Posts Tagged ‘zip code lists’

Microsoft Excel “custom functions” can do many specialized tasks related to address and zip code information, such as checking the validity of mailing addresses, calculating driving time and driving distance, even importing demographic information.Custom functions (also called User-Defined Functions or UDFs) perform complex calculations or tasks and are used in cell formulas just like the standard Excel functions SUM, AVERAGE, or LOOKUP. In this article we will describe how you can use custom functions to create lists of zip codes in Microsoft Excel.

Zip code lists can be used for a variety of purposes, such as planning direct mail or advertising campaigns.But instead of cutting and pasting zip codes from a website or database, custom functions in Excel can automate interactions with a zip code database and import zip code lists easily into a worksheet, allowing the user to then analyze the zip codes and any associated data using Excel’s powerful built-in capabilities.From the user’s point of view, these custom functions look just like another formula in the worksheet.Since all interactions with the database occur in the background, the user can work entirely within the familiar Excel environment – there’s no need to learn a new application.

How would this work within an Excel worksheet?Let’s say we need a list of all the zip codes in the city of New Rochelle, in Westchester County, New York.To use a custom function called ZIPLIST, we just type this formula into a cell “= ZIPLIST (“New York”, “Westchester”, “New Rochelle”)”.The function we call ZIPLIST gets the required data from a local database and returns all the New Rochelle zip codes to the worksheet cell. If we need zip codes for a long list of cities in a worksheet, we can also input a custom function formula using the only worksheet cell locations, such as “=ZIPLIST (A1, B1, C1)”, where A1, B1, and C1 refer to the cell locations of the state, county, and city, respectively.We can then easily copy and paste this formula to apply it to all the cities in our list.

Zip code lists for a county or state can also be generated using this method.For all zip codes in the state of California, the custom function formula is”‘=ZIPLIST (“California”).The omission of county and city information in this case indicates only state-level information is required.

This is a good example of how Excel custom functions can automate specialized tasks and calculations, with no need to learn a new application or even leave the familiar environment of Excel. From checking the validity of address information to generating zip code lists in Microsoft Excel, custom functions can be valuable tools for analyzing zip code and address information.

Author: Betty Hughes
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Electric Pressure Cooker