Answers to questions

[elgringo56]

I would like to voice my opinion on something that has bothered me since day one on this site. Please dont get me wrong, I think overall, it is a wonderfull site and I spend many hours on it. Many of the people who ask questions on here are new, not knowledgable in excel or vba, I am one of them. I see so many so called "MVP's" That seem to like to answer questions with statements like, "have you looked in help" or "that question has been asked so many times, do a search for it" or, and I have been told this, "get a book". It would seem to me that the term "MVP" should refer to some one who, has patience, knows others may not know as much as they do, can remmeber when they were novices and, is willing to actually asnwer questions with viable, workable answers. The very worst answer I ever got was, go look it up in the help files. those things were written for people who have 4 years of university and 10 years of experience, not for people like me, who don't even have a clue as to the terminology yet. If I or any other novice could gleen the answers out of the help file, we would not need to come here to ask simple, or even semi difficult questions. Sorry about the post, but I felt someone should vent on this subject. I really do appreciate the help I do get here from most. I will go crawl back in my hole now.

 

[PaddyD]

Hi elgringo!

I totally agree that one of the things that characterises this board is the phenominal level of friendly, willing & patient helpfulness that the posters are prepared to offer. I think it sets this board well above most others.

I'd also agree that getting terse replies to a genuine question can be a) of little help, b) annoying. However, it's got to fare to say that if you can type your question into the subject line of a post here, you can type the keywords into the help file & see what you get. OK, the help file is not always clear, but sometimes it is! & it's far nicer to help someone who looks to have been making a genuine effort ("I got this problem...looked in the help file & can't understand what this bit means...") than someone who just wants solutions delivered on a plate with no effort on their part ("I've got this complete application I want to build - can you do it for me"). This is especially true when the answer to their question is contained in the help file. (That said, plenty of people have been delivered substantial plates at no cost!!)

If someone suggests the help file & you find it useless just say so & indicate why - I'm willing to bet you'll get a more helpful reply as a result.

Paddy

 

[Von Pookie]

Being guilty of doing this myself (just yesterday, actually), I have to say that Paddy explained it much more succinctly than I could have.

Another way to look at it, however, is that this is a support forum. As with any type of support, you will find that the person you deal with always goes over the most basic things first.

For example, if you call about a computer problem, one of the first things you are usually asked to do is check if all of the cables are plugged in correctly.

In it's own way, asking someone to try the help file or searching the board before posting their question is essentially the same thing.

 

[elgringo56]

Support Forum?? I'm sorry, I was mis informed, I thought it was a help forum, question and answer forum. Thank you for clearing that up for me. Can anyone direct me to "real help forum"?

 

[Von Pookie]

elgringo,

"Support" and "help" are the same thing. I just happened to use "support" when I typed that out.

Either way, there are many different reasons someone could have just said "check the help file" instead of giving a long-winded answer. As with a lot of things, that reason can vary from person to person.

 

[lenze]

Actually, suggesting one use the help files is good advice. Working with Excel is like most other learning situations. You can tell or show someone how to do something, but pointing them in the direction of "how to work it out themselves" will be more beneficial to them in the long run. Say you are looking at using VLOOKUP. Many people on the board can write the formula for you, but chances are 3 weeks latter when you need to change it, you will NOT be able to write the formula and so end up asking again. If,however, you had researched VLOOKUP, you would KNOW how it functions and how to make the changes.

Maybe you're a student and once you get your grade on an assignment, you could care less about VLOOKUP. But, if you are a serious student and/or user of Excel, learning is part of the fun

 

[elgringo56]

Very good example, lenze, I jsut went to help and typed in VLOOKUP, got a message back to redefine my question. As a novice, I have no idea how to redefine my question as I know nothing about the terminology. OK, back in my hole.

 

[lenze]

elgringo56: Are you sure you typed it in correctly, or maybe your help files are defective. When I typed in VLOOKUP I received a detailed explanation. See below

From Excel help file:
VLOOKUP
Searches for a value in the leftmost column of a table, and then returns a value in the same row from a column you specify in the table. Use VLOOKUP instead of HLOOKUP when your comparison values are located in a column to the left of the data you want to find.

Syntax

VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,range_lookup)

Lookup_value is the value to be found in the first column of the array. Lookup_value can be a value, a reference, or a text string.

Table_array is the table of information in which data is looked up. Use a reference to a range or a range name, such as Database or List.

If range_lookup is TRUE, the values in the first column of table_array must be placed in ascending order: ..., -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, ..., A-Z, FALSE, TRUE; otherwise VLOOKUP may not give the correct value. If range_lookup is FALSE, table_array does not need to be sorted.


You can put the values in ascending order by choosing the Sort command from the Data menu and selecting Ascending.


The values in the first column of table_array can be text, numbers, or logical values.


Uppercase and lowercase text are equivalent.
Col_index_num is the column number in table_array from which the matching value must be returned. A col_index_num of 1 returns the value in the first column in table_array; a col_index_num of 2 returns the value in the second column in table_array, and so on. If col_index_num is less than 1, VLOOKUP returns the #VALUE! error value; if col_index_num is greater than the number of columns in table_array, VLOOKUP returns the #REF! error value.

Range_lookup is a logical value that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match. If TRUE or omitted, an approximate match is returned. In other words, if an exact match is not found, the next largest value that is less than lookup_value is returned. If FALSE, VLOOKUP will find an exact match. If one is not found, the error value #N/A is returned.

Remarks

If VLOOKUP can't find lookup_value, and range_lookup is TRUE, it uses the largest value that is less than or equal to lookup_value.


If lookup_value is smaller than the smallest value in the first column of table_array, VLOOKUP returns the #N/A error value.


If VLOOKUP can't find lookup_value, and range_lookup is FALSE, VLOOKUP returns the #N/A value.

Examples



On the preceding worksheet, where the range A4:C12 is named Range:

VLOOKUP(1,Range,1,TRUE) equals 0.946

VLOOKUP(1,Range,2) equals 2.17

VLOOKUP(1,Range,3,TRUE) equals 100

VLOOKUP(.746,Range,3,FALSE) equals 200

VLOOKUP(0.1,Range,2,TRUE) equals #N/A, because 0.1 is less than the smallest value in column A

VLOOKUP(2,Range,2,TRUE) equals 1.71
This message was edited by lenze on 2002-08-14 09:54

 

[elgringo56]

Yep, just went back and tried again. I get the redefine message. Are you sure you just typed in VLOOKUP and nothing else? Maybe my help is defective. I am using Office 2000.

 

[lenze]

elgringo56:

Yes, I activated the Office Assistant and typed in the one word VLOOKUP. It gave me several choices, one which was "VLOOKUP Worksheet Function".

By the way, sometimes system administrators get cute (or stupid) when installing and don't do a complete install. You might check that out.

edit: I'm also using Office 2000
This message was edited by lenze on 2002-08-14 10:11