Excel help sorting data!
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aceparts_com

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

271 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
Ok, i'll try and keep it as simple as possible. I've got a list of bulbs with fittings but they're all jumbled up like this:

ALFA 145/146 94-01 H1 ULTRA XENON HEADLIGHT BULBS   
ALFA 147 -2001 H7 ULTRA XENON HEADLIGHT BULBS   
ALFA 156 147 XENON 50% BRIGHTER bulbs H7  
ALFA 166 -98 H7 ULTRA XENON HEADLIGHT BULBS   
ALFA ROMEO 145 147 156 XENON bulbs H1 55w
Alfa Romeo 146 '95 Xenon Superwhite H/L Set H1/H1 
Alfa Romeo 147 Quality Superwhite Xenon Bulbs H7 
Alfa Romeo 147 Xenon Superwhite Upgrade Kit 

Now, as all the important bits (H1, H7 etc) are in random columns, how can I sort the data so that all the rows with H1 for example are at the top? I can sort the whole row alphabetically but that's not helping! I can also do a search for H1 but can't then COPY all the rows at once (at least I don't know how to!)
Help would be greatfully appreciated and rewarded with a free something or other!

greenv8s

31,024 posts

314 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
In Excel, copy the H bit into a separate column (manual copy/paste job) and then sort by that column.

If you have a really huge amount of data you could write a macro to look for H<number> for you, but for a few dozen rows you'd be better just doing it manually.

>> Edited by greenv8s on Friday 27th January 22:37

aceparts_com

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

271 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
hmm, that's going to be tricky as there are 800 rows and the H's are all in different columns!

fish

4,064 posts

312 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
Bit of a long way round but; assuming the columns with H1 etc ONLY have that in whatever column


sorry my typings too slow... e-mail me and i'll sort it...

aceparts_com

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

271 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
Amazing, just talking about it has solved it.

I simply sorted each column at a time alphabetically so that all the H1's will be grouped together, then I just do the same with the next column, cutting and pasting as I go.

greenv8s

31,024 posts

314 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
How many different values of H<thing> do you have to deal with? If it's only a handfull you could just grep the raw text file for each separate value.

aceparts_com

Original Poster:

3,724 posts

271 months

Friday 27th January 2006
quotequote all
Thanks for the help - i've done it now!