Forum Discussion
Completing sum above based on a different column
mathetes I have been given permission to place a copy of the full work sheet on here. It is not mine it is why I needed permission. This is a sheet to easily calculate heat and vapor transfer. The X will indicate what the vapor barrier is for each structure.
So again I am having an issue with getting the correct value automatically in N45
Scott1976 Here's something that works. I added a column (set off for temporary clarity by different color), with formulas in it that will respond to an "x" placed in any of the populated rows in B, giving a number that then is captured in your cell N45.
I'm not overly happy with this solution, however. And at least part of the reason is the layout of the sheet itself, as I mentioned before. I can see now why the figures under the column heading below are as they are;
| Pw = Psat x RH(Pa) |
BUT I find myself wondering: is there not a way to change the column heading to read something along the lines of "residual water vapor" or whatever it is, and then have that number appear on the row that produces that residual value?
Similarly with all those other "offset" cells. This data would then be organized as a legitimate Excel Table, which would open it up to cleaner and clearer data queries such as the one you're dealing with here. Having empty rows creates some vulnerability (at least it does in my way of thinking) to having data confusion enter in.
Another observation: it does seem (to this layman) that the cells in that column of offset cells, the column I referenced above, could itself be the result of a data query based on data in other fields....true? If that's the case, taking it out of this table altogether might lead to the ability to have cleaner and clearer calculations, data extractions, etc.
In other words have a table of the properties of various materials (elements) and another table of various atmospheric conditions, and develop queries that draw on the relevant data from each table. The way you're set up now (and I realize this isn't your table, so you may not have the option of making the kind of changes I'm suggesting)...you're kind of mixing data base with data analysis into one table, and that makes it, in a sense, messier than it needs to be.
And the disclaimer: I could be way off base in my observations, since I know I am out of my element in trying to understand the technical aspects of what you've got here.
mathetes Thanks for the help. Yea its not my spreadsheet just trying to figure out away to help out someone.
Glad to be of help, if it really helped. You may want to put that extra column off to the side, rather than have it intrude in the middle of the layout.
Feel free to pass on my observations and suggestions, if that's at all something you can do comfortably. Whoever created this obviously has a lot of Excel skills when it comes to formulae.
I'm less impressed with the overall design, if only because (as the big red box on the front page even acknowledges) it's vulnerable to potential changes that might be made by well-intentioned people. I would want to design the overall workbook in a way that would, ideally, eliminate that possibility; maybe more realistically, greatly reduce the possibility. And that is certainly possible.