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LAMBDA Function - MS Excel - MPG

Having fun with Excel LAMBDA function – building a BMI calculator and MPG conversion formulas

Let’s face it, despite the ever-growing catalog of 500(!) or so Excel functions, we cannot expect Microsoft developers to create all functions that meet the needs of every Excel user. Even if this feat were possible, the program itself would become unusable due to the sheer number of functions made available blocking us from using a few that we actually need. Traditional solution is age-old – using VBA to code a User Defined Function (UDF.) In fact, we’ve already covered the process of creating UDFs here and here.

Fast forward to 2016, when Excel teased the idea of the LAMBDA function, initially limiting its release to Office 365 subscribers opted in into the Office Insider edition. Since then this “ultimate” Excel function went through a number of revisions and enhancements and while it didn’t make its wider debut in time for Excel 2021 version, it was eventually released to the general public (i.e. all current Office 365 subscribers) earlier this month. We can now create a custom Excel function without having to deal with the Visual Basic Editor window ever again.

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XLOOKUP Function

I personally don’t know why it took this long for Microsoft Excel team to create XLOOKUP function. The fact that VLOOKUP is considered to be one of Excel’s most widely used functions reflects a strong demand in string look up tabulations. Surely, a multitude of VLOOKUP‘s limitations can be overcome with patience, helper columns, INDEX/MATCH, CHOOSE, OFFSET and other constructs. Yet, why would we use any workarounds, when we would rather utilize a more powerful function with multitude of applications? Meet, much anticipated XLOOKUP function, which was officially released to Office 365 subscribers in early February of this year. It offers a really long list of additional benefits; in today’s tutorial we will review 11 scenarios that take full advantage of the following XLOOKUP features:

  • LEFT lookup
  • Horizontal lookup
  • Multi-cell/array retrieval
  • Match based on wildcard conditions
  • Combination of Vertical AND Horizontal lookups
  • Lookup based on multiple criteria
  • Lookup in reverse order
  • Lookup for maximum/minimum values
  • Built-in Error Handling
  • Exact match by default
  • Flexible approximate match

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Microsoft Excel personal macro workbook.


Personal Macro Excel Workbook

          We have already explored different Excel VBA macros here, here, and here, . While the power of Excel VBA is limited only by our creative imagination, the real limitation of a typical VBA code comes from the fact that it resides in the workbook where it was saved, and as such, can only be revoked while this file is open. This is where the personal macro workbook comes into play: if we save our code in this centralized place, we could use it in any Excel workbook on our local drive. This productivity hack would help us perform repetitive tasks (formatting and data presentation pet peeves, anyone) by automating them. The easiest way to save your code into PERSONAL.XLSB workbook is through recording a macro.

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17 Excel Functions to use in 2017.


17 Excel Functions for 2017

          Versatility of Excel’s built-in functions is undeniably one of the main reasons behind this program’s popularity. As users, we have the flexibility to compose complex formulas incorporating multiple functions in our solution to achieve substantial gains in productivity. Most people have their own go-to Excel functions, be it: financial, date & time, math & trigonometry, statistics, look up & reference, database, text (manipulation), or logical. We’ve covered some of these functions already, but below is a compilation of 17 relatively under-used Excel functions you might want to add to your professional repertoire in the new year. Fair warning, you might need to have Office 365 version of Excel for all of the functions to work.

          1. PMT
          2. DATEDIF
          3. LARGE
          4. REPT
          5. LEN
          6. TRIM
          7. SUBSTITUTE
          8. TEXT
          9. IFS
          10. CONVERT
          11. NETWORKDAYS
          12. HLOOKUP
          13. INDIRECT
          14. OFFSET
          15. TRANSPOSE
          16. DSUM
          17. RAND
          BONUS: SUMPRODUCT

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