Filtering in Excel

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Behodar

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#187926 10-Dec-2015 08:47

Morning all,

I have an Excel spreadsheet containing data on physical sites (about 4000 rows), each with a unique ID. I also have a second table (in the same file) from our GIS system which lists the IDs of sites within a certain geographic area (this has about 1000 rows).

What I want to do is filter the main table so that it only shows the 1000 rows that I'm interested in. I've played around with the advanced filters but can't figure out how to get this working. I've also tried conditional formatting with no luck.

How can I accomplish this? Are any more details required?

Thanks :)

k14

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#1446939 10-Dec-2015 09:30

Might need a bit more info but from what you describe it sounds like using a pivot table might be the best option. Look on youtube for some tutorials on how to use them.

jnimmo

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#1446944 10-Dec-2015 09:34

Yeah would recommend a pivot table, are you wanting to edit the data or is this for viewing it?
If for viewing you could try out something like Qlik Sense Desktop (free) and explore data with that.

Actually k14 if OP does want to edit, can you edit data via a Pivot Table or is it just read only?
If needing to edit may just have to use the row header filters..

Behodar

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#1446946 10-Dec-2015 09:34

Aha! The thought did cross my mind but I didn't know how they worked and didn't want to waste time learning them if it wasn't the right tool. Thanks for the pointer; it looks like some reading is in order :)

ghettomaster

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#1446950 10-Dec-2015 09:41

An alternative way to do this would be vlookups. While a pivot table is probably the right tool for this instance, they are handy to know about so you could go and look into those as well if you are so inclined.

andrew027

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#1447014 10-Dec-2015 10:49

I don't know if I'll explain this very well, but...

A basic way to do it would be to add a column to the 4000 row table with a formula in it something like =IF(COUNTIF(xx$a:xx$b,yya)<>0,1,0) where xx$a:xx$b is the column range in the 1000 row table that contains the site IDS and yya is the cell in the current row of the 4000 row table that has the site ID. This will put a 1 in the cell if the site ID on that row is in the 1000 row table and a 0 if it's not. You can then filter that column to display only rows that contain a 1.

Hammerer

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#1447023 10-Dec-2015 11:09

+1 for andrew027's suggestion because Filtering only works with one range of data. A separate range of data, whether in the same or a different worksheet. requires a formula to create a "join" between the two sets of data.

The one change I would make is to use the vlookup function to return the value you are matching with. That way you can confirm that the ID of the record matches the ID returned by vlookup. You can do this visually by returning the result of the vlookup or you could use an if function to compare the returned value with the ID of the current record/row.

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StarBlazer

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#1447046 10-Dec-2015 11:38

I tend to use a combination of INDEX and MATCH functions. Bit more complex but I find the results more reliable and powerful than a vLookup. Here is an email I sent to a colleague on their use;
Description
=INDEX (Column I want a return value from in the other worksheet,(MATCH(My Lookup Value on the current row,Column I want to Lookup against on the other worksheet,0 ),1) Example
=INDEX('Sheet2'!B:B,MATCH('Sheet1'!A2,'Sheet2'!A:A,0),1)

Create a new column on the main worksheet and perform the above on the GIS worksheet. You will end up with a column that either has a value or '#N/A' where you can then filter out the rows with '#N/A'.

PM me the file if you like or send a subset of obfuscated data if it's confidential - two lines on the main worksheet and one on the GIS worksheet would be enough to show you how it works.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

Behodar

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#1447051 10-Dec-2015 11:47

Whoa, I do some work for a while and get back to a wall of text :P

No further responses required: On the boss' instruction I told someone else to make a PivotTable and all sorted :)

Thanks for the suggestions though!

frankv

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#1447057 10-Dec-2015 11:50

Do it the other way round from Andrew's suggestion.

Start with the 1000-row table and columns to use VLOOKUP() to extract the data you want from the 4000-row table.