Forum Discussion
Random Selection
so as you know I originally suggested a pseudo-random formula that uses a seed and that way you could feed the week# or day# or such to the pseudo function and always get the same output, but changing the seed to the new week/day/other will produce a new random number/sequence. The problem is the 'must be occupied' part since that will also change over time so you would have to keep a logging of WHEN units become occupied and vacant.
The other alternative is to use the built in random generator based on current state of the rooms and then copy/past those results (paste values) into the table. Maybe the easiest is to have a column called [Inspection date] and another called [Inspection Update]. under inspection date will ultimately be the actual date of inspection. and I'm sure you have a column to check if occupied (maybe their name or whatever) but for this we will assume a column called [Occupied] that is true or false. Then=LET(r,RANDARRAY(ROWS( [InspectionDate] ))* [Occupied] *( [InspectionDate] =""), t,INDEX(SORT(r,,-1), 14), o,IF(r>=t,TRUE,""), IF( [InspectionDate] ="",o, [InspectionDate] ))so in line 1 it will create a random array or numbers but zero out the unoccupied and previously inspected rows
in line 2 it will find the Nth largest value, in this example the 14th
in line 3 it will blank out all but the top 14 and replace those with TRUE
and the final output (line 4) will be either the prior inspection date or TRUE if the inspection should be done.
being a RAND function the result will keep changing every time you edit anything on the sheet so when you are ready to committ for that week select that column and COPY then select the [InspectionDate] column and goto Paste->Paste Special->Values Only
Since all the prior dates are repeated it will just add the TRUE to the new locations and those TRUE can be replaced with actual inspection dates. Alternatively you could replace the TRUE in line 3 with WEEKNUM(TODAY()) and then each week you run it and it will just show which weeknum those rooms were selected.
Final caution is that even though rooms that were not occupied will get occupied and have the opportunity to get selected throughout the year this way, you can still have an issue at the end of the year if one or more of those remaining 14 rooms become unoccupied at that point of the year.
so as you know I originally suggested a pseudo-random formula that uses a seed and that way you could feed the week# or day# or such to the pseudo function and always get the same output, but changing the seed to the new week/day/other will produce a new random number/sequence. The problem is the 'must be occupied' part since that will also change over time so you would have to keep a logging of WHEN units become occupied and vacant.
The other alternative is to use the built in random generator based on current state of the rooms and then copy/past those results (paste values) into the table. Maybe the easiest is to have a column called [Inspection date] and another called [Inspection Update]. under inspection date will ultimately be the actual date of inspection. and I'm sure you have a column to check if occupied (maybe their name or whatever) but for this we will assume a column called [Occupied] that is true or false. Then
=LET(r,RANDARRAY(ROWS( [InspectionDate] ))* [Occupied] *( [InspectionDate] =""),
t,INDEX(SORT(r,,-1), 14),
o,IF(r>=t,TRUE,""),
IF( [InspectionDate] ="",o, [InspectionDate] ))so in line 1 it will create a random array or numbers but zero out the unoccupied and previously inspected rows
in line 2 it will find the Nth largest value, in this example the 14th
in line 3 it will blank out all but the top 14 and replace those with TRUE
and the final output (line 4) will be either the prior inspection date or TRUE if the inspection should be done.
being a RAND function the result will keep changing every time you edit anything on the sheet so when you are ready to committ for that week select that column and COPY then select the [InspectionDate] column and goto Paste->Paste Special->Values Only
Since all the prior dates are repeated it will just add the TRUE to the new locations and those TRUE can be replaced with actual inspection dates. Alternatively you could replace the TRUE in line 3 with WEEKNUM(TODAY()) and then each week you run it and it will just show which weeknum those rooms were selected.
Final caution is that even though rooms that were not occupied will get occupied and have the opportunity to get selected throughout the year this way, you can still have an issue at the end of the year if one or more of those remaining 14 rooms become unoccupied at that point of the year.
The attachment is the workbook I am working with. I'm sure you've seen parts of this already. As you know, right now at least, it is the Room Inspections Tab I am working on. The left side is what I have now but its the right side I'm trying make work with the formula we have been discussing. There are 3 hidden columns along side each other, columns S, T & U.
I do not completely understand the formula but I am trying to figure it out. As I mentioned in my earlier reply, I really am not sure where to place the formula (I assume in the "ROOM" column) nor what I should put in place if the [OCCUPIED] brackets. If you have a chance could you please make adjustments accordingly to make your formula work. With the formula as it should be, I may get a better grip on what it is doing. The only reason I am hiding the columns is because the wanted layout is that which does not show those columns. With the formula in place and working, I'm sure I'll get a better understanding of what to expect and what to do when the formula produces the results I am looking for. I just realized, the attachment for the layout on the right of the (not yet Table), I did not hide the columns I have mentioned. Obviously no big deal. Also, all the stuff to the right of the Table or Array, is just stuff I was messing with to figure out what I needed to due. It can be deleted.
Thank you,
Carl
Carl_61 I inserted my thought into column AA (colored blue):
=LET(InspectionDate, W4:W171, Occupied, XLOOKUP($T4:$T171,ALL!$C$3:$C$170,ALL!$N$3:$N$170,"")="O", r,RANDARRAY(ROWS( InspectionDate ))* Occupied *( InspectionDate =""), t,INDEX(SORT(r,,-1), 14), o,IF(r>=t,TRUE,""), IF( InspectionDate ="",o, InspectionDate ))For InspectionDate I used column W (you already have there)
For Occupied I used the same formula you used in the 'hidden' or intended to be hidden/removed column and checked if it is "O" but manybe instead should be <>"V" ? I don't know what those other possible entries mean.
This formula creates a column that will be repeat all of the Inspection Dates already entered in column W and then randomly pick 14 of the remaining occupied rows and mark them as TRUE. This column will keep changing and can be 'ignored' (and maybe you want to hide it to not confuse others that go into the sheet?) until you are ready to commit to the next round of inspections. Then you highlight the whole column, copy, then paste - values only - on top of the INSPECTION DATE column. Finally as the inspections for the rooms noted as TRUE in that column are actually performed, the TRUE would be replaced with the actual date the inpection was done. - rinse and repeat next month
- Thank you Matt. I kinda see what's going on here but I am not totally clear. When are the room numbers randomizing? What event has to happen to get the room numbers to randomize? I have the workbook open and see column AA. When I populated the cells in column W with a date, I see that date extends over into column AA. The room numbers currently in column T were generated by a formula using the Randomize Function and then the values were copied and pasted onto themselves. This is why there is no formula in column T. Also, there are scattered "TRUE" in column AA. My apologies for not clearly seeing what is going on. The main thing I am not seeing is the room numbers randomizing.
wait are the "NAME"s on the Room Inspections tab really supposed to be the "inspectors"? and you want to randomly assign rooms to them for the inspection?
i just looked at the sheet and those names are just lookup from the all sheet so i don't think that is it.
in response to the comment yes when you populate a date in W it is reflected into AA so that when you copy AA back ontop of W it is maintained. The TRUE in AA are supposed to be indicators / flags for which rows were randomly selected for inspection.
Maybe this should be performed on the ALL list and then you can pull from that list information you need for this tab and sort by the inspection date to show the order.