http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/conditionalformatting Questions tagged with 'conditionalformatting' at Ask MetaFilter. Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:33:34 -0800 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:33:34 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/82598/How%2Dcan%2DI%2Dconditionally%2Dformat%2Dan%2Dentire%2Drow%2Din%2DExcel%2Dbased%2Dupon%2Dthe%2Ddata%2Din%2Done%2Dof%2Dthe%2Dcolumns%2Din%2Dthat%2Drow How can I conditionally format an entire row in Excel 2007 based upon the contents of a particular column in that row? Say row 1 column J, row 4 column J, and row 19 column J all contain "Alice." I'd like rows 1, 4, and 19 all to appear with a red background. Say row 2 column J, row 44 column J, and row 45 column J all contain "Bob." I'd like for rows 2, 44, and 45 all to appear with a blue background. And so forth.<br> <br> Basically, what I'm asking is how to make a relative column reference in a formula. I remember doing precisely this using VBScript for Excel years ago, but for the life of me can't locate that old code. Anyway, something along the lines of the following psuedo-code entered into the Conditional Formatting dialog box:<br> <br> Apply "Format 1" according to the following formula [assuming (y,x) refers to (column y, row x)]:<br> <br> =IF((J,ROW())="Alice")<br> <br> It might also be nice to do this with a named range, so that if I apply the name "First_Name" to the entirety of row J, the formula is then a bit clearer:<br> <br> =IF((First_Name,ROW())="Alice")<br> <br> Total n00b0 question, I'm sure, but I don't spend much time in Excel, and am would very much appreciate the help. Thanks! tag:ask.metafilter.com,2008:site.82598 Fri, 01 Feb 2008 17:33:34 -0800 2007 conditional conditionalformatting excel excel2007 format formatting microsoft row ChasFile