IF or IF/AND Statement Help

kelly.strom

I have been trying to figure this out for days and I feel like I have been SO close but can't get anything to return...just the infamous "#UNPARSEABLE".

I want the formula to return the results of two combined cells based on what the response in another cell are. If the information in [GD / Ortho] equals "GD", I want the result in the [Clinic/Dongle Name Formula Trial] column to be what is in the [Office Number] AND [Clinic Name] columns. If not, I want it to be what is in the [Provider Employee ID] AND [Ortho Provider Name] columns. I've tried IF as well as IF/AND formulas and I'm just not getting anywhere. I'm unable to attach images or files which I know is going to make this even more difficult to assist with. :(

Paul Newcome

Try something like this:

=IF([GD / Ortho]@row = "GD", [Office Number]@row + " " + [Clinic Name]@row, [Provider Employee ID]@row + " " + [Ortho Provider Name]@row)

If that does not work, are you able to make a copy of the sheet and replace the confidential data with mock data and provide a screenshot of that for reference?

Paul Newcome

Try something like this:

=IF([GD / Ortho]@row = "GD", [Office Number]@row + " " + [Clinic Name]@row, [Provider Employee ID]@row + " " + [Ortho Provider Name]@row)

If that does not work, are you able to make a copy of the sheet and replace the confidential data with mock data and provide a screenshot of that for reference?

kelly.strom

This worked BEAUTIFULLY! I'm VERY new to Smartsheet and have been able to figure out most things based on the Community Support...but this just was beyond me! The good news...I was SO close with some of my attempts. I was missing the use of the plus sign vs the ampersand. Thank you so very much, Paul!!!

Paul Newcome

Happy to help. 👍️

Yes. One of the more prevalent differences between Excel and Smartsheet formulas is in Smartsheet you "add" things together. "This plus that" instead of "this and that".

kelly.strom

Any other tips/tricks like that up your sleeve that would be useful to a beginner? :D

Paul Newcome

@kelly.strom There are A TON of little bits and pieces I could suggest. Way more than time would allow for a single post. Haha.

I can, however, give you my "Top 4 Resources" that both helped me learn and I continue to use / reference even to this day (some more than others).

1) The Community. This place is awesome. It is so full of knowledge, and it happens to be one of the friendliest forums I have ever participated in. I first started off asking questions, but as I learned more I pushed myself to try to answer questions. Initially I would pick some that were relevant to what I was working on but had already been answered and would compare my answer to the one that had been accepted. Then I started branching out to other industries / solutions that had been answered just to test myself. Eventually (with quite a bit of experience) I got to the point where I am today where I happily browse through the "Unanswered" section and answer as much as I can. It has helped me learn new little tricks, plus I get to see all of these other ideas that I can combine into a solution for something I need. Great resource. Great training tool. Great people. You will also see some links to help articles scattered about based on the various tags used in whatever post you happen to be viewing.

I believe there may even be a thread or two that has some tips and tricks for maximizing your experience here such as providing details and screenshots and whatnot. @Genevieve P. Is there a thread or two that would help Kelly get the most out of this Community?

2) The Functions "cheat sheet". I still reference this every now and then especially when a new function has been rolled out (or when I space out on the syntax differences between HAS and CONTAINS hahaha).

https://help.smartsheet.com/functions

3) The Errors "cheat sheet". This has helped A LOT when it comes to trouble shooting.

https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2476176-formula-error-messages

4) The "Formula Handbook". This is a template set in the Solution Center (click on the "+" in the left toolbar in Smartsheet and search for "Formula Handbook"). I haven't used this particular one as it is relatively newer, but there was an older version that was just a single sheet when I was first getting started that helped me quite a bit. It allows you to fiddle around with some formulas and functions with test data. Since it is a template set that can be downloaded from the Solution Center as often as you want, you can just delete it and re-download it if you happen to get it all kinds of jacked up and can't fix it.

I also noticed a link to it right here in the Community!

Genevieve P.

I've been tagged 👀 Oh hello!

Yes, I full agree with all of Paul's suggestions above!

We recently cleaned up the Welcome to the Community area to help you get started here. Please feel free to leave any comments or feedback on those posts.

I would say those are the best resources for when you're actively working in Smartsheet building formulas. However if you can set aside some time to research and learn, the Smartsheet University courses are great!

There are also some free Webinars that walk through formulas:

• Smartsheet Formula Best Practices
• Essential Formulas for Smartsheet Users
• Formula Foundations

Finally, I would suggest reading through the Formula FAQ article, here. Some of the top stumbling blocks are explained here... such as checking if your numerical values are seen as text (left side of the cell) or numbers (right side of the cell), and if you're using the TODAY() function, check that the sheet is "refreshed" or opened each day to recognize today's date.

Cheers!

Genevieve

Paul Newcome

Thanks @Genevieve P.!!

I completely forgot about SmartU. There are also some tutorial videos in the help and learning section (not sure if they are the same or not). I've not seen that FAQ before either.

https://help.smartsheet.com/video_tutorials

So there you go, @kelly.strom. As you can see, there are a ton of resources out there that cover a million and one tips and tricks. Search away and definitely don't be shy if you have any questions!