I'm trying to write a macro that i can run which will allow me to simply sort a range of orders into what i like to call categories.
The basic idea is that we get orders through, and we generally have to print a different type of shipping label for the different items, based on weight, size and value. Unfortunately, there is no easy way of doing this other than going through all orders (sometimes thousands) and copying them into different worksheets to group them into the type of shipping method we need to use.
What i'd like to do (i already have a couple of macros already) - is to look in another sheet whereby we store the item titles, and have a second column within that sheet with a number (1, 2 or 3). For each item, based on it's weight, size or value, which we have already specified - they would be assigned a number. The Macro will look at the item name, if the sales sheet finds a match from column A in the item's sheet, it will then add the correct number specified in the item's sheet to the cell next to the item title in the sales sheet.
Column A-G has all customer details, Column H has the item title. The number i'm wanting to add to the row will be inserted into Column I.
The item's sheet has Column A which is the item title, and Column B is the number assigned to this item.
I have tried to muster a macro up myself, however it's confusing me no end.
This is exactly what vlookup is used for
=VLOOKUP(H1, items!A:B,2,FALSE)
Put this formula into I1 on the sales sheet and drag it down, if the items sheet is not in the same workbook , you will need to modify the reference to point to it,
you could obviously write a macro that will insert this formula and drop it down, but it will still be using vlookup or application.vlookup to get the result
Wildcard searches at the front would be
=VLOOKUP("*"&H1, items!A:B,2,FALSE)
or both ends would be
=VLOOKUP("*"&H1&"*", items!A:B,2,FALSE)
NB* BE CAREFUL WITH THIS AS YOU MAY HAVE ITEMS WITH SIMILAR DESCRIPTIONS
like "apple" and "red apple"
you should always use a product code to do lookups when available
Related
What I would like to achieve is that sellers can choose the STORE in the blue cell (either with a drop down list or by hard-typing the STORE name) and, based on the selection on the blue cell, the available POSITIONS for that particular PRODUCT and that particular STORE are show in the green cell as a drop down list.
Let's say I have an Excel workbook, which contains a worksheet with this table with products data, which is automatically imported daily from our Nav server with this layout. It has 4 columns including PRODUCT CODE, DESCRIPTION, STORE IN WHICH IT CAN BE LOCATED and POSITION INSIDE DE STORE (please, check screenshot). It contains 1.5k rows and it changes dynamically, for example, new items are added or positions are exchanged.
As you can see, the same product (PRODUCT 2) can be located in several stores (STORES 1, 2 and 3), and it can be in several locations on each store (POSITIONS 2, 3, 1 and 4).
Now I need sellers to report which of these items they pick and from where, not only the STORE but its POSITION inside the store too. They do it with another worksheet inside the same Excel workbook. It looks more or less like this (please, check screenshot).
I know the drop down list is achieved via Data Validation but I can't figure out the formula for this. I have tried several approaches like:
Array formula to return all POSITIONS in the same ROW, following this (Formula 2.): https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/2017/02/22/vlookup-multiple-values-excel/. It is quite slow to calculate on the 1.5k items and, once done, I can't figure out how to make Data Validation to look for the 4 or 5 or 10 POSITIONS returned by the array formula, which also need to be filtered by STORE (please, check screenshot for the closest that I have been, array formula returning POSITIONS from column E).
Same formula as above directly on the Data Validation list box, which returns only the first POSITION found.
VBA custom fucntions which are not allowed in the Data Validation box.
I feel comfortable with both Power Query and VBA, and forumla as well, and can adapt most of the code I see but I don't know why I just can't figure out how to achieve this, maybe it is only I am blocked or something but every path I start to follow ends up in a dead end.
Does anyone have an idea on how to approach this? It doesn't really seem that complicated but it is becoming impossible for me.
Thank you very much for your time!!
This is what I have finally done, just in case someone else is facing this situation.
Instead of a plain-text table for the POSITIONS, I created a PowerQuery importing that CSV. Named that worksheet _LOCATIONS.
Added a custom column (Column E) combining the PRODUCT and the STORE so I had something like a Unique Identificator, resulting something like this but in PowerQuery.
Combined column:
Sorted column E and sub-sorted column D, so I make sure the list will always be ordered as I need, and saved the query.
Then, in worksheet REPORT, I entered this formula to create the drop down list in Data Validation in cell D2:
OFFSET(_LOCATIONS!$D$1,MATCH($A2&"-"&$C2,_LOCATIONS!$E:$E,0)-1,0,COUNTIF(_LOCATIONS!$E:$E,$A2&"-"&$C2))
And I am able to choose from the available POSITIONS for the selected PRODUCT in the selected STORE.
Brief explanation:
I set the reference for the OFFSET function in the very first POSITION (D1), and then I move it the amount of rows detected by the MATCH function (which searches for the "PRODUCT 2-STORE 2" string in the newly created combined column) minus 1 (PoweryQuery table has headers) and 0 columns. This leaves me on the first occurrence of my string (but on the POSITIONS column). Then I make the offset as high as the amount of rows detected by the COUNTIF function (which counts all occurrences of my PRODUCT-STORE pair), returning an array of all the positions (column D) matching the PRODUCT-STORE pair.
Ask for formula in Spanish if you need it.
I have a database tab which holds all my information for each item in my inventory. This is always changing as I add new inventory. I want to take certain information in that tab (columns A & B) and use it in a separate tab called stock inventory in columns A & B. When it transfers I would like a blank cells in columns C,D,E, and F. I did try VLOOKUP however, because column A on the database tab is repeated, when the information was transferred to the stock inventory tab it duplicated information instead of actual information. For example Column A may say "Scale" column B may say "abalone, there may be a second entry with the same information in column A but different information in column B. When it transfers to the stock inventory tab anytime it recognizes "scale" in the column A it would say Abalone. This is not what I want. I want to bring over actual information for column B even if column A is the same. Any help is appreciated.
To solve the problem of the repeated value in the VLOOKUP you could create helper column on the left of the first vlookup matrix column, with the formula =ROW()&A2, and use this value as key to be searched with vllokup instead of the value in A1: there will be no duplicates, as the value will be the concatenation of the row number and the name of the article.
I am trying to condense data in a specific way. I want any occurrences of the number 1 in each column to show up as 1 (regardless of how many times it occurs) with the corresponding site, in the corresponding column. Some sites occur multiple times in the original data, and I want to make it so that only one of each unique site shows up in the resulting data table with a 1 for the corresponding column if there any 1's in the column from the original data.
I would think it would be a vlookup function, but I have tried many different things and I am really stuck on this.
Image of original data and what I am trying to do:
Thank you
This assumes that your data set only contains 1 or blank and this approach uses a Pivot Table with MAX function. Below are details in case anyone doesn't know Pivot Tables.
Select a cell in your data and insert Pivot Table. Note, I added a title for column A, as you need that in the Pivot Table.
Click in the created Pivot Table and the PivotTable Fields dialog should pop up. If not, right click in Pivot Table and select Show Field List.
Drag the Field names (Code, a, b,& c) down to the appropriate blocks below. (Values under Columns will be created for you.)
Click on the drop down arrow next to each field name and select Max. That will rename it to "Max of ...". If that bothers you, then you can type the name you want into the Custom Name field. Note, it will not let you type the same name as the field name, eg a, but it will work if you put a space in front of it.
Given that the Pivot Table would be a lot of work for a large number of columns, here is a formula based approach. Put this formula in cell G2, then drag it down and across to fill your new table.
Note, you will have to populate all codes that you have in column F. And if any new codes are added later you will have to keep this updated. One of the advantages of a Pivot Table is that it will do this for you.
I know that you won't be putting this in these cells, so adjust accordingly. In fact, I would recommend this be in another sheet.
=IF(COUNTIFS($A:$A,$F2,B:B,1)>0,1,0)
COUNTIFS($A:$A,$F2,B:B,1)
This will count each occurrence when the value in column A matches your code $F2 AND the value in column B equals 1.
If that count is >0, then you know that at least one match was found and the IF will return 1, otherwise 0.
I am sure this question has a really easy answer, but after extensive research I have somehow not found what I was looking for. I am not an excel pro, but do have some experience with it.
Basically I have 2 sets of data that is indexed by customer account number and gives certain values, such as sales, profits, costs etc in the one file and sales rep responsible, amount of times contacted in the other file.
My goal now is to get these two files into one, so that I have the customer ID in the first column and all the data respective to that customer number in the columns next to it on one sheet.
However the customer numbers from the two sheets are not sorted in any way so I cant just copy and paste it and i am dealing with quite a large data set so I cannot just do it manually. additionally there are more customers id's in the first sheet than in the second, since some data is missing for a certain amount of the customers.
How can I basically automatically merge the data belonging to each customer so that it ends up being displayed in one row?
I recommend that you approach the merging of these two lists by creating a 3rd, comprehensive listing, which pulls from your raw data files.
Setting up your new Results Sheet
Assume that one list is in Book1, sheet1, and the other list is in Book2, sheet1. Open up a new excel file. Put the headers along the top. Next, you will create an index which shows all unique customer ID numbers, sorted by number. This will only work if there are no duplicate ID's (except for the ones which refer to the same cusotmer).
Copy the Customer ID column manually from Book1 into the New book. Copy the customer ID's from Book2 manually, underneath the Book1 customers, in the same column in the New book. Highlight the customer ID column. Go to the Data ribbon, then Remove Duplicates. Then rightclick your data and click 'sort'. This will leave you with an ordered customer ID column, and all other fields under the other headings will be blank.
Vlookup Formula
Next, you will use 2 vlookup formulas, similar to what #StaceyBurns recommends below. Vlookup takes a specific unique value, and looks for that value on the leftmost column of a datablock. Then it finds the first time there's a match for that value, and returns a value from a cell on that row, a given number of columns away. So for example:
=VLOOKUP(A1,B1:D5,2,FALSE)
Says: Take the unique value found in A1, look for that value in column B, from row 1:5, and return the 2nd column's result out of the datablock B:D (column C). So if A1 was the same as B3, this formula would provide the result for C3. FALSE means it would try and approximate your value if there's no match.
Assume customer indexes for all files are in column A. Assume also that all other headers are in the same order, let's say from A1:H1. Your formula to use VLOOKUP in the new workbook would be as follows - put this in B2:
=VLOOKUP($A2,[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,column(),FALSE)
This gives you the matching amount under Sheet1's column B header, where Sheet1!'s customer ID matches the customer ID shown in cell A2 of the New book. However, we need to know whether it was able to properly pick up a value from Book1 - because we know that some data is incomplete. So, let's check if the above result is either a number, or text:
Determining if Results are found in Sheet1
=OR(ISTEXT(VLOOKUP($A2,[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,COLUMN(),FALSE)),ISNUM(VLOOKUP($A2,[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,COLUMN(),FALSE)))
This will return TRUE if the result is either a Number, or Text. So it will return FALSE if either no match is found for that ID number on Book1 Sheet1, or if the result is a blank cell. So now we put that inside of an IF statement - if it returns true, we want the result from Book1. If it returns false, we want to attempt to pull the result from Book2, through the exact same formula. This whole thing will look like this:
Final Formula
=IF(OR(ISTEXT(VLOOKUP($A2,[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,COLUMN(),FALSE)),ISNUM(VLOOKUP($A2,[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,COLUMN(),FALSE))),VLOOKUP($A2,[Book1.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,COLUMN(),FALSE),VLOOKUP($A2,[Book2.xlsx]Sheet1!$A:$H,COLUMN(),FALSE))
Now, it will try to find the match from Book1 - if there's no match for the ID, or if the match returns a blank value for that header, then it will try to find a match from Book2. If it finds no match there, it will return #N/A! (which shouldn't happen, because that means you've deleted one of the customer ID's that we pulled directly from Book1 & Book2). It might return a blank cell if that data piece is not in either sheet. This formula can be copied from B2 all the way to the bottom right of your data block in your results sheet.
You can use the VLOOKUP function on the first sheet to bring the data from the second sheet in.
So for example, take an empty column on your first sheet and add the VLOOKUP function which looks like this:
=VLOOKUP(cell to lookup,
set of data on 2nd file,
column index on 2nd file of data you want,
TRUE/FALSE Boolean to ask for either close match or exact match )
If your Customer ID is in column A and your second sheet looks like this:
A1 Customer ID
B2 Sales Rep
C3 Number of Times Contacted
then you would do a look up first for the Sales Rep:
=VLOOKUP(A1,Sheet2!$A$1:$C$15,2,FALSE)
Then double click on the bottom right corner of this cell to populate the formula for all your rows.
Then do the same in a new cell for the Number of Times Contacted:
=VLOOKUP(A1,Sheet2!$A$1:$C$15,3,FALSE)
(Note I used C15 as an example in the above VLOOKUP. It should be the number of rows you have on file 2)
More info:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/VLOOKUP-function-0bbc8083-26fe-4963-8ab8-93a18ad188a1
While a number of other posts address similar issues, I was unable to find one that met my specific needs, using multiple sheets, etc.
What I need is the ability to select a value from a validation list in one column, and then have a second validation list be narrowed to just the values that can be selected based on the first validation list, and then a third that follows the same logic, etc.
So for example, I have 5 sheets:
Log - This sheet is used for input and will contain the columns that
have the dropdown validation lists.
Clients - This sheet is a two column list of clients. Column A has
the Client ID, column B has the Client Name.
Matters - This sheet is a three column list of Matters. Column A has
a Client ID, Column B has the Matter ID, column C has the Matter
Name.
Timekeepers - This sheet is a two column list of Timekeepers. Column
A has the Timekeeper ID, Column B has the Timekeeper Name.
Rates - This sheet is a three column list of Rates. Column A has a
Matter ID, Column B has a Timekeeper ID, Column C has a Numeric
Rate.
The log sheet:
Column A (Timekeeper) will be a simple validation list dropdown from which I will select a timekeeper (by name). This validation list is populated by the list on the Timekeeper sheet.
Column B (Client) will be another simple validation list dropdown from which I will select (by name) a client. This validation list is populated by the list on the Clients Sheet.
Column C (Matter) will have a validation list of Matters. This is the first dynamic validation list, as the list should only show the matters that belong the to client that was selected in Column B. We know which matters belong to a client by the Column A (Client ID) in the Matters sheet.
Column D (Rate) will simply display the rate for a given timekeeper/matter combination. We would now have the matter id and client id from the input into columns A and C, so we just need to locate the row in the Rates sheet that has that matter id and timekeeper id.
The solution can use VBScript or not, whatever you prefer. I'm a software developer, so I'm comfortable with VBScript, and I'm relatively familiar with Excel, so nested built in functions would be fine too.
Thanks in advance!
EDIT:
This workbook is going to be dynamically generated from a database, so I need to utilize an approach that can be generated programmatically.
The "Log" sheet will contain many rows where the user will select a Timekeeper from a dropdown, then select the Client from a dropdown (which will limit the Matter dropdown list) then select a matter from the Matter dropdown (which, combined with the selection in the timekeeper field will determine the "Rate").
The dropdowns will show the "name" values (i.e. timekeeper name, client name, matter name) but the limitations to subsequent lists based on these selections has to be based on the "ID" value for the selected "Name".
An example showing how to use subsequent list limitations would be most helpful. All of the examples I have seen show how to select one value and limit a second list, but I need to be able to have the selection from the second list limit a third list, the third list limit a fourth list, and finally, the "rate" is determined by what is selected in two of the lists.
The gist of dynamic validations is using =INDIRECT(SomeNamedRange) as the Source data in the List type of Data Validation.
Now, the hardest part is to dynamically generate this list of partners. For the sake of this example, I'll assume you have three sheets: Sheet1, Config, and Validation. I'm also assuming you are selecting a Partner based on a Region, as that is a simpler example.
Let's start with Validation.
Here's an example of my data:
Notice how I've sorted the data based on the most general criteria (Region, in this case). This will be important later on. Also notice that I've named A1:A26 as Validation.Region. I've also named B1:B26 as Validation.Partner.
Config is where your magic happens.
Moving over to the Config, we're going to need to add a list of unique regions, and an address describing where they're located. We'll name this address Region.Choices.
For this example, I used the COUNTIF function to find the last partner in the list. The exact formula was ="Config!$B$2:"&CELL("address";OFFSET(B$2;COUNTIF(B$2:B$230;"?*")-1;0)). Unfortunately, Excel doesn't have a built-in function for the sheet's name, so I had to hardcode that. I went ahead and hardcoded $B$2 to improve performance (maybe?), but you could do that dynamically too.
Sheet1 is where you'll be making your dynamic selection.
In this sheet, we have the following structure.
Take B4, name it "Region.Selected", and add Data Validation as a List of Source =INDIRECT(Region.Choices).
Creating the logic behind the dynamic drill down
Now go to Config, and replicate the contents of B1 on C1, making sure to alter the hardcoded $B$2). Finally, name Partner.Choices, and type in the following Array Formula in C2:C100:
=IF(Region.Selected="";OFFSET(Validation.Partner;1;0;COUNTA(Validation.Partner);1);OFFSET(Validation.Region;MATCH(Region.Selected;Validation.Region;0)-1;1;COUNTIF(Validation.Region;Region.Selected)))
Note: to add an Array Formula, select C2:C100 before typing the formula, and once you're done typing, hit Ctrl+Shift+Enter instead of Enter.
While it may seem convoluted at first, this is basically returning every Partner if no Region is selected, or returning the partners from a selected Region by calculating where it ends and starts and shifting one column to the right with OFFSET.
Wrapping up the dynamic drill down
Now go back to Sheet1, take C4, name it "Partner.Selected" (for consistency), and add Data Validation as a List of Source =INDIRECT(Partner.Choices), as displayed below:
For this example, I used the COUNTIF function to find the last partner in the list. The exact formula was ="Config!$C$2:"&CELL("address";OFFSET(C$2;COUNTIF(C$2:C$230;"?*")-1;0)). Unfortunately, Excel doesn't have a built-in function for the sheet's name, so I had to hardcode that. I went ahead and hardcoded $C$2 to improve performance, but you could do that dynamically too.
Now go ahead and test your dynamic validation! It should look like this: