Posted on 09/21/2024 9:52:15 PM PDT by Paul R.
In LibreOffice Calc, if I have two fields I wish to compare to within a plus-minus value, and then if the spread between the two numbers is too great, both will, say, flash red, how do I do that?
How do I accomplish this? It seems a basic function, but all I could find on it lead to much more involved making of comparisons than the simple task I have in mind.
Thanks in advance!
Y’all with good background in this can tell, I’m sure no spreadsheet wizard! I basically know just enough to get by with very simple spreadsheets in LibreOffice Calc.
Paul, you do know there is Stack Exchange and many other places that can help you, correct?
In Excel, I would add Conditional Formatting to the cells to change the "Fill" or "Font Color".
Select "Conditional Formatting".
Select "Use a Formula to determine which cells to format".
Enter the formula as: =ABS(B139-B38)>10
In LibreOffice Calc, you can use Conditional Formatting to achieve this effect. Here's how you can set it up:Select the Cells: Highlight both cells B38 and B139.
Open Conditional Formatting:
Go to Format in the menu bar.
Click on Conditional Formatting and then select Condition.
Set Up the Condition:
In the Conditional Formatting dialog, set up the following conditions:
In the first dropdown, choose Formula is.
In the formula field, enter the following formula:
ABS($B$38 - $B$139) > 10
This formula checks if the absolute difference between B38 and B139 is greater than 10.
Set the Formatting Style:
Click on the New Style button.
In the style editor, go to the Font Effects tab.
Choose the Font color as Red.
Go to the Background tab and choose a red background if you want the cells to flash red as well.
Click OK to save the style.
Apply the Style:
Click OK again in the Conditional Formatting dialog to apply this style when the condition is met.
Blinking Effect (Optional):
To make the cells flash or blink, you will need to use a macro because Calc does not have a built-in blinking effect for cell formatting. This involves writing a script to periodically change the cell style, which is more complex.
Explanation:
The formula ABS($B$38 - $B$139) > 10 will check the absolute difference between cells B38 and B139. If the difference is greater than 10, the conditional format will be triggered, and both cells will change to red.
Additional Tip: If you want to apply this formatting to more cells or a range, you can adjust the cell references accordingly or apply the conditional formatting to a range of cells.
This approach should work for your requirement to highlight both cells when the difference exceeds a given threshold. For a blinking effect, a more advanced macro would be required, but for most purposes, a change in color should suffice.
Well, I’m aware of Stack Exchange, there’s a Libre Office forum, etc., but, all want a valid e-mail address to sign up. SFAIK, to ask questions you have to sign up. Then the question is how much more unwanted e-mail traffic (and monitoring of such) can I possibly handle? Well, actually, I’m a very busy person, and I can’t handle the traffic now: My primary yahoo e-mail account has in it @ present over 50,000 unread messages: It’s hard to find time to prune, manage, filter, etc., everything unwanted.
I became a member of All Circuits, for example: There are very helpful people there, but, related spam & junk gets sent to my inbox. I created a secondary e-mail account to use in such circumstances — its name literally starts out with “junk...”, but I can’t entirely ignore that account because, for example, the mods might send me an actual important message (sort of like when Fishing Talks advised they would be shutting down the site.)
I’m a member of ~20 forums already...
I can search other forums / help forums I’m not a member of, in many cases, without signing up, but searching may become extremely tedious to find “the right threads” or comments, images (like screenshots) may be blocked, and there are often other serious limitations.
With FR I sometimes get a lot of crap responses (I’m not calling yours crap, you have a valid question / suggestion), but, often FReepers make quite useful replies as well. In return, I would hopefully bring new viewers to FR — somebody’s search for info. on a similar subject to mine might bring them to FR. Believe it or not, a LOT of conservatives or fellow travelers (more or less) are really not aware of FR or have heard of it only as some crazy site. If they come here and find helpful info., who knows - they might stick around.
Yes, I know many FR members are particularly and peculiarly hostile to “newbies” — about the most self defeating attitude I can imagine — but hopefully a few “newbies” may persist and become valuable members. (All of us were newbies at some point!)
Basically, sometimes FR is a useful resource. (I hang out on the monthly Garden Threads and ask lots of questions there, too!) :-)
I hope this answers your question coherently - It was 4:15 am when I woke up and shortly came over to the computer, knowing I’d better get a couple replies in or the thread might get yanked due to me being an “unresponsive” OP. (It has happened in the past!)
Thanks!
Thanks! Best reply yet (of the thread)!!
Yes, if “blinking” is not “easy” in LibreOffice, bold red or something to that effect would work. I’m already using bold red (in a larger font, too, than most of the spreadsheet), and positioning near the head of the document, to highlight the final result, and have a couple other colors invoked elsewhere, but, I can change that: I can make the final result blue, instead, and make this sort of warning by conditional comparison bold-red.
Note to self that I should probably check into ChatGPT. That is much more helpful than the result Brave’s “AI” came up with, which led me to info. well over my head...
Ok, so, that last is not unusual: I often think I know only 10% of what I need to, and I’m losing ground fast!
ChatGPT is tremendously helpful to me in using Excel.
Whenever I start fighting with ChatGPT about it giving me wrong answers, I usually discover that the problem is "MY" fault.;-)
As an aside, with ChatGPT's help, I have done things in Excel that I previously thought were impossible for any spreadsheet app. Though I am a monthly subscriber ($20), everything I do can be done without being a subscriber.
Now, if only Oatey (the plumbing supplies company) Customer Service rep could get their chemist to respond to the question “Is Great Blue” pipe joint compound compatible with Nylon?”
Heh!
Cool!
Pick another word for your “junk” and only you will know what that means inside your head.
FWIW,I often pick an obscured town or mascot of a poorly performing team.
Actually, naming the account “junk-blah-blah... (not the actual name except for starting off with “junk”)” turns out moderately well. When 2nd and 3rd hand parties get a hold of it, I suspect some screen it out. So, if I do join a new forum, make an online payment to a vendor who doesn’t accept PayPal, etc., I tend to receive less junk mail and spam as a result, than if I gave whomever I’m dealing with my primary e-mail account address.
Choose the Font color as Red.
Go to the Background tab and choose a red background if you want the cells to flash red as well.
???
Or maybe that's after a macro is added? That part of the info. that came up seems a bit contradictory. Not that it's a big deal, as I alluded to above.
Go to ChatGPT and ask it. It is so user-friendly I often forget that it isn’t a person.
Thanks, I’ll give that a shot. Red on red does not “ordinarily” give a red flashing cell or value that is from, say, an ordinary calculation or summation. (I tried that in LibreOffice Calc, earlier today.)
Is there a Spanish version of LibreOffice?
I am interested in word processing in Spanish for my class work and correspondence.
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