iserror(search($A$2:$A,E2)))),""))
Finally, do a concatenate() to pull the values and the comma+spaces all into one string inside one cell.
=concatenate(if(isblank(D2),"",iferror(filter($A$2:$B,arrayformula(iserror(search($A$2:$A,E2)))),"")))
Oh, and if you don't like the comma+space being the last characters in the string, in J2:J I did a =arrayformula(iferror(left(H2:H,len(H2:H)-2),"")) which cuts off the last 2 characters of the string in column H.
If I come up with a better solution, I'll let you know. It's an interesting puzzle to solve.

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