Forum Discussion

MairiMc's avatar
MairiMc
Copper Contributor
Apr 28, 2020

Sort Function (SortBy) - Trying to get empty cells to return empty cells using the sort function

This is just and aesthetic issue. I have a table with around 7 headings for a simple account information table. Not all accounts have a value for each heading/field so on entering data those cells a...
Formulas and Functions
bryanbryankarlancom's avatar
bryanbryankarlancom
Copper Contributor
Apr 25, 2022
What if you are sorting 2 columns, A & B and you wanted to apply the blank test only to A? For example, if A contained a Date and B contained an Item related to that Date, and if you didn't want neither A nor B to appear in the sort if A was blank, even if B had an item in it?
PeterBartholomew1's avatar
PeterBartholomew1
Silver Contributor
Apr 26, 2022

bryanbryankarlancom 

What you describe would appear to need FILTER as well as SORT.

 

 

= LET(
  filtered, FILTER(table, Date),
  sorted,   SORT(filtered),
  IF(sorted<>"",sorted,""))

 

 

In response to your earlier comment on LET, I find that the changes in modern Excel require thought processes that are utterly different from those of the traditional spreadsheet.  So much so, that I frequently find it difficult to construct answers that will be of value to the OP.

 

In the present case, were you to want to apply the same filtering process to many tables, you might pass the table names to the formula by using a Lambda function

 

 

= LAMBDA(array,
      LET(
         column1,  INDEX(array,,1),
         filtered, FILTER(array, column1),
         sorted,   SORT(filtered),
         IF(sorted<>"",sorted,"")
      )
   )(table)

 

 

That looks intimidating, but if one uses a defined name such as 'ValueScheduledλ'  to refer to the formula then many data tables could be filtered and sorted with no more than

 

 

= ValueScheduledλ(table1)

= ValueScheduledλ(table2)

 

 

 

 

  • bryanbryankarlancom's avatar
    bryanbryankarlancom
    Copper Contributor
    Apr 26, 2022

    Thank you for that. I'm unable to make the first filtered formula work. I have two Ranges that I'm using from the Data Tab. Data which is A2:B35 and that includes the dates and the Item related to the dates. Then I have a Dates only range called Data_Dates which is A2:A35.
    Here is my formula so far.

    =LET(filtered(FILTER(Data,Data_Dates<>""),(sorted,SORT(Data),IF(sorted<>"",sorted,""))

    However, using a much more simpler formula, does work.

    =SORT(FILTER(Data,Data_Dates<>""))

    • PeterBartholomew1's avatar
      PeterBartholomew1
      Silver Contributor
      Apr 26, 2022

      bryanbryankarlancom 

      You didn't get the syntax of the LET function quite right.  As you observed earlier, the object is to assign local names to stages of the calculation.  This is achieved by a list of comma-separated parameters which are taken in pairs, with a variable followed by its definition.  To make this clearer, I use alt/enter to separate the parameter pairs to individual lines.

      = LET(
  filtered, FILTER(Data, Dates<>""),
  sorted,   SORT(filtered),
  IF(sorted<>"",sorted,""))

      This shows the zeros as blank fields.  If you are happy with the 0s, the last line goes, in which case you might as well nest the 'filtered' formula within SORT.