Question

I’m trying to color a spreadsheet based on the results given in one of it’s columns. I’m using the following code:

With newSheet.Range("B:B")
    .FormatConditions.Add(Excel.XlFormatConditionType.xlCellValue, Excel.XlFormatConditionOperator.xlEqual, "CORRECT")
    .FormatConditions(1).Interior.ColorIndex = 4

    .FormatConditions.Add(Excel.XlFormatConditionType.xlCellValue, Excel.XlFormatConditionOperator.xlEqual, "INCORRECT")
    .FormatConditions(2).Interior.ColorIndex = 3
End With

Unfortunately this only colors the cell containing “CORRECT” or “INCORRECT”. I’d like it to extend to the row they are in (for example, if B12 contains “CORRECT”, I want A12:G12 to all be coloured green). It was suggested that I try using an expression and so I tried the following code:

.FormatConditions.Add(Type:=XlFormatConditionType.xlExpression, Formula1:="=B" & row & "= ""CORRECT"")")
.FormatConditions(1).Interior.ColorIndex = 4

This however, returns an E_INVALIDARG exception. I’d appreciate any tips on how to go about fixing this. I should also note that looping through every row and checking one at a time is not really an option, as there are many thousands of lines.

Answer 1

Your formula should work once you remove your excess closing parenthesis and make the column an absolute value

.FormatConditions.Add(Type:=XlFormatConditionType.xlExpression, Formula1:="=$B1= ""CORRECT""")
.FormatConditions(1).Interior.ColorIndex = 4

Make sure you set the row in your formula $B1 as the first row of your formatted range (you don’t need to do a loop)