Simple excel find and replace for formulas

Question

I have numerous cells all over the place on a worksheet that look like =((E9-E8)/E8). I want to use the first two values to go into this new formula, (EXP((LN(E9/E8)/14.32))-1).

How can I change them all to the new formula in one fell swoop?

Answer 1

If the formulas are identical you can use Find and Replace with Match entire cell contents checked and Look in: Formulas. Select the range, go into Find and Replace, make your entries and `Replace All.

Or do you mean that there are several formulas with this same form, but different cell references? If so, then one way to go is a regular expression match and replace. Regular expressions are not built into Excel (or VBA), but can be accessed via Microsoft's VBScript Regular Expressions library.

The following function provides the necessary match and replace capability. It can be used in a subroutine that would identify cells with formulas in the specified range and use the formulas as inputs to the function. For formulas strings that match the pattern you are looking for, the function will produce the replacement formula, which could then be written back to the worksheet.

Function RegexFormulaReplace(formula As String)
    Dim regex As New RegExp
    regex.Pattern = "=\(\(([A-Z]+\d+)-([A-Z]+\d+)\)/([A-Z]+\d+)\)"
'   Test if a match is found
    If regex.Test(formula) = True Then
        RegexFormulaReplace = regex.Replace(formula, "=(EXP((LN($1/$2)/14.32))-1")
    Else
        RegexFormulaReplace = CVErr(xlErrValue)
    End If
    Set regex = Nothing
End Function

In order for the function to work, you would need to add a reference to the Microsoft VBScript Regular Expressions 5.5 library. From the Developer tab of the main ribbon, select VBA and then References from the main toolbar. Scroll down to find the reference to the library and check the box next to it.