Hi there, I have a sheet that I am using to keep tabs on follow up interviews
in a research project. When the participant is interviewed I have either the
date it occurred or "client withdrawn" or some comment like this, or the cell
is blank.

I would like to count the number of cells with a valid date, without
specifying the date.
I would also be interested in a second formula where I can specify two dates
to count between.

many thanks for your valuable suggestions! (I did search first), Theo

Hi!

Try these:

To count all dates: (assumes the dates are in fact true Excel dates)

=COUNT(A1:A10)

To count dates within a range (inclusive):

B1 = start date = 1/1/2006
C1 = end date = 7/1/2006

=COUNTIF(A1:A10,"="&B1)-COUNTIF(A1:A10,""&C1)

Or:

=SUMPRODUCT(--(A1:A10=B1),--(A1:A10<=C1))

Biff

"TBA" wrote in message
...
Hi there, I have a sheet that I am using to keep tabs on follow up
interviews
in a research project. When the participant is interviewed I have either
the
date it occurred or "client withdrawn" or some comment like this, or the
cell
is blank.

I would like to count the number of cells with a valid date, without
specifying the date.
I would also be interested in a second formula where I can specify two
dates
to count between.

many thanks for your valuable suggestions! (I did search first), Theo

thanks, I thionk though that the first formula would count the comments as
well wouldn't it?. I need a count that ignores strings and blanks but does
count dates only?

cheers

"Biff" wrote:

Hi!

Try these:

To count all dates: (assumes the dates are in fact true Excel dates)

=COUNT(A1:A10)

To count dates within a range (inclusive):

B1 = start date = 1/1/2006
C1 = end date = 7/1/2006

=COUNTIF(A1:A10,"="&B1)-COUNTIF(A1:A10,""&C1)

Or:

=SUMPRODUCT(--(A1:A10=B1),--(A1:A10<=C1))

Biff

"TBA" wrote in message
...
Hi there, I have a sheet that I am using to keep tabs on follow up
interviews
in a research project. When the participant is interviewed I have either
the
date it occurred or "client withdrawn" or some comment like this, or the
cell
is blank.

I would like to count the number of cells with a valid date, without
specifying the date.
I would also be interested in a second formula where I can specify two
dates
to count between.

many thanks for your valuable suggestions! (I did search first), Theo

"TBA" wrote in message
...
thanks, I thionk though that the first formula would count the comments as
well wouldn't it?. I need a count that ignores strings and blanks but does
count dates only?

If you think the first formula will count comments as well, the only way to
find out would be to try the formula. Did it count comments? <g

Biff

ahh!, there you go, I was having a glass half empty moment, rather than just
believing the glass was actually full!- thanks for that, all working...

"Biff" wrote:


"TBA" wrote in message
...
thanks, I thionk though that the first formula would count the comments as
well wouldn't it?. I need a count that ignores strings and blanks but does
count dates only?

If you think the first formula will count comments as well, the only way to
find out would be to try the formula. Did it count comments? <g

Biff

You're welcome!

Official explanation: The COUNT function counts numeric values only. It will
ignore text values and empty/blank cells. Dates are really numeric values
that are FORMATTED to look like a date.

6/28/2006 may look like a string but it's really the numeric value 38896
(provided that it hasn't been preformatted or entered specifically as a TEXT
entry).

Biff

"TBA" wrote in message
...
ahh!, there you go, I was having a glass half empty moment, rather than
just
believing the glass was actually full!- thanks for that, all working...

"Biff" wrote:


"TBA" wrote in message
...
thanks, I thionk though that the first formula would count the comments
as
well wouldn't it?. I need a count that ignores strings and blanks but
does
count dates only?

If you think the first formula will count comments as well, the only way
to
find out would be to try the formula. Did it count comments? <g

Biff