Create ordinal number format in Excel

Anonymous
2010-08-09T14:55:38+00:00

Hello,

I am wondering if anyone knows (or knows of any resources that describe) how to create an ordinal number format in MS Excel.

I am well aware of how to reformat numbers as text to create the ordinal number effect, but what I would like to do is have the numberdisplay as an ordinal number (e.g., "1st", "2nd", "3rd", etc.) while still retaining its numeric value (1, 2, 3, etc.).

The reason for this request is to be able to perform numeric functions (e.g., MIN, MAX, AVERAGE, etc.) on an array of ordinal numbers.

I have a spreadsheet that lists various athletes' scores and the ranking for each score.  I would like to be able to easily determine, for example, each athlete's best ranking by using a MIN() function on the list of ordinal numbers.  Currently the only way I can think to do this is by having the rankings as regular cardinal numbers.

I suppose it would be possible to have an adjacent, hidden column with the numeric value of each ranking, but I thought it might be more elegant if there was a way to change the format of the number without changing its value.

Any help is much appreciated!

Regards,

Craig

Microsoft 365 and Office | Excel | For home | Windows

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  1. Paul Edstein 82,871 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-04-16T21:32:40+00:00

    I'm glad to hear a humble Word MVP can contribute something useful for you Excel geeks!!!

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-04-16T14:15:49+00:00

    By the way, it was early in the wee hours of the morning (just before I went to bed) when I posted my message and forgot to mention how much I liked your hybrid "UDF/Event Code" solution... that is an excellent method to circumvent the UDF restriction of not being able to take any actions other than returning a value to its host cell... I realy liked it!

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  3. Paul Edstein 82,871 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-04-16T12:50:30+00:00

    Hi Rick,

    Good point. I'll edit the original.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-04-16T08:41:09+00:00

    I think you should change this line of code...

    If Cell.Formula Like "=Ordinal(?*)" Then

    to this...

    If UCase(Cell.Formula) Like "=ORDINAL(?*)" Then

    so that the user doesn't have to type the function name with the exact same casing you specified in your If..Then test.

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  5. Paul Edstein 82,871 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2011-04-16T04:57:42+00:00

    The following UDF, when combined with a modification of Rick Rothstein's event code (supplied), can be used to express the value in any cell as an ordinal:

    Function Ordinal(ByVal Num As Long) As Long

    Ordinal = Num

    End Function

    Private Sub Worksheet_Change(ByVal Target As Range)

    Dim Cell As Range

    For Each Cell In Target

      If UCase(Cell.Formula) Like "=ORDINAL(?*)" Then

      Cell.NumberFormat = "#""" & Mid$("thstndrdthththththth", 1 - 2 * _

        ((Cell.Value) Mod 10) * (Abs((Cell.Value) Mod 100 - 12) > 1), 2) & """"

    End If

    Next

    End Sub

    To use it, simply input a formula into a cell as, for example:

    =Ordinal(A1) or =Ordinal(37)

    The underlying values remain available for use as numbers in other formulae.

    Of course, if only a limited range of cells in a large workbook can have this kind of formula, it would be wise to narrow the event's target range to just that. Unlike Rick's event-driven macro, the above approach allows a mix of ordinal and ordinary values to coexist in the target range.

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