Hi,

You problem is not that it can't be done, its that there are only 3
conditions which can be applied at one time in 2003 (in 2007 you can go to
town).

You can do this with a formula as follows:
1. Put a formula into the cells that evalute to a number/text which will
represent the formatting you wish.
2. Apply a conditional format to the cell to color it (see below)
3. Applye Format, Cells, Number, Custom and enter ;;; on the type line.

To conditionally format your cell(s):

In 2003:
1. Select the cell you want to format
2. Choose Format, Conditional Formatting
3. Choose equal to
4. In the second box enter the number
5. Click the Format button
6. Choose a color on the Patterns tab (or any available option)
7. Click OK twice.
to add a 2nd and 3rd format click the Add button before clicking the final OK.

In 2007:
1. Highlight all the cells on the rows you want formatted
2. Choose Home, Conditional Formatting, New Rule
3. Choose Format only cells that contain
4. Choose equal to and enter your number in the next box
5. Click the Format button and choose a format.
6. Click OK twice

Repeat the above steps for each format you want to apply, no limit in 2007
If this helps, please click the Yes button.

In 2003 to go beyond 3 colors/formats you will need to use VBA

Cheers,
Shane Devenshire

"BrianG" wrote:

In the Format Cell tools, there is a pallet of 56 colors and 18 patterns that
could be applied (manually).

I need to display "remote" data graphically alongside a row of affliated
information in a worksheet. My "remote data" may be a number or a text
string. What I was hoping to do is create a function which would work
similar to a Vlookup. I would like the resulting cell (with the function) to
contain either color fill and or patterns. No other information needs to be
displayed in the cell except for the color and/or pattern.

Any thoughts on how this could be automated?