formula to text string?

[rootbeer001]

i am a computer teacher, and i am trying to make a quiz for my students. i want to test their knowledge on using formulas, functions, and absolute cell references.

i want to be able to have the spreadsheet "grade" itself, so i need a way to have excel check a formula (ie. =A2+$G$1) to tell me that the absolute cell reference was used properly.

i was thinking of converting the formula to a string and comparing it to "=A2+$G$1", but have not been able to find an answer.

any suggestions? my programming skills are horrible, so if you suggest vba, please explain in detail.

thanks!

 

[SteveO59L]

Could try replacing the "=" with nothing

 

[rootbeer001]

it's a good start, but doing that will compare the values instead of the formulas/text string. thanks for the suggestion. will keep trying.....

 

[SteveO59L]

Try posting a sample of what you are wanting to do

 

[rootbeer001]

found what i needed. had to create a custom function, but luckily someone else had this same issue on the boards awhile back. thanks!

http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33170

to clarify:

i want students to use absolute cell references to perform some calculations. i want their spreadsheet to tell them they are using the proper formula by comparing the formula (does =A2+$G$1 equal the formula they type in), not by comparing the values, because kids will put =A2+G1. it results in the same value, but they did not use absolute cell references.

thanks for your help steve!