Number of runners in Excel

[coco999]

Hi
Probably a simple solution but here goes:

Using excel I would like to place a bet in the place market when the number of runners drops to a certain figure. This would be runninf during the morning on the run up to the race. I see there is a NR total at G3 but need the actual runners.
What is the easiest way of getting the excel sheet to calculate the number of runners? is it to use a count on A5:A20 for example?

Regards
Andy

[osknows]

To count non nulls in a range you can use =count(A5:A20)

If you assume that a runner's odds go to 0 in the lay market you can count runners still in the race using =COUNTIF(A5:A20,">0")

If you want to count between 2 conditions you could use
=COUNTIF(A5:A20,"<"&A5)-COUNTIF(A5:A20,"=0")
which counts the number of runners with values less than A5 across A5:A20 but greater than 0

You can swap =0, >0 to =1000, <1000 if you are using odds in the back market

[montyhar2]

Hey,
The worksheet contains columns:
Place Number Runner's Name School Time

I would like to use a bar code scanner to scan in the runners' numbers (6001,6002,6003, etc) after a race in the order that they finish and then have that data entered in the second column of the spreadsheet rather than having to enter it by hand. I've already figured out how to have Excel get the other information about the runner from another spreadsheet and put it in after the runner's number is added.