Pick multiple values from list and ignore empty cells - excel

Question

I have the following Excel spreadsheet:
A B C D E F G
1 USER1 USER2 MICHAEL SANDRA JAMES CAITLIN
2 Product A Michael James Michael James
3 Product B Sandra Caitlin Sandra Caitlin
4 Product C James Caitlin James Caitlin
5 Product D Michael Sandra Michael Sandra
In Columns D:G 4 users of a product are listed. If a product is used by a User his/her name appears in Cells D2:G5. If he/she does not use the product the cell remains empty.
In Columns B:C I want to achieve now that the emtpy cells are eliminated and the maximum 2 Users are listed.
Do you know any formula that can go through the Cells D2:G5 to pick the 2 Users and show them in Columns B:C?

Answer 1

I don't know of any quick formula that you can use.
You are probably best off using VBA. You could write something compact and concise in there. VBA is definitely the way to go if your matrix is going to grow in size.
However, if you insist on doing it in Excel with available formulas, AND the matrix remains relatively small, here is one way to do it:
You will need column H and I for "Mask" information. You can hide these columns in the finished worksheet.
A B C D E F G H I
1 USER1 USER2 MICHAEL SANDRA JAMES CAITLIN MASK1 MASK2
2 Product A Michael James Michael James 1010 10
3 Product B Sandra Caitlin Sandra Caitlin 101 1
4 Product C James Caitlin James Caitlin 11 1
5 Product D Michael Sandra Michael Sandra 1100 100
In cell H2, You can create the first Mask:
=IF(D2 <> "",1000,0)+IF(E2 <> "",100,0)+IF(F2 <> "",10,0)+IF(G2 <> "",1,0)
This is a positional Mask which puts a 1 in each numeral column where data exists.
In cell B2 for USER1, you can put the nested IF formula:
=IF(H2>=1000,D2,IF(H2>=100,E2,IF(H2>=10,F2,IF(H2>=1,G2,""))))
This uses the Mask to find the first occurrence of data and place it in the USER1 column.
Finding the second user is a little more tricky. But all we have to do is create a second Mask in column I. In cell I2 you can use this formula:
=IF(LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1,VALUE(RIGHT(TEXT(H2,0),LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1)),0)
Let me break that formula down for you. We want to convert the first Mask in H2 to text so that we can trim off the first character (which corresponds to USER1) because, we don't need USER1 data anymore. Using TEXT(H2,0)
=IF(LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1,VALUE(RIGHT(TEXT(H2,0),LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1)),0)
^^^^^^^^^^
But to do a right trim that removes the right most character, we need the length of the same text string minus 1. LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1
=IF(LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1,VALUE(RIGHT(TEXT(H2,0),LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1)),0)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Using those in a RIGHT function gives us our new Mask which removes USER1.
=IF(LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1,VALUE(RIGHT(TEXT(H2,0),LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1)),0)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
But we can't do math on a text string, so we have to convert it back to a number using the Value function.
=IF(LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1,VALUE(RIGHT(TEXT(H2,0),LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1)),0)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's our new Second Mask that we can use to find USER2. However, we need to test for error values as well. If all the cells are blank, it will have an error since you can't have a length of 0 in a Right function. So we need to test if the length of the text is greater than 1. LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1
=IF(LEN(TEXT(H2,0))>1,VALUE(RIGHT(TEXT(H2,0),LEN(TEXT(H2,0))-1)),0)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Encase that all in an If statement and you now have your new Mask for USER2.
Now it's a simple nested IF formula for cell C2 by using the Mask in cell I2:
=IF(I2>=100,E2,IF(I2>=10,F2,IF(I2>=1,G2,"")))
We were able the toss out the test for 1000 since we know that would have been caught for USER1.
Now just copy the cells B2, C2, H2, and I2 down three more rows and all of your data will appear.
You can hide columns H and I if you'd like.
So, all in all, it's not that difficult (if your matrix remains small). There are only 4 formulas needed to make this work. And they are only of moderate complexity.
But once again, if your matrix is eventually going to grow in size, it will definitely be better to write this all in VBA.
Hope this helped. :)

Answer 2

It is possible without a formula though might be a bit tedious without VBA or similar (though not tagged that way):
Insert enough extra columns between C and D to be able to copy all of D:G into C.
Copy what was D:G into C and move what was the content of D:G out of the way (to other rows or other sheet/book).
Select the populated rows in C:F (or equivalent), HOME > Editing > Find & Select, Go To Special..., Blanks (only) OK.
Right click one of the selected cells and Delete..., Shift Cells left, OK.
Copy what was D:G back to E2.
The chosen two will be those furthest to the left.