How to perform text string in one cell as function in another

[Rohohoho]

Hi there, I need to make a spread sheet and show the equations in one column and the results in another. Is there a way to reference the text string in one cell and perform the funtion in another so I can quickly fill the cells rather than typing out twice?

for example.
cell a1 contains the text 9*12.5*52
cell b1 solves the equation =9*12.5*52

I feel like this is super simple, but I can't quite figure it out
Thank you!

 

[Joe4]

Welcome to the Board!

I am not sure if there is an easier way, but one way would be to create your own User Defined Function in VBA that would evaluate the formula and return the value.

So you would just copy this VBA code into a new, blank VBA module in your workbook:

Function MyCalc(rng As Range) As Variant
    Application.Volatile
    MyCalc = Evaluate("=" & rng)
End Function

Then you could use this like any other Excel function.
So, in your example, you would place the following formula in cell B1:

=MyCalc(A1)

 

[Rohohoho]

thank you. I tried this, but get an error

 

[Joe4]

The "Ambiguous name detected..." error usually means that you already have a function in your workbook with that name (or you copied and pasted my code two times in VBA instead of just once).

 

[Rohohoho]

Must be a little rustier on VBA than I thought. I inserted a new module and copied the VBA code as supplied.
when I try and run the macro, I get another error. Might need to give myself more of a refresher. Thanks for your help

 

[Joe4]

Did you get it working yesterday?