Hello,

This is how my data is broken down:
Column A - random digits of length 8
Column B - dates (ex. 9/3, 9/4, 9/5)

I'd like to remove duplicates from Column A within a date. Steps a
1) De-dupe the Column A values that have 9/3 in Column B. Do not consider any data from 9/4 or 9/5 during the dedupe process.
2) Rinse, repeat for 9/4 and 9/5.

How might I go about doing this in an efficient manner?

Thank you for your help in advance!
davy

Davy,

I'd use Advanced Filter. Highlight the range with your data and click DataAdvanced (from the Sort & Filter group). You may either filter the list in place or copy it to a new location in your workbook. Ignore the criteria range,and fill in the "Copy to" range if you are putting the results elsewhere in your book. Finally, be sure to check the box for "Unique records only" and click OK.

Hope this helps,

Ben

On Wed, 5 Sep 2012 17:14:32 +0000, spamdavy wrote:


Hello,

This is how my data is broken down:
Column A - random digits of length 8
Column B - dates (ex. 9/3, 9/4, 9/5)

I'd like to remove duplicates from Column A within a date. Steps a
1) De-dupe the Column A values that have 9/3 in Column B. Do not
consider any data from 9/4 or 9/5 during the dedupe process.
2) Rinse, repeat for 9/4 and 9/5.

How might I go about doing this in an efficient manner?

Thank you for your help in advance!
davy

If you have Excel 2007 or later, there is a "Remove Duplicates" item on the Data menu on the ribbon. It allows you to choose the columns to process. In your case, you would select column A and column B

Thanks for the replies!

However, there's one subtle nuance that makes this issue more complex. I'd like to select the values to de-dupe in Column A based on that row's date in Column B.

The equivalent manual process is to copy all rows with 9/3 to another sheet and de-dupe Column A. Repeat for different dates 9/4 and 9/5. Is there a more efficient way to do this?

btw, I have Excel 2010.

On Thu, 6 Sep 2012 19:33:03 +0000, spamdavy wrote:


Thanks for the replies!

However, there's one subtle issue that makes this issue more complex.
I'd like to de-dupe Column A as defined by the date in Column B.

The equivalent manual process is to copy all rows with 9/3 to another
sheet and de-dupe Column A. Repeat for different dates 9/4 and 9/5.

Either I am not understanding what you want, or you are not understanding the process I recommend.

What happened when you tried the process I recommended?

Since the process I recommended compares both columns A & B, it shouldl only dedupe for matches in column A with the same date in column B. There is no need to do this one at a time.

If you are still having a problem, please post a copy of a sample file to a publically accessible web site (e.g. Skydrive), and show before and after examples of what you want. Post the link here.

Wow, I completely mis-understood what that Remove Duplicates dialog box was asking for. I originally thought it was asking me which column I'd like to de-dup independently of the other selections until you've showed me the light.

Thank you Ron. You've just saved me days, if not weeks of my life!

-davy

On Fri, 7 Sep 2012 23:55:08 +0000, spamdavy wrote:

Wow, I completely mis-understood what that Remove Duplicates dialog box
was asking for. I originally thought it was asking me which column I'd
like to de-dup independently of the other selections until you've showed
me the light.

Thank you Ron. You've just saved me days, if not weeks of my life!

Glad to help and happy that you've got it to work for you. Thanks for the feedback.
-- Ron