Trouble coordinating auxiliary sheet in an online workbook to sheet w/ primary data
I have an online workbook that is used to record, monitor, and manage a full year's academic schedule for the college I work for. I have recently become the one in charge of this workbook, and I have spent many hours improving it and making it both more automated and more foolproof. This workbook has several sheets that, at times, reference each other. One sheet is basically the primary data set that shows the actual schedule with 20+ columns of details per row. Another sheet is there for the purposes of tracking and managing non-course-related releases and work that would reduce faculty workload. As such, this data is also listed on the primary sheet ("Master Schedule").
The problem I am having is this; on the auxiliary sheet that is used for tracking non-course-related work of the faculty ("Release Tracking"), all the columns in this table are auto generated based on the data on the Master Schedule, except for column I. Column I is where I manually select (from a data-validated list) a status (pending, accepted, denied, etc.) to assign to the release. The reason I want this data on Release Tracking instead of Master Schedule is because that the number of instances when the condition that triggers something to populate on Release Tracking is only about 3-5% of the total data on Master Schedule. Plus, Master Schedule is already super wide, so avoiding adding more columns to that table is highly preferable.
If you haven't guessed already, my trouble is that when the Master Schedule is resorted or the row order of that table is otherwise changed, the status in I of Release Tracking do not move with the rows on that table. I did forget to mention that both Master Schedule and Release Tracking are both formatted as proper tables.
I have a hidden helper column in the Master Schedule table that, when a particular condition is met, triggers a unique ID that another hidden helper column in the Release Tracking table can use to populate that table. That formula is:
=IF(C12="N/A","MS_"&ROW(),"")
The formula in the hidden helper column of Release Tracking is:
=IFERROR(INDEX(master_schedule_table[Index ID],AGGREGATE(15,6,(ROW(master_schedule_table[ [ CRN] ])-ROW(INDEX(master_schedule_table[ [ CRN] ],1,1)) + 1)/(master_schedule_table[ [ CRN] ]="N/A"),ROWS($J$2:J2))),"")
The formula in the A column of Release Tracking is:
=IF(J2="","",IFERROR(INDEX(master_schedule_table, MATCH(J2, master_schedule_table[Index ID], 0), 12), ""))
And the rest of the columns (B:H) follow this pattern except that they reference the appropriate correlative column on the Master Schedule.
I have spent probably 15-20 hours trying to figure out a solution, but everything I try that allows me to keep the functionality and design of the workbook the way I want it, fails because, ultimately, the formulas on Release Tracking involve elements of relative positioning and because I cannot find a way to write the ID-generating formula in the helper column of the Master Schedule to create an ID with at least a static element and triggers the ID to come and go as the condition in column C of the Master Schedule comes and goes.
To summarize what I want, I need a solution that 1) avoids the problem of the rows on Release Tracking changing when the Master Schedule's rows are changed or reordered (thereby linking my status selections to rows other than the one I want that status to be linked to), 2) allows me to manage/change/update the status on Release Tracking instead of Master Schedule, and 3) at least filter the rows on Release Tracking. Release Tracking doesn't necessarily have to be a full table, but for practical purposes, I need to at least be able to filter those rows. Is this possible with an online Excel workbook or am I just spinning my wheels and wasting my time trying to make this happen?
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