Overview of Dice Rolling Tutorial
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
Overview of Dice Rolling Tutorial

This tutorial takes you through all the steps necessary to create a dice roller program
in Excel. The end result will be a pair of dice on a worksheet.

The dice will display graphically a random number generated by the RANDBETWEEN
function. The dice can be "rolled" repeatedly by recalculating the worksheet.

The dots on the die faces are created using the Wingdings font (see step 1 of this
tutorial). The letter "l" ( lowercase L ) is a dot in the Wingdings font.

Depending on the random numbers generated by the RANDBETWEEN functions, dots
will appear in the appropriate cells of the dice in the worksheet.

A combination of AND , IF , and OR functions control when dots appear in each cell of
the dice.
The steps in this tutorial are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Building the Dice
Adding the RANDBETWEEN Function
The Functions behind the Dots (#1)
The Functions behind the Dots (#2)
The Functions behind the Dots (#3)
The Functions behind the Dots (#4)
Rolling the Dice
Hiding the RANDBETWEEN Function
Building the Dice
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
Building the Dice
Follow these steps to format your worksheet to create the two dice.
Cell size, cell alignment, and font type and size
1.
Drag select cells D1 to J3
2.
Set the row height of these cells to 25
3.
Set the column width of these cells to 5
4.
Set the horizontal cell alignment to center
5.
Set the vertical cell alignment to middle
6.
Set the font type to Wingdings
7.
Set the font size to 30
Dice color
1.
Drag select cells D1 to F3
2.
Set the cell background color to blue
3.
Drag select cells H1 to J3
4.
Set the cell background color to red
Adding the RANDBETWEEN Function
The RANDBETWEEN Function
© Ted French
Adding the RANDBETWEEN Function
The RANDBETWEEN function is used to generate the random numbers shown on the two dice.
For the first die
1.
Click on cell E5.
2.
Click on the Formulas tab of the ribbon menu.
3.
Choose Math & Trig from the ribbon to open the function drop down list.
4.
Click on RANDBETWEEN in the list to bring up the function's dialog box.
5.
Click on the "Bottom" line in the dialog box.
6.
Type the number 1 (one) on this line.
7.
Click on the "Top" line in the dialog box.
8.
Type the number 6 (six) on this line.
9.
Click OK.
10.
A random number between 1 and 6 should appear in cell E5.
For the second die
1.
Click on cell I5.
2.
Repeat steps 2 to 9 above.
3.
A random number between 1 and 6 should appear in cell I5.
The Functions behind the Dots (#1)
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
The Functions behind the Dots (#1)
In cells D1 and F3 type the following function:
= IF ( AND ( E5> = 2 , E5 < = 6 )," l " , " ")
This function tests to see if the random number in cell E5 is between 2 and 6. If so, it places
an "l" in cells D1 and F3. If not, it leaves the cells blank ("").
To get the same result for the second die, in cells H1 and J3 type the function:
= IF ( AND ( I5 > = 2 , I5 < = 6 )," l " , " ")
Remember: The letter "l" ( lowercase L ) is a dot in the Wingdings font.
The Functions behind the Dots (#2)
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
The Functions behind the Dots (#2)
In cells D2 and F2 type the following function:
= IF ( E5 = 6 , " l " , " " )
This function tests to see if the random number in cell E5 is equal to 6. If so, it places an "l" in
cells D2 and F23. If not, it leaves the cell blank ("").
To get the same result for the second die, in cells H2 and J2 type the function:
= IF ( I5 = 6 , " l " , " " )
Remember: The letter "l" ( lowercase L ) is a dot in the Wingdings font.
The Functions behind the Dots (#3)
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
The Functions behind the Dots (#3)
In cells D3 and F1 type the following function:
= IF ( AND ( E5 > = 4 , E5 < = 6 )," l " , " ")
This function tests to see if the random number in cell E5 is between 4 and 6. If so, it places
an "l" in cells D1 and F3. If not, it leaves the cells blank ("").
To get the same result for the second die, in cells H3 and J1 type the function:
= IF ( AND ( I5 > = 4 , I5 < = 6 )," l " , " ")
Remember: The letter "l" ( lowercase L ) is a dot in the Wingdings font.
The Functions behind the Dots (#4)
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
The Functions behind the Dots (#4)
In cell E2 type the following function:
= IF ( OR ( E5 = 1 , E5 = 3 , E5 = 5 ) , " l " , " ")
This function tests to see if the random number in cell E2 is equal to 1 , 3, or 5. If so, it places
an "l" in cell E2. If not, it leaves the cell blank ("").
To get the same result for the second die, in cell I2 type the function:
= IF ( OR ( I5 = 1 , I5 = 3 , I5 = 5 ) , " l " , " ")
Remember: The letter "l" ( lowercase L ) is a dot in the Wingdings font.
Rolling the Dice
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
Rolling the Dice
To "roll" the dice, press the F 9 key on the keyboard.
Doing this, causes Excel to recalculate all functions and formulas in the worksheet. This will
cause the RANDBETWEEN functions in cells E5 and I5 to generate another random number
between 1 and 6.
Hiding the RANDBETWEEN Function
Excel 2007 Dice Roller Tutorial
© Ted French
Hiding the RANDBETWEEN Functions Once the dice are complete and all functions have
been tested to ensure they are operating correctly, the RANDBETWEEN functions in cells E5
and I5 can be hidden.
Hiding the functions is an optional step. Doing so adds to the "mystery" of how the dice roller works.
To hide the RANDBETWEEN Functions
1.
2.
Drag select cells E5 to I5.
Change the font color of these cells to match the background color. In this case,
change it to "white".