Sort values in an Excel spreadsheet - excel

Question

I've got a spreadsheet full of names and peoples' roles, like the one below:
Role Name Change
1 A Yes
2 A No
5 A N/Ap
1 B Yes
3 B No
2 C Yes
4 C No
I have to come up with a spreadsheet like the one below:
1 2 3 4 5 6
A Yes
B
C
Basically, it should retrieve the information from the first spreadsheet and be layed out clearly on the second one.
There are way too many names and roles to do it manually. VLMOVE won't work and I've tried MATCH and INDEX.

Answer 1

Alternative to #RocketDonkey (but thanks for more complete desired result!) could be to string together Role and Name (say in a column inserted between B & C in Sheet1 [because I think OP wants a separate sheet for the results]):
C2=A1&B2 copied down as required
then use a lookup in Sheet2!B2:
=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(B$1&$A2,Sheet1!$C$2:$D$8,2,FALSE),"")
copied across and down as required.
This assumes the grid for the results (as in question) has been constructed (and that there are 7 rows with data - adjust $8 as necessary otherwise.)

Answer 2

Agree with #Melanie that if you can force your data into a structure that can be interpreted as numbers (1 being yes, 0 being false, for example), Pivot tables are far and away the easiest way (since they will display numbers as the values - not the text). *(see below)
If you want to display arbitrary text, you could try this:
=IF(
SUMPRODUCT(--($A$2:$A$8=F$1),--($B$2:$B$8=$E2),ROW($A$2:$A$8))=0,"",
INDEX(
$A$1:$C$8,
SUMPRODUCT(--($A$2:$A$8=F$1),--($B$2:$B$8=$E2),ROW($A$2:$A$8)),
3))
This checks to see if the SUMPRODUCT of the three columns totals 0 (which will happen when no combo of x/y is matched (like Name: C, Role: 5, for instance), and if so, it returns "". Otherwise, it returns the value in column Value.
*A ‘pivot table option’ would be to represent the Change as a number (eg as formula in D2 copied down). Then create a pivot table from (in the example) A1:D8, with fields as shown. Copy the pivot table to a different sheet with Paste Special/Values (though shown in F11:K15 of same sheet in example). Then in that other sheet select row starting with Name A and as far down as required, Replace -1 with No, 1 with Yes and 0 with N/Ap.

Answer 3

AMENDED
You can use array formulas to reorganize your table, without having to change the its structure. Assuming the data is in the range A2:C8 on Sheet1 and the result table is to be in range A1:G4 on Sheet2, the following formula would be the first entry (role 1 and name A) in the result table.
=IFERROR(INDEX(Sheet1!$A$2:$C$8,MATCH(B$1&$A2,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$8&Sheet1!$B$2:$B$8,0),3),"-")
The MATCH formula returns the row number in which the role/name combination 1A occurs. The INDEX function returns the contents of the cell at the row number found by the MATCH formula and the column number 3, i.e., the Change column of your data table. The IFERROR returns "-" if the role/name combination is not in the data table.
Be sure to enter the formula using the Control-Shift-Enter key combination. Then copy the formula to the remaining cells of the result table.
The data table on Sheet1:
The result table on Sheet2:

Answer 4

Well since there's Excel-VBA tag, thought it would complete the solutions types by adding one in VBA :) The following code is not elegant, in any case you need to use code base, give it a try :)
Code:
Option Explicit
Public Sub sortAndPivot()
Dim d As Object
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim sourceArray As Variant, pvtArray As Variant, v As Variant
Dim maxRole As Long
Dim i, j, k, m As Integer
Set d = CreateObject("Scripting.Dictionary")
Set ws = Worksheets("Sheet3") '-- set according to your sheet
'-- you could enhance by using an input box to select the range
sourceArray = Application.WorksheetFunction.Transpose(ws.Range("B3:D9").Value)
'-- max role number
maxRole = Application.WorksheetFunction.Max(ws.Range("B3:B9"))
'-- find unique name list
For i = LBound(sourceArray, 2) To UBound(sourceArray, 2)
If Not d.exists(sourceArray(2, i)) Then
d.Add sourceArray(2, i), i
End If
Next i
ReDim pvtArray(d.Count, maxRole)
pvtArray(0, 0) = "Name"
'-- add unique names from dictionary
j = 1
For Each v In d.keys
pvtArray(j, 0) = v
j = j + 1
Next
'-- add unique Role number list
For i = UBound(pvtArray, 2) To LBound(pvtArray) + 1 Step -1
pvtArray(0, i) = i
Next i
'-- sort into the correct positions
For k = LBound(pvtArray, 1) + 1 To UBound(pvtArray, 1)
For m = LBound(pvtArray, 2) + 1 To UBound(pvtArray, 2)
For i = LBound(sourceArray, 2) To UBound(sourceArray, 2)
If pvtArray(k, 0) = sourceArray(2, i) Then
If pvtArray(0, m) = sourceArray(1, i) Then
pvtArray(k, m) = sourceArray(3, i)
End If
End If
Next i
Next m
Next k
'Output the processed array into the Sheet in pivot view.
Range("F2").Resize(UBound(pvtArray) + 1, _
UBound(Application.Transpose(pvtArray))) = pvtArray
Set d = Nothing
End Sub
Results:

Answer 5

There is another way to go about it without VBA. If you create another column that concatenates the first two in the first spreadsheet, like so:
Role Name Change CheckColumn
1 A Yes 1A
2 A No 2A
5 A N/Ap 5A
1 B Yes 1B
3 B No 3B
2 C Yes 2C
4 C No 4C
Then you can use the Offset and Match functions together to find the change in the 2nd sheet. So assuming your data is laid from cell A1, the formula in cell B2 would be:
=iferror(offset(Sheet1!$A$1,match(B$1&$A2,sheet1!$D:$D,0),2),"")
Alternatively, if you put the concatenated column in sheet1 before the role column, you can use vlookup in sheet2, with the formula being:
=iferror(vlookup(B$1&$A2,sheet1!$A:$D,4,false),"")