Beachcomber
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2005
- Messages
- 12
Hello! I promise what I am trying to do is very simple, I am just looking for some guidance.
I'm putting together a simple "Sudoku" game in excel. For the uniniated, sudoku is a Japanese game which involves placing the numbers 1 - 9 in a 9 x 9 table. [I have already done extensive research on the web and in this forum, my question is very simple, I promise] Soduku has three conditions:
1. The numbers 1 through 9 can only appear in each column of the table only once
2. The numbers 1 through 9 can only appear in each row of the table only once
3. Each 3 x 3 region (which I've marked with the letters A through I), can only have one occurence of the numbers 1 through 9
Here is my current setup, for example only:
Here is what I'm trying to do:
1. The user can put numbers into this 9 x 9 table wherever they want
2. I want to create a simple formula which checks each column of my table to make sure that the numbers 1 through 9 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) occur only once (one formula for each column)
3. A similar formula to check each row of the table make sure that the numbers 1 through 9 occur only once (one formula for each row)
4. For each 3 x 3 subdivision in the table, (denoted by letters in my example) it checks to make sure numbers 1 through 9 occur only once (one formula for each region)
Finally, I have a seperate cell which determines if the above conditions are met, and then tells the user if the table "works" or not.
All I'm looking for is a simple way to make sure that the values 1 through 9 occur only once per column, row, and 3 x 3 area. What function should I use to do that? VLOOKUP() and HLOOKUP() seem a little too overkill. Is there a simpler, easier way to do this?
Your help is greatly appreciated - I'm struggling with trying to make this work, and I know it can be really simple. I'm not trying to solve the Sudoku, I'm just checking numbers.
THANK YOU!
I'm putting together a simple "Sudoku" game in excel. For the uniniated, sudoku is a Japanese game which involves placing the numbers 1 - 9 in a 9 x 9 table. [I have already done extensive research on the web and in this forum, my question is very simple, I promise] Soduku has three conditions:
1. The numbers 1 through 9 can only appear in each column of the table only once
2. The numbers 1 through 9 can only appear in each row of the table only once
3. Each 3 x 3 region (which I've marked with the letters A through I), can only have one occurence of the numbers 1 through 9
Here is my current setup, for example only:
Here is what I'm trying to do:
1. The user can put numbers into this 9 x 9 table wherever they want
2. I want to create a simple formula which checks each column of my table to make sure that the numbers 1 through 9 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) occur only once (one formula for each column)
3. A similar formula to check each row of the table make sure that the numbers 1 through 9 occur only once (one formula for each row)
4. For each 3 x 3 subdivision in the table, (denoted by letters in my example) it checks to make sure numbers 1 through 9 occur only once (one formula for each region)
Finally, I have a seperate cell which determines if the above conditions are met, and then tells the user if the table "works" or not.
All I'm looking for is a simple way to make sure that the values 1 through 9 occur only once per column, row, and 3 x 3 area. What function should I use to do that? VLOOKUP() and HLOOKUP() seem a little too overkill. Is there a simpler, easier way to do this?
Your help is greatly appreciated - I'm struggling with trying to make this work, and I know it can be really simple. I'm not trying to solve the Sudoku, I'm just checking numbers.
THANK YOU!