Find Oldest Date

Q

Qaspec

I need to fiind the oldest date of an entry depending on the status of the
case.

A B C
Canada Open 6/25/07
Mexico Open 6/16/07
Brazil Open 6/1/07
Canada Open 6/19/07
Canada Closed 6/2/07

I need to be able find the oldest open date for Canada which would be 6/19/07
according to this example.
 
B

Bob Phillips

=MIN(IF((A1:A5="Canada")*(B1:B5="Open"),C1:C5))

which is an array formula, it should be committed with Ctrl-Shift-Enter, not
just Enter.
Excel will automatically enclose the formula in braces (curly brackets), do
not try to do this manually.
When editing the formula, it must again be array-entered.

--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)
 
T

T. Valko

Try this array formula** :

=MIN(IF((A1:A5="Canada")*(B1:B5="Open"),C1:C5))

Format as DATE

Better to use cells to hold the criteria:

E1 = Canada
F1 = Open

=MIN(IF((A1:A5=E1)*(B1:B5=F1),C1:C5))

** array formulas need to be entered using the key combination of
CTRL,SHIFT,ENTER (not just ENTER)
 
Q

Qaspec

The formula works except for the fact that unfortunately some of the records
have null values in the date field. How do I ignore those and find the oldest
entered date?
I'm assuming I keep returning 1/0/1900 because of the blank records.
 
Q

Qaspec

I tried each of the suggestions and I'm still returning a 0 value. Could
there be something wrong with the formatting of the date in the referenced
cell?
 
T

Toppers

Check the dates are true DATES and not TEXT.

Qaspec said:
I tried each of the suggestions and I'm still returning a 0 value. Could
there be something wrong with the formatting of the date in the referenced
cell?
Click to expand...
 
B

Bob Phillips

=MIN(IF((A1:A5="Canada")*(B1:B5="Open")*(C1:C5<>""),C1:C5))


--
HTH

Bob

(there's no email, no snail mail, but somewhere should be gmail in my addy)
 
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