DMIN function in Excel

What is DMIN Function in Excel?

The DMIN function is one of the Database functions of Excel.

It returns the smallest number in the field (column) of records in the database that matches the conditions you specify.

We can find this function in the Database of the insert function Tab.

How to use DMIN function in excel

1. Click on an empty cell (like F5 )

2. Click on the fx icon (or press shift+F3)

3. In the insert function tab you will see all functions

4. Select Database category

5. Select DMIN function

6. Then select ok

7. In the function arguments Tab you will see DMIN function

8. In the Database section you can enter the range of cells that makes up the list or database. A database is a list of related data (ex: Table1)

9. Field section is either the label of the column in double quotation marks or a number that represents the column’s position in the list (ex: C1)

10. Criteria section is the range of cells that contains the conditions you specify. The range includes a column label and one cell below the label for a condition (ex: Table1)

11. You will see the result in formula result section

Examples of DMIN function in excel

Example1:

calculate min of student age with DMIN function

=Dmin(Table1[#All],"Age",Table1[#All])----->>>>answer is  21

Example 2:

calculate min of student height with DMIN function

=Dmin(Table1[#All],"Height",Table1[#All])----->>>>answer is  195

Example 3:

calculate the min of student (age>22 height<205 weight>230) with DMIN function

=Dmin(Table7[#All],"Age",B1:D2)----->>>>answer is  29

Example 3:

Python code for DMAX function

import pandas as pd

df=pd.read_csv(‘example.csv’)

mindf = df.min(axis=0, numeric_only= True)

print (mindf)

What is the purpose of DMIN function?

It returns the smallest number in the field (column) of records in the database that matches the conditions you specify.

What is the Return value  of DMIN function?

It just return number.

DGET (database, field, criteria)=number

How many arguments does DMIN function have?

DMIN(database, field, criteria)

DMIN function has 3 arguments.

• In the Database section you can enter the range of cells that make up the list or database
• Field section is either the label of the column in double quotation marks
• Criteria section is the range of cells that contains the conditions you specify

Which version of excel supports DMIN function?

this function is available for all excel versions (2003-2019)

Errors in DMIN function

If no record matches the criteria, DMIN returns the 0 value.

If more than one record matches the criteria, DMIN returns one of the smallest value.

Conditions and criteria range in DMIN function

Criteria argument in DMIN function

we can define any range for the criteria argument: it has 2 condition

1. It includes at least one column label

2. It includes at least one cell under the column label.

For example, if the range A1:A2 contains “Name” in A1 and “Benjamin” in A2,

you could define A1=”Name” & A2=”Benjamin”

DMIN function find the word of “Benjamin” under “name” column

location of Criteria range in DMINfunction

Although the criteria range can be located anywhere on the worksheet, do not place the criteria range below the list. If you add more information to the list, the new information is added to the first row below the list. If the row below the list is not blank, Microsoft Excel cannot add the new information.

Make sure that the criteria range does not overlap the list.

To perform an operation on an entire column in a database, enter a blank line below the column labels in the criteria range.

Examples of DMIN function in Excel

1. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A14:B15) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the region is either “North” or “East”.
2. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A14:A15) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the region is “North”.
3. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,B14:C14) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the product is either “Widget” or “Gadget”.
4. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10.
5. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A16:C17) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the date is between 1/1/2022 and 12/31/2022.
6. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A18,A22:B23) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the region is “South” and the product is either “Widget” or “Gadget”.
7. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A24,A26:B27) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the product is “Widget” and the salesperson is either “Jones” or “Smith”.
8. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A28,A30:B31) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the salesperson is “Jones” and the region is either “North” or “East”.
9. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A32,B32) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the region is “North” and the product is “Widget”.
10. =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A34:A35,B34:B35) – finds the smallest sales value from the range A2:C10 where the date is between 1/1/2022 and 12/31/2022, and the salesperson is “Jones”.

How is the DMIN function used in Excel?

The DMIN function in Excel is used to find the smallest number in a range of cells that meets certain criteria. It can be used to quickly and easily extract specific data from a larger set of data.

Syntax: =DMIN(database, field, criteria)

• Database: This is the range of cells that contains the data you want to search through.
• Field: This is the column label or cell reference of the column that contains the values you want to find the minimum for.
• Criteria: This is the range of cells that contains the conditions that must be met in order for a value to be considered.

Let’s take an example to better understand how the DMIN function works:

Suppose we have a table that contains sales data for different regions, products, salespersons, and dates. We want to find the minimum sales value for the North region where the product is Widget.

Here’s how we can use the DMIN function to do this:

1. First, select the entire range of cells that contains the data we want to search through (A2:C10).
2. Next, enter the formula =DMIN(A2:C10,”Sales”,A2:B3) into a cell where you want the result to appear.
3. In the formula, “Sales” refers to the column label of the column that contains the sales data, and A2:B3 contains the criteria we want to search for (region = North and product = Widget).
4. Press Enter, and the minimum sales value for the North region where the product is Widget will be displayed.

It’s important to note that the DMIN function only returns a single value, even if there are multiple values that meet the specified criteria. If you need to find all the values that meet the criteria, you’ll need to use a different function, such as the FILTER function or the Advanced Filter feature.

In conclusion, the DMIN function can be a very useful tool for quickly and easily extracting specific data from a larger data set. By specifying the criteria you want to search for, you can quickly find the minimum value that meets those criteria without having to manually sift through all the data.

What are the arguments of the DMIN function in Excel?

The DMIN function stands for “database minimum” and is used to find the minimum value in a range of cells that meet certain criteria. The syntax for the DMIN function is:

=DMIN(database, field, criteria)

Here’s what each argument means:

1. Database: This argument specifies the range of cells that contains the data you want to search. The first row of this range should contain headers for each column in your dataset.
2. Field: This argument specifies the name of the column in the database that you want to search for the minimum value. You must enclose this argument in double quotes.
3. Criteria: This argument is optional and specifies the criteria that the data must meet in order to be included in the search. You can use any range of cells as the criteria argument, but it must have the same number of columns as the database range. Each row in the criteria range represents a set of conditions that the data must meet. For example, if you have a database of orders and you only want to find the minimum value for orders placed by a certain customer, you could specify “Customer Name” as the field argument and create a criteria range that includes a row with the customer’s name in the “Customer Name” column.

Let’s look at an example to see how the DMIN function works. Suppose you have a database of employee salaries that looks like this:

If you wanted to find the minimum salary for employees in the IT department, you could use the DMIN function with the following arguments:

=DMIN(A1:C6,”Salary”,A1:C2)

This would return the value $60,000, which is the minimum salary for employees in the IT department.

How can I use the DMIN function to find the smallest value in a range of cells?

The DMIN function in Excel is designed to find the minimum value in a table or range of cells that meets specific criteria. However, if you want to find the smallest value in a range of cells without any criteria, you can use the DMIN function with a blank criteria range.

Here’s an example to demonstrate how this works:

Suppose you have a list of numbers in cells A1 through A10, and you want to find the smallest value in this range. To do this, you would use the DMIN function with the following arguments:

=DMIN(A1:A10,””,A1:A1)

Let’s break down what each argument means:

• The first argument, A1:A10, specifies the range of cells that contain the data you want to search.
• The second argument, “”, indicates that you don’t want to specify any particular field or column to search for the minimum value. Since there is only one column in this range, the DMIN function will automatically use that column.
• The third argument, A1:A1, provides a blank criteria range. This tells the DMIN function to search the entire range specified in the first argument.

When you enter this formula into a cell, Excel will return the smallest value in the range A1:A10.

It’s important to note that the DMIN function only returns a single value – the smallest value that meets your criteria (or, in this case, the smallest value in the range if no criteria are specified). If more than one value meets the criteria (for example, if two or more cells contain the same minimum value), the DMIN function will only return one of those values.

Can the DMIN function be used with non-numeric data?

No, the DMIN function in Excel is designed to work only with numeric data. It searches for the minimum value within a given range of cells or database, and can only return a numeric value as a result.

If you attempt to use the DMIN function on non-numeric data, you will receive a #NUM! error.

For example, suppose you have a database of sales transactions that includes a column for product names and a column for sales amounts. If you try to use the DMIN function to find the minimum sales amount for a specific product, you will encounter an error if the product names are stored as text rather than numerical values.

Here’s an example of how this might look:

Suppose your database looks like this:

If you try to use the DMIN function to find the minimum sales amount for “Oranges”, you would use the following formula:

=DMIN(A1:B5,”Sales”,A1:A2)

However, this would result in a #NUM! error, because the “Product” column contains non-numeric data. In order to use the DMIN function correctly, you would need to convert the “Product” column to a numerical format (such as assigning a unique numerical code to each product), or use a different function such as MIN or MINIFS to find the minimum sales amount for a specific product.

So in summary, the DMIN function is limited to working with numeric data and cannot be used with non-numeric data.

How does the DMIN function handle blank cells or errors in the data?

When using the DMIN function in Excel, blank cells and errors in the data can have different effects depending on how you use the function.

If a cell containing a number is blank, the DMIN function will still consider it in its calculation. In other words, the function will treat the blank cell as if it contains the value zero. For example, suppose you have a range of cells A1:A5 with the following values:

| 10 | 8 | | 6 | 12 |

If you use the DMIN function to find the minimum value in this range, like this:

=DMIN(A1:A5,””,A1:A1)

The function will return the value 0, because it treats the blank cell as if it contains the value zero.

On the other hand, if a cell contains an error value (such as #DIV/0! or #VALUE!), the DMIN function will ignore that cell and move on to the next one. If all of the cells within the selected range contain errors, the DMIN function will return a #NUM! error.

For example, suppose you have a range of cells A1:A4 with the following values:

| 10 | 8 | #DIV/0! | 6 |

If you use the DMIN function to find the minimum value in this range, like this:

=DMIN(A1:A4,””,A1:A1)

The function will return the value 6, because it ignores the cell containing the #DIV/0! error.

Is it possible to use multiple criteria with the DMIN function?

Yes, it is possible to use multiple criteria with the DMIN function in Excel. This can be helpful when you want to find the minimum value within a range of cells that meets specific conditions.

To use multiple criteria with the DMIN function, you will need to create a criteria range that includes the conditions you want to apply. Each row in the criteria range represents a separate set of conditions, and the DMIN function will only consider values that meet all of the criteria.

Here’s an example to demonstrate how this works:

Suppose you have a database of sales transactions that includes columns for product names, sales amounts, and sales dates. If you want to find the minimum sales amount for a particular product within a specific date range, you could use the DMIN function with the following arguments:

=DMIN(A1:C10,”Sales Amount”,A1:C3)

In this formula, the first argument (A1:C10) specifies the range of cells that contains the data you want to search. The second argument (“Sales Amount”) indicates the name of the column you want to search for the minimum value. The third argument (A1:C3) provides the criteria range that includes the conditions you want to apply.

The criteria range in this example might look something like this:

In this case, the criteria range includes two rows, each of which represents a separate set of conditions. The first row specifies that you want to find the minimum sales amount for “Oranges” on January 1, 2022. The second row specifies that you want to find the minimum sales amount for “Oranges” on January 2, 2022.

When you enter the DMIN function with these arguments into a cell, Excel will return the minimum sales amount for “Oranges” within the specified date range.

It’s important to note that when using multiple criteria with the DMIN function, all of the conditions in each row must be met for a value to be included in the search. If any of the conditions are not met, the value will not be considered.

How can I use the DMIN function with a database table in Excel?

You can use the DMIN function with a database table in Excel by specifying the range of cells that contains your data, as well as the name of the column you want to search for the minimum value.

Here’s an example to demonstrate how this works:

Suppose you have a database table that includes information about sales transactions. The table has columns for customer name, product name, sales date, and sales amount, like this:

If you want to find the minimum sales amount within this table, you could use the DMIN function with the following arguments:

=DMIN(A1:E6,”Sales Amount”,A1:A2)

In this formula, the first argument (A1:E6) specifies the range of cells that contains your data, including the header row. The second argument (“Sales Amount”) indicates the name of the column you want to search for the minimum value. The third argument (A1:A2) provides the criteria range that includes any conditions you want to apply.

If you don’t want to apply any conditions and simply want to find the minimum value across the entire table, you can leave the criteria range blank:

=DMIN(A1:E6,”Sales Amount”,)

When you enter this formula into a cell, Excel will return the minimum sales amount within the specified range.

Does the DMIN function update automatically when new data is added to the range?

No, the DMIN function in Excel does not update automatically when new data is added to the range. It only calculates based on the current data at the time of the formula entry.

If you add new data to the range after the formula has been entered, you will need to manually update the DMIN function by editing or re-entering the formula.

For example, suppose you have a range of cells A1:A10 with the following values:

| 10 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 13 |

If you enter the following formula into a cell to find the minimum value in this range:

=DMIN(A1:A10,””,A1:A1)

The function will return the value 5.

Now suppose you add a new value of 4 to cell A11. The DMIN function will not automatically update to include this new value. You will need to manually edit or re-enter the formula to include the new data:

=DMIN(A1:A11,””,A1:A1)

After updating the formula in this way, it will return the updated minimum value of 4.

Are there any limitations or performance issues associated with using the DMIN function in large datasets?

Yes, there are two main limitations or performance issues associated with using the DMIN function in large datasets: processing time and database structure.

Processing time can be a major issue when using the DMIN function with large datasets. The function must search through every cell in the specified range to find the minimum value, which can take a substantial amount of time for very large ranges. If you are working with a large dataset that includes thousands or even millions of rows, it may be more efficient to use other functions such as MIN or SMALL to find the minimum value instead of DMIN.

Database structure is another consideration when using the DMIN function with large datasets. The function requires your data to be stored in a specific format (a table or range of cells) with a header row that identifies each column. If your data is not already structured in this way, you will need to reformat it before using the DMIN function. Additionally, if you have a very large number of columns in your dataset, the criteria range used by the DMIN function can become unwieldy, making it difficult to apply multiple criteria efficiently.

Here’s an example to illustrate how these limitations might affect your use of the DMIN function:

Suppose you have a dataset with 1 million rows and 10 columns. You want to find the minimum value in the “Sales Amount” column, so you use the DMIN function with the following formula:

=DMIN(A1:J1000000,”Sales Amount”,)

This formula takes a long time to process, because it must search through every cell in the specified range (A1:J1000000) to find the minimum value. Additionally, if you want to apply multiple criteria to your search, you may find that the criteria range becomes unmanageable due to the large number of rows and columns in your dataset.

In summary, while the DMIN function is a powerful tool for finding the minimum value within a range of cells, it can be limited by processing time and database structure when used with very large datasets. If you encounter performance issues or have trouble structuring your data in a way that works with the DMIN function, consider using alternative functions or methods for analyzing your data.

Related posts:

Excel DCOUNTA function Excel DMAX Function Excel DPRODUCT function Excel DAVERAGE function