Parent Level Formula Checkbox

Emily McNeeley

I am working with a sheet where I have multiple parent child relationships. Some rows are a straight parent child but others will have a grandparent/parent/child. In order to run conditional formatting at the top line but not the parent lines in the grandparent situation, I believe I need a checkbox to run the conditional formatting off of instead of my child count column. I will also need to report statuses based on this top parent line. What formula can I write to autopopulate the check box of the top parent line so that I don't have to manually manage this field?

John Pudar

Hi @Emily McNeeley,

I'd recommend creating a new column and adding this as a column formula:

=COUNT(ANCESTORS([Primary Column]@row))

Each true parent row will return a zero in the new column, and you can then run conditional formatting or other calculations based on that zero.

John Pudar

Hi @Emily McNeeley,

I'd recommend creating a new column and adding this as a column formula:

=COUNT(ANCESTORS([Primary Column]@row))

Each true parent row will return a zero in the new column, and you can then run conditional formatting or other calculations based on that zero.

Emily McNeeley

@John Pudar Thank you!