Hi,

Given a data set like this:

A         B           C       D
ID 3   Pending  date   Text
ID 1   Closed    date   Text
ID 2   Open      date   Text
ID 4   Transfer date   Text

Column A contains unique ID numbers - these are not and cannot be sorted  
Column B can be one of four possible values - I have no way of knowing which
one applys to each ID
Column C contains the date the item was added to the list - this is not
necessarily unique to each item
Column D is a free text field

What I want to do is a count of the number of lines that fulfil the
following criteria:
a) Column B = "Open"
b) Column C is less than or equal to today's date minus 30 (ie. it was added
in the last 30 days)
c) Column D contains the text "New item" (it's up to me to make sure this
text is actually there if appropriate, I just want to be able to search for
it)

I don't know how many lines I will have to search, but I can set a maximum,
if necessary.

If anyone can suggest a formula that will doo this for me, I would much
appreciate it. Also happy to use VB if that's easier (i understand it, just
wouldn't really know how to write it - still learning!).

This is in XL2003, if that makes a difference.

TIA

Dave