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The
Question-and-Answer Computator |
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Created by David Alderoty, ©2015 |
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To contact the author
use: David@TechForText.com Or left click for a website
communication form |
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SECTION 1, INTRODUCTION: The
Question-and-Answer Computator is a
software-based device that carries out logical computations with
words. Specifically, the device provides answers to 12
questions, based on the words entered by the user.
Five of these questions involve time calculations, and thus the
answers are constantly changing with the passage of time. (The online
version of this device, is displayed on this webpage, approximately
3 or 4 screen lengths, below these words.) |
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The Question-and-Answer
Computator, was created
for demonstration and experimental purposes,
in the Microsoft Excel format, and for online functionality in
JavaScript. However, software that operates with
the basic concepts demonstrated by The Question-and-Answer Computator,
can be created with almost any modern programming
language. |
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The Question-and-Answer
Computator, is based on a set of
formulas that were created with the Excel’s IF(
) function. The
questions entered by the user are transmitted to each formula,
which checks to see if it has the answer. If it
has the answer, it transmits it to a display box.
The formulas essentially work by evaluating the equality of
the words in an adjoining cell, with the words entered by the user.
If the words are the same, the formula transmits the answer to the
display box. |
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For example, with
the formula =IF(Q=J48, L48,""), Q represents the input box with a
question entered by the user. J48 is a cell that
contains a question, which is compared with the question entered by
the user. If the questions in Q and J48 are the
same, the formula displays the answer, which in this case is stored
in cell L48 |
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The above is a
simplified explanation, and the actual mechanism has more formulas, and
components. However the Question-and-Answer
Computator is very easy to use. |
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If you are
interested in a detailed discussion of how the Question-and-Answer
Computator, was created, and how its internal mechanism functions, see
sections 3, 4, and 5, on this webpage. If you are an
expert Microsoft Excel user, or have expertise in a specific
computer language, you will probably be able to create a device
similar to the Question-and-Answer
Computator, with the information provided
in these sections. |
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The
Question-and-Answer Computator is available in an HTML-JavaScript
version, online at www.TechForText.com/LG |
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The Question-and-Answer Computator, is also available in
the Microsoft Excel format at
www.TechForText.com/LG/QAComputator.xlsx |
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SECTION 2, INSTRUCTIONS: Enter one or more of the questions on
this list, into the brown or pink input boxes, presented
below. |
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What time is it? |
Who discovered America?
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When was the first mobile
telephone created? |
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What is the current date?
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Who was the first
president of the United States? |
Where is the tallest
building in the world? |
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What year is it? |
Who invented the computer?
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Who is the tallest person
that ever lived? |
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What is the last day of
this month?" |
Who invented the
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL computer? |
How long ago, was this
software created, in hours, minutes, and seconds? |
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To
use the Question-and-Answer
Computator, enter one of the questions from the
list, presented above. Then, left click with
the mouse on the background, or press the enter key.
To enter or delete words in this software, first left click
with the mouse on the input box. |
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There
are two input boxes in this software, one is pink, and the other is
brown. Both of these input boxes serve identical functions,
but the pink one has a pulldown menu, to select the question you
want. |
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With the Brown
input box, you must type in your question, or use the cut and copy
function to enter your question. You can copy your
question from the list at the beginning of this section.
When using the brown input box, you must enter the question
exactly as it is presented in the list, without any extra
spaces. However, this software is not case-sensitive,
and thus you can use upper or lower case letters.
If you enter a question in the brown input box, and the
software does not respond to it, there is probably some extra space
on the left or right of the
phrase.
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To use the pink input
box, with the online version of the Question-and-Answer Computator,
simply left click with the mouse, on the input box, and the menu will
appear. Select the question you want from the
menu, and click on it with the
mouse. |
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When using the
Question-and-Answer Computator, in the Excel format, left click on the
pink input box, and you will see a small silver button appear on the
right side of the box. Then, left click on the
small silver button, and a menu will open. Then
scroll up or down the menu to find the phrase you want, and left
click on the phrase with the mouse, or press the enter key, while
the phrase is highlighted. |
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Note, when using
the menu, you will see that each question has a number.
If you click on a number, it will be displayed in the pink
input box, but the software will not process your
question. Thus, you should only click on the
phrases. |
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You can also use
both the brown and pink input boxes simultaneously.
This works well, only when you are entering a question that
involves a time calculation, and another question that does not involve
any calculations. When the above is not the case,
the answers from two questions might be displayed as a single block
of confusing text. |
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Below the pink
input box, there is a display box, where the answers to the questions
are presented. The display box is comprised of
two yellow sections, and one white section. The
yellow sections are used to display answers to time related
questions, such as: How long ago, was this
software created, in hours, minutes, and seconds?
The white section is used to display answers to questions
that do not involve any type of calculation, such as: Who invented
the computer? |
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Input Box, to
Enter Questions, with a Drop-Down Menu |
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Display Box,
for Displaying the Answers to the Questions |
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Display Box,
for Displaying the Answers to the Questions |
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Input Box, to Enter
Questions |
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SECTION 3, THE FORMULAS, AND RELATED COMPONENTS, USED TO
CREATE THE QUESTION-AND-ANSWER COMPUTATOR:
The following sections provide some information on the internal
structure and functioning of the Question-and-Answer Computator.
This information is based on the device that was created in
the Microsoft Excel format. All of the formulas
and components of the device are not discussed in detail in the
following sections. If you want detailed
information, you should download a special version of the
Question-and-Answer
Computator. This version
has all of the formulas exposed, because it is for study purposes, and
it does not perform the computations. To download
left click on the following link: |
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www.TechForText.com/LG/StudyQ-A-Computator.xlsx
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The Question-and-Answer
Computator, was originally created with
Microsoft Excel, with a set of formulas I devised.
Many of the formulas were created with the IF() and OR( )
functions, =, “ ” and related cell designations.
These formulas determine if the question entered in an input box,
matches the answer that is governed by a specific
formula. That is each of the formulas with the
IF() function, evaluates a question, entered into the input box by
the user. If a specific formula has access to the
answer, it creates a switch like connection from the storage cell,
and transmits the answer to the display
box. |
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The display box is
comprised of two yellow sections, and one white
section. The yellow section is used to display
time related calculations. The yellow sections
are have formulas and format code to process the data into a
conventional time format. The white section
contains a special formula, that I created to display text
transmitted from several formulas. This formula
is comprised of cell designations, connected together with &,
and it is displayed
below:
=K70&K72&K74&K76&K78&K80&K82
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Most of the
formulas that comprise the question-and-answer computator, are presented
below, in the center, which is column K. The
actual formulas are not visible, but there are equivalent formulas
displayed in red type. |
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The Time is |
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="What time is it?"
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=IF(OR(Q=J38, X=J38),
L38,"") |
=NOW() |
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Today is |
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="What is the current
date?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J40, X=J40), L40,
"") |
=TODAY() |
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The year is |
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="What year is it?"
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=IF(OR(Q=J40, X=J40),
L40,"") |
=TODAY() |
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Last day of the month is
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="What is the last day of
this month?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J44, X=J44),
L44,"") |
=TODAY() |
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Who discovered
America? America was originally discovered by the
American Indians and at a later point in time by the
Vikings. Christopher Columbus discovered America
many years after the Indians and Vikings discovered it. |
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=IF(OR(Q=J46, X=J46),
L46,"") |
Who discovered
America? America was originally discovered by the
American Indians and at a later point in time by the
Vikings. Christopher Columbus discovered America
many years after the Indians and Vikings discovered it. |
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Who was the first
president of the United States? George Washington is
the first president of the United States. However,
a few sources argue that John Hanson was the first
president. See the following:
http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html
and
www.constitutionfacts.com/us-articles-of-confederation/john-hanson-story
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="Who was the first
president of the United States?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J59, X=J59),
L59,"") |
Who was the first
president of the United States? George Washington is
the first president of the United States. However,
a few sources argue that John Hanson was the first
president. See the following:
http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html
and
www.constitutionfacts.com/us-articles-of-confederation/john-hanson-story
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Who invented the
computer? Many sources attribute the invention of the
computer to Charles Babbage. However, he designed
a MECHANICAL DEVICE, which was never built. Most
people would probably not consider his device a true
computer. For more information, see this YouTube
video: https://youtu.be/d1pvc9Zh7Tg |
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="Who invented the
computer?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J50, X=J50),
L50,"") |
Who invented the
computer? Many sources attribute the invention of the
computer to Charles Babbage. However, he designed
a MECHANICAL DEVICE, which was never built. Most
people would probably not consider his device a true
computer. For more information, see this YouTube
video: https://youtu.be/d1pvc9Zh7Tg |
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Who invented the
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTER? John Vincent Atanasoff
invented the digital electronic computer, according to many
sources. His invention was based on vacuum tubes, but
it functioned with binary digits, similar to the modern
computer. For more information, see the following
YouTube
videos:
https://youtu.be/LDbYyRPEtRs ,
https://youtu.be/Wbl2yZTFZRk
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="Who invented the
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL computer?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J52, X=J52),
L52,"") |
Who invented the
ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTER? John Vincent Atanasoff
invented the digital electronic computer, according to many
sources. His invention was based on vacuum tubes, but
it functioned with binary digits, similar to the modern
computer. For more information, see the following
YouTube
videos:
https://youtu.be/LDbYyRPEtRs ,
https://youtu.be/Wbl2yZTFZRk
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When was the first mobile
telephone created? The answer to this question
depends on your definition of a mobile phone.
This is because they were various types of portable
telephone devices created many years before the cell
phone. However, most sources, attribute of
development of the modern mobile phone to Zachary M. Seward, in the
early 1970s. See the following:
http://ademobiles.blogspot.com
www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/09/cooper.cell.phone.inventor
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="When was the first mobile
telephone created?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J54, X=J54),
L54,"") |
When was the first mobile
telephone created? The answer to this question
depends on your definition of a mobile phone.
This is because they were various types of portable
telephone devices created many years before the cell
phone. However, most sources, attribute of
development of the modern mobile phone to Zachary M. Seward, in the
early 1970s. See the following:
http://ademobiles.blogspot.com
www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/09/cooper.cell.phone.inventor
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Where is the tallest
building in the world? Dubai, United Arab
Emirates. The building is the Burj Khalifa, which is
2,722 ft) tall. See the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7lWOkXuO8Q
www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/tallest-building-in-the-world
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="Where is the tallest
building in the world?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J56, X=J56),
L56,"") |
Where is the tallest
building in the world? Dubai, United Arab
Emirates. The building is the Burj Khalifa, which is
2,722 ft) tall. See the following:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7lWOkXuO8Q
www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/tallest-building-in-the-world
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Who is the tallest person
that ever lived? In terms of documented cases,
Robert Pershing Wadlow, is the tallest individual, with a height
slightly over 8 feet, 11 inches. See the
following:
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-man-ever
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="Who is the tallest person
that ever lived?" |
=IF(OR(Q=J58, X=J58), L58,"")
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Who is the tallest person
that ever lived? In terms of documented cases,
Robert Pershing Wadlow, is the tallest individual, with a height
slightly over 8 feet, 11 inches. See the
following:
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/tallest-man-ever
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This software
was created on November 4, at 2:00 PM. The age of
the software, from the time of completion, to the present point in
time, is presented below in red type, in terms of hours, minutes,
and seconds. |
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SECTION 4,
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS, AND RELATED THEORY OF THE STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTIONING OF THE QUESTION-AND-ANSWER COMPUTATOR |
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The formulas that
provide answers to the questions are connected in parallel from the
input boxes. This means they are all connected to
the same boxes, and in theory, the formulas receive the same
request to process a question simultaneously.
Some of the transmission connections from the above formulas
to the white section in the display box also involved parallel
connections. This should be obvious from the
formula used in the white section of the display box which is
=K70&K72&K74&K76&K78&K80&K82.
The configuration described above is very unusual for devices
created in Microsoft Excel, but I have used similar configuration
successfully, with other devices I created. |
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The general concept, used to create the Question-and-Answer
Computator, has potential utility for creating a number of
software-based devices. Two examples are databases with
search functions and display boxes, and question and answer devices
that can carry out complex calculations. The
concepts are also useful for creating databases that have information
that is constantly changing. The primary concepts
that are especially useful, are the novel use of the IF() function,
and the design of the display box with the parallel connections to
multiple formulas. There are of course other ways
of creating these devices, but the concepts that were discussed
above, might be easier, quicker, and more efficient, in many
situations. |
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SECTION 5,
SPECIAL FORMULAS FOR CALCULATING ELAPSED TIME, TO ANSWER THE QUESTION:
HOW LONG AGO, WAS THIS SOFTWARE CREATED, IN HOURS, MINUTES, AND
SECONDS? |
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The
conventional Microsoft Excel formulas were inadequate for the elapsed
time calculation indicated in the above title. The
formulas I devised use only the NOW() function from
Excel. The formulas that I created do not require
any special format code, and they clearly indicate the elapsed time
in days, hours, minutes, and seconds. How these
formulas were created, is presented below. Keep
in mind that the numbers used to demonstrate the concepts will
constantly change, because they are connected to the NOW()
function. The following formulas are also
connected to the mechanism of the Question-And-Answer
Computator. |
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The start date is on the
left, and the start time is on the right. |
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The time and
date are converted to a number format, consisting of days, and
fractions of a day. Then, the time and date are
added together, (formula used
=J70+L70). The resulting
number is subtracted from the present date, which indicates the
elapsed time from time zero, (formula
used =NOW()-K70). In
this situation, times zero means the date and time when the
software was created. The elapsed time is displayed
below, in days and fractions of the day. |
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Elapsed Time in Days
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The following
mathematics converts the elapsed time from days,
to hours, minutes, and seconds. The elapsed time is also
converted into days, hours, minutes, and seconds, in a second set
of calculations. This software makes these
conversions in the same way humans do, but it repeats the
calculations continuously, because the elapsed
time is continuously increasing. (Continuously means here, when the
software is opened, and when words are entered or
deleted.) If you want to
understand the following calculations, just ask yourself how you would
convert days to hours, minutes, and seconds.
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The first step
is to convert the elapsed time from days, two hours, by multiplying
by 24. This results in the following (formula used =K72*24 )
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The next step
is to separate the whole number, from its decimal.
The whole number represents hours. The decimal
represents fractions of an hour, which will be converted to minutes
and seconds. The following two formulas were
used to carry out the above: =ROUNDDOWN(J75,0) and
=J75-K77 |
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=ROUNDDOWN(J75,0) |
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Formula used
for the above, yellow highlighted section =K77&" Hours," |
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=J75-K77 |
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The
above is a fraction of an hour, displayed in a decimal. This
decimal is multiplied by 60 below, to converted
to minutes. |
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Minutes |
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The next step
is to separate the whole number, from its decimal.
The whole number represents minutes. The
decimal represents fractions of a minute, which will be converted to
seconds. The following two formulas were used to
carry out the above: =ROUNDDOWN(J75,0) and
=J75-K77 |
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=ROUNDDOWN(K82, 0) |
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Formula used
for the above, yellow highlighted section is =K85&" Minutes" |
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=K82-K85 |
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The above is a
fraction of a minute, displayed in a decimal. This decimal is
multiplied by 60 below, to converted it to seconds (formula
used =K87*60
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=K87*60 |
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Seconds |
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The above, is
rounded to two decimal places, with the following formula: =Round(K90, 2 ) |
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=ROUND(K90, 2) |
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Formula used for the yellow highlighted section
is ="and "&K93&" Seconds"
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The formula
used for the above, was created by connecting the cell designations
that were highlighted in the previous paragraphs, in yellow, as as
shown below: =L77&"
"&L85&" "&L93 |
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The elapsed
time can also be calculated in DAYS, hours, minutes, and
seconds. This can be done by starting with the elapsed
time that was presented above, in days, and fractions of a
day. |
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Elapsed Time, in
days |
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The first step
is to separate the decimal from the whole number.
The whole numbers represent days, and the decimal represents
a fraction of the day. This can be achieved
with the following formulas. |
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=ROUNDDOWN(K72, 0 )
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Days |
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The following
formula was used for the yellow highlighted section. =K101&"
Days," |
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K72-K101 |
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=K101&" Days," |
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The above
decimal represents a fraction of a day. This decimal
will be converted to hours by multiplying by 24, with the following
formula: ROUNDDOWN(J106,0),
and =K103*24 |
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hours |
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The next step
is to separate the whole number, which represents hours, from the
decimal which represents a fraction of an hour.
This can be done with the following formulas:
=ROUNDDOWN(J106,0), and =J106-K108 |
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ROUNDDOWN(J106,0) |
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=K108&" Hours,"
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The above
decimal, is of fraction of an hour, which will be converted to minutes,
by multiplying by 60, using the following formula =J109*60 |
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Minutes |
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The next step
is to separate the whole number, which represents minutes, from the
decimal, which represents a fraction of a minute.
This can be done with the following formulas:
=ROUNDDOWN(J111,0), and =J106-K108 |
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=ROUNDDOWN(J111,0)
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=J111 -K113 |
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=K113&" Minutes,"
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The above is a
fraction of a minute, and it can be converted to seconds by
multiplying by 60, with the following formula: =K114*60 |
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Seconds |
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The above
number represents seconds, and it is rounded to two decimal places below,
with the following formula: ==ROUND( J116, 2)
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=ROUND( J116,
2) |
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="and
"&K118&" Seconds" |
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The formula
used for the above, was created by connecting the cell designations
that were highlighted in the previous paragraphs, in yellow, as as
shown below: =L77&"
"&L85&" "&L93 |
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I, David Alderoty, created the above
software, by devising a set of formulas, and entering them into Microsoft
Excel. Then I converted the resulting Microsoft
Excel device into HTML and JavaScript code, so that it can be
viewed with conventional web browsers. The
conversion was carried out electronically, with a software program
called SpreadsheetConverter. After, the
conversion, I had to edit the resulting code, to improve the
appearance and functionality of the webpage and the above
software. For information on SpreadsheetConverter
see the following: |
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www.SpreadsheetConverter.com |
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www.SpreadsheetConverter.com/download/end-user-license-agreement
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