How to reuse same formulas within a cell in Google Sheets without copy pasting

Question

I am working with a large (but simple) formula In Google Sheets that re-uses the same blocks of formulas repeatedly. To get a bunch of data from a bunch of different tabs I have to use 708 characters in that block of formulas. But then I need to repeatedly reference that data over and over within just the 1 cell which multiplies the length of the formula to the point where I can't even tell what is going on any more.

For example I have a cell with the final code (with 2216 characters) of:

=iferror(IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("a",concatenate(TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Brown!$C$3:$C$68&Brown!$D$3:$D$68,Brown!H$3:H$68,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Godoy!$C$3:$C$76&Godoy!$D$3:$D$76,Godoy!H$3:H$76,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Sindel!$C$7:$C$60&Sindel!$D$7:$D$60,Sindel!H$7:H$60,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Taylor!$C$3:$C$82&Taylor!$D$3:$D$82,Taylor!H$3:H$82,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Wanner!$C$3:$C$55&Wanner!$D$3:$D$55,Wanner!H$3:H$55,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Gehrman!$C$3:$C$16&Gehrman!$D$3:$D$16,Gehrman!H$3:H$16,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Francois!$C$3:$C$17&Francois!$D$3:$D$17,Francois!H$3:H$17,"")))))),"A",average(ArrayFormula(mid(concatenate(TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Brown!$C$3:$C$68&Brown!$D$3:$D$68,Brown!H$3:H$68,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Godoy!$C$3:$C$76&Godoy!$D$3:$D$76,Godoy!H$3:H$76,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Sindel!$C$7:$C$60&Sindel!$D$7:$D$60,Sindel!H$7:H$60,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Taylor!$C$3:$C$82&Taylor!$D$3:$D$82,Taylor!H$3:H$82,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Wanner!$C$3:$C$55&Wanner!$D$3:$D$55,Wanner!H$3:H$55,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Gehrman!$C$3:$C$16&Gehrman!$D$3:$D$16,Gehrman!H$3:H$16,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Francois!$C$3:$C$17&Francois!$D$3:$D$17,Francois!H$3:H$17,"")))),sequence(len(concatenate(TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Brown!$C$3:$C$68&Brown!$D$3:$D$68,Brown!H$3:H$68,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Godoy!$C$3:$C$76&Godoy!$D$3:$D$76,Godoy!H$3:H$76,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Sindel!$C$7:$C$60&Sindel!$D$7:$D$60,Sindel!H$7:H$60,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Taylor!$C$3:$C$82&Taylor!$D$3:$D$82,Taylor!H$3:H$82,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Wanner!$C$3:$C$55&Wanner!$D$3:$D$55,Wanner!H$3:H$55,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Gehrman!$C$3:$C$16&Gehrman!$D$3:$D$16,Gehrman!H$3:H$16,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Francois!$C$3:$C$17&Francois!$D$3:$D$17,Francois!H$3:H$17,"")))))),1)*1))),"")

This looks crazy long, but it is only because I am using this one formula (with 708 characters):

concatenate(TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Brown!$C$3:$C$68&Brown!$D$3:$D$68,Brown!H$3:H$68,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Godoy!$C$3:$C$76&Godoy!$D$3:$D$76,Godoy!H$3:H$76,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Sindel!$C$7:$C$60&Sindel!$D$7:$D$60,Sindel!H$7:H$60,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Taylor!$C$3:$C$82&Taylor!$D$3:$D$82,Taylor!H$3:H$82,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Wanner!$C$3:$C$55&Wanner!$D$3:$D$55,Wanner!H$3:H$55,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Gehrman!$C$3:$C$16&Gehrman!$D$3:$D$16,Gehrman!H$3:H$16,""))),TEXTJOIN("",TRUE,arrayformula(if($B3&$C3=Francois!$C$3:$C$17&Francois!$D$3:$D$17,Francois!H$3:H$17,""))))

3 times within the cell.

Is it possible to have one cell just contain the block of functions that I want to use (as a string) and then somehow convert the string to code to reuse it without making a monster function?

For example, could I assign A1 to hold the long code that I want to have multiple times and then have a formula like:

=IFERROR(IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("a",textToFormula(A1))),"A",AVERAGE(ArrayFormula(mid(textToFormula(A1),sequence(len(textToFormula(A1))),1)*1)).

I should also mention that there is no room in my sheet to just put the string of data I am looking for in a separate cell, because I have to apply this formula roughly 50 rows and 180 columns.

user_4294399 · Answer

Ouch! That is a long formula! Sadly, there's no eval() like in JavaScript, but we can at least make you a simpler formula.

How about this one? It's still a bit long, but far less complex. It only Queries each sheet once. This one works in cell F3, but can be dragged.

=IF(
  JOIN("",{Teacher1!G$7:G;Teacher2!G$7:G;Teacher3!G$7:G;Teacher4!G$7:G;Teacher5!G$7:G})<>"",
  IFERROR(Average(ArrayFormula(--{
    QUERY(ArrayFormula(TO_TEXT(Teacher1!$A$7:$GX)),"select Col"&COLUMN()+1&" where Col3='"&$B3&"' and Col4='"&$C3&"'");
    QUERY(ArrayFormula(TO_TEXT(Teacher2!$A$7:$GX)),"select Col"&COLUMN()+1&" where Col3='"&$B3&"' and Col4='"&$C3&"'");
    QUERY(ArrayFormula(TO_TEXT(Teacher3!$A$7:$GX)),"select Col"&COLUMN()+1&" where Col3='"&$B3&"' and Col4='"&$C3&"'");
    QUERY(ArrayFormula(TO_TEXT(Teacher4!$A$7:$GX)),"select Col"&COLUMN()+1&" where Col3='"&$B3&"' and Col4='"&$C3&"'");
    QUERY(ArrayFormula(TO_TEXT(Teacher5!$A$7:$GX)),"select Col"&COLUMN()+1&" where Col3='"&$B3&"' and Col4='"&$C3&"'")}
  )),"A"),
  ""
)

The Query Statement:

Each cell queries each sheet as a table where the name is matched in the sheet as a row.
The COLUMN()+1 is to get the corresponding columns to line up. I.e. If we're in column F (6), we want to look in column G (7).
The TO_TEXT allows us to look for non-numbers ("A").

After that, convert each query result to a number with --, then take the Average. If any of the numbers cannot be converted to a number, Average gives us an error, and we assume the value was "A".

In the case that all cells in a column for a date are blank (the blank JOIN), bypass the queries altogether and output a blank cell.

How to reuse same formulas within a cell in Google Sheets without copy pasting

1 Answers