Jul 15 2019 08:32 AM
I need to combine cells in column B if the value in the cell to the left is blank while also deleting the blank cell to the left to close any gaps between cells in Column A. The best way for me to explain this is by showing an example. I need this:
Column A Column B
Test This
That
Other
Test2 Also
This
Test3 Please
Help
Me
To look like this
Column A Column B
Test This, That, Other
Test2 Also, This
Test3 Please, Help, Me
I am not quite sure how to word my question to search so I apologize if this has been asked many times! 🙂
Jul 15 2019 12:00 PM
Jul 15 2019 02:34 PM
If you select column A with your raw data, how many values are there? It should say something like Count: 6267 at the right of the status bar at the bottom of the application window.
Jul 15 2019 03:30 PM
Currently 235493 entries on column A. @Brad_Yundt
Jul 15 2019 03:37 PM
Jul 15 2019 03:47 PM
Might you have empty strings or spaces in those "blank" cells? If you do, the macro won't work right.
Jul 15 2019 04:52 PM
You can test whether a cell is truly blank using a formula like:
=ISBLANK(A2)
My guess is that many of your column A cells look blank but actually contain an invisible value, such as a single quote, space, non-breaking space, Tab or Carriage Return character.
Jul 16 2019 09:41 AM
I formatted the empty cells and tested them with the =isblank and they all came up false, except for of course the cells with actual values. Although after deleting that =isblank column I still was unable to get the macro to run correctly. It is still deleting all the data in the worksheet. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Will troubleshoot a bit more but I thought you might want an update. I also checked column B for blanks and came up with none as well. Thanks again Brad.
Jul 16 2019 09:53 AM
Here is a couple screenshots of the macro with a before and after running.
Jul 16 2019 10:17 AM
I would like test my code on your actual workbook. It's OK if you replace all the data with the letter "x" as long as you can reproduce the problem. You can post a workbook in this thread, or you could email it to me at first initial last name at my ISP, which is alum dot mit dot edu. I would then like to try reproducing the problem. Fixing the problem is easy if I can reproduce it.
It's possible that there is a limitation of Excel VBA present in your version of Excel that is not in mine. All my testing so far has been on 64-bit Excel 2016/Office 365 running on Windows 10--but I have other versions available for testing (both Mac and Windows, 32-bit and 64-bit, 2007 to date).
Please tell me:
Which version of Excel do you use, Mac or Windows?
If Windows, is 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 or 2019?
Is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
Jul 16 2019 10:25 AM
Jul 16 2019 11:00 AM - edited Jul 16 2019 11:01 AM
Thanks for sending me the file. I can reproduce the problem with my Excel 2016/Office 365 64-bit.
Excel cells can hold a maximum of 32,767 characters. Your problem server has 86,510 characters worth of software. I am guessing an overflow occurs that results in the loss of your data.
To test this hypothesis, I modified the code to truncate the software list to the first 32,767 characters. Now the macro seems to work.
Sub Sequelize() Dim rg As Range Dim delimiter As String, s As String Dim i As Long, k As Long, n As Long, nData As Long Dim vData As Variant, vResults As Variant delimiter = ", " Set rg = Range("A2").CurrentRegion Set rg = rg.Offset(1, 0).Resize(rg.Rows.Count - 1, rg.Columns.Count) n = rg.Rows.Count nData = Application.CountA(rg.Columns(1)) vData = rg.Value ReDim vResults(1 To nData, 1 To 2) For i = 1 To n If vData(i, 1) <> "" Then k = k + 1 vResults(k, 1) = vData(i, 1) If s <> "" Then If i > 1 Then vResults(k - 1, 2) = Left$(s, 32767) End If s = IIf(vData(i, 2) = "", "", vData(i, 2)) Else If vData(i, 2) <> "" Then If s = "" Then s = vData(i, 2) Else s = s & delimiter & vData(i, 2) End If End If End If Next If s <> "" Then vResults(k, 2) = Left$(s, 32767) rg.ClearContents rg.Resize(nData, 2).Value = vResults End Sub
Please try running the revised macro on your full dataset. If it works, we can then shift discussion to how best to handle the text in the overflow. Perhaps additional columns or rows?
Jul 16 2019 12:40 PM
It sounds like it will work. I will be able to try it in a couple hours or so and will report back.
As far as the overflow, additional rows are acceptable.@Brad_Yundt
Jul 16 2019 01:41 PM
SolutionI revised the macro to allow up to 200 more rows of results in case of overflow, as well as up to 165 characters in next pass through the concatenation loop. When an overflow situation is detected, the server name will be repeated as often as needed to get all software names listed on additional rows.
Sub Sequelize() Dim rg As Range Dim delimiter As String, s As String Dim i As Long, k As Long, n As Long, nData As Long Dim vData As Variant, vResults As Variant delimiter = ", " Set rg = Range("A2").CurrentRegion Set rg = rg.Offset(1, 0).Resize(rg.Rows.Count - 1, rg.Columns.Count) n = rg.Rows.Count nData = Application.CountA(rg.Columns(1)) nData = nData + 200 'Allow for servers whose software list exceeds 32,767 characters vData = rg.Value ReDim vResults(1 To nData, 1 To 2) For i = 1 To n If vData(i, 1) <> "" Then k = k + 1 vResults(k, 1) = vData(i, 1) If s <> "" Then If i > 1 Then vResults(k - 1, 2) = Left$(s, 32767) End If s = IIf(vData(i, 2) = "", "", vData(i, 2)) Else If vData(i, 2) <> "" Then If s = "" Then s = vData(i, 2) Else s = s & delimiter & vData(i, 2) End If End If End If 'Overflow occurs if you put more than 32,767 characters in a cell. This block allows up to 165 characters (plus delimiter) in next pass through loop. If Len(s) > 32600 Then If (i < n) And (vData(i + 1, 1) = "") Then vResults(k, 2) = s vResults(k + 1, 1) = vResults(k, 1) s = "" k = k + 1 End If End If Next If s <> "" Then vResults(k, 2) = Left$(s, 32767) rg.ClearContents rg.Resize(nData, 2).Value = vResults End Sub
Jul 16 2019 01:56 PM
You have done it! Thank you for your dedication to this issue of mine. This works perfectly. @Brad_Yundt
Jul 16 2019 02:01 PM
If not a secret, what's the reason keep list of server software in so long strings instead of columns cell?
Jul 16 2019 02:34 PM
I am importing this into a sharepoint webpage through the excel app and if I kept all the applications in columns then some of the servers would have 100+ columns. I am positive there is a better way to accomplish my task but am a new intern and I lack the knowledge to do so. 😕
Jul 16 2019 03:03 PM
I see, thank you for the explanation. Perhaps servers in columns will be more compact and searchable, but it all depends on your concrete data.
Jul 16 2019 03:16 PM
Yeah, unfortunately I am working with such a large amount of data here that it doesn't want to cooperate by making it easy and convenient to read. There are thousands of servers and the software includes everything from Google Chrome to .net framework updates to security updates for various tools. But what I have now is the easiest to search through I believe. I can query the inventory for a server and then it will just show me the column(s) of data associated with it. From there I can just Ctrl+F to search more specifically. Thanks for trying to help me with my issue. I appreciate it. I have much to learn!!
Aug 23 2022 07:51 PM
Aug 24 2022 08:18 PM