Excel: Sort columns by row content

Question

Hi,

it's hard to describe.

I have some columns, say three:

10 20 20

20 22 24

24 24 26

What I like to get is:

10 XX XX

20 20 20

XX 22 XX

24 24 24

XX XX 26

where XX is an empty cell.

Is there a way to get this?

Bye, Thomas

Answer 1

You can do a lot with ADO.

Dim cn As Object
Dim rs As Object
Dim strFile As String
Dim strCon As String
Dim strSQL As String
Dim s As String
Dim i As Integer, j As Integer

''This is not the best way to refer to the workbook
''you want, but it is very convenient for notes
''It is probably best to use the name of the workbook.

strFile = ActiveWorkbook.FullName

''Note that if HDR=No, F1,F2 etc are used for column names,
''if HDR=Yes, the names in the first row of the range
''can be used.
''This is the Jet 4 connection string, you can get more
''here : http://www.connectionstrings.com/excel

strCon = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & strFile _
    & ";Extended Properties=""Excel 8.0;HDR=No;IMEX=1"";"

''Late binding, so no reference is needed

Set cn = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set rs = CreateObject("ADODB.Recordset")

cn.Open strCon

strSQL = "SELECT 1 As Col, F1 As Cont FROM [Sheet1$] " _
       & "UNION ALL SELECT 2 As Col, F2 As Cont FROM [Sheet1$] " _
       & "UNION ALL SELECT 3 As Col, F3 As Cont FROM [Sheet1$] " _
       & "ORDER BY Cont"

rs.Open strSQL, cn, 3, 3

''Pick a suitable empty worksheet for the results

With Worksheets("Sheet2")

    ''Working with the recordset ...
    Do While Not rs.EOF
        If rs("Cont") > j Then i = i + 1

        j = rs("Cont")

        .Cells(i, rs("Col")) = rs("Cont")

       rs.MoveNext
    Loop
End With

Answer 2

This VBA script does what you need. You will need to add a reference to scripting runtime (tools -> reference). Simply assign the script to a button or save it as a macro. When you press it it will use the cells that you have currently selected.

Private Sub CommandButton2_Click()
Dim dict As New Scripting.Dictionary
ReDim isInColumn(1 To Selection.Columns.Count) As Integer
Dim max As Integer
Dim min As Integer
Dim row As Integer
min = Selection.Cells(1, 1).Value

For Each cell In Selection

If cell.Value < min Then min = cell.Value
If cell.Value > max Then max = cell.Value

If Not dict.Exists(cell.Value) Then
    dict.Add cell.Value, isInColumn
End If
    tempArray = dict(cell.Value)
    tempArray(cell.Column + 1 - Selection.Column) = 1
    dict(cell.Value) = tempArray
Next

For i = min To max
    If dict.Exists(i) Then
        tempArray = dict(i)
        For t = LBound(tempArray) To UBound(tempArray)
            If tempArray(t) = 1 Then
                Selection.Cells(1, 1).Offset(row, t - 1) = i
            Else
                Selection.Cells(1, 1).Offset(row, t - 1) = "xx"
            End If
        Next t

        row = row + 1

    End If
Next i

End Sub