CODEWITHSUNDEEP
excelvba
jlcv
jlcv

Reputation: 1808

Replacing a section of the data in a cell for thousands of excel data

I have a large spreadsheet with column data like:

ABC:1:I.0
ABC:1:I.1 
ABC:1:I.2
ABC:1:I.3
ABC:2:I.0
ABC:2:I.1
ABC:2:I.2
ABC:2:I.3
ABC:3:I.0
ABC:3:I.2
ABC:3:I.3
ABC:4:I.0
ABC:4:I.1
ABC:4:I.2
ABC:4:I.3
ABC:5:I.0
ABC:5:I.1
ABC:5:I.2
ABC:5:I.3
ETC.

I need to replace the above with the following:

ABC:I.Data[1].0
ABC:I.Data[1].1
ABC:I.Data[1].2
ABC:I.Data[1].3
ABC:I.Data[2].0
ABC:I.Data[2].1
ABC:I.Data[2].2
ABC:I.Data[2].3
ABC:I.Data[3].0
ABC:I.Data[3].2
ABC:I.Data[3].3
ABC:I.Data[4].0
ABC:I.Data[4].1
ABC:I.Data[4].2
ABC:I.Data[4].3
ABC:I.Data[5].0
ABC:I.Data[5].1
ABC:I.Data[5].2
ABC:I.Data[5].3
ETC.

Here is a sample of the data, most of the data follows a similar format with the exception of the naming "ABC", which can vary in size, so it might be "ABCD" and also with the exception of the letter "I", it can be "O" as well. Also, some might be missing some values such as ABC:3:I.1 which is missing from the data. I am not too familiar with excel formulas or VBA code. Does anyone know how to do this? I have no preference on which method it has to be done in as I don't mind learning some VBA code if someone provides me with a VBA solution.

I was thinking of using some sort of loop along with some conditional statements.

Thanks!

Upvotes: 0

Views: 84

Answers (4)

pnuts
pnuts

Reputation: 59485

Please try: 

=LEFT(F11,FIND(":",F11))&MID(F11,FIND(":",F11,6)+1,1)&".Data["&MID(F11,FIND(":",F11,2)+1,1)&"]."&RIGHT(F11,1)

copied down to suit, assuming placed in Row11 and your data is in ColumnF starting in Row11.

Curiosities:

  1. When this A was first posted it attempted to address only the tabulated example input and output. I temporarily deleted that version while addressing that what was in the table as ABC might at times be ABCD and that what was I might at times be O.
  2. OP has posted an answer that I edited to make no visible change but which shows as the deletion of two characters. A copy of the OP’s formula exhibited a syntax error prior to my edit.
  3. OP suggested an edit to my answer but this was rejected by the review process. As it happens, I think the edit suggestion was incorrect.
  4. I have edited my answer again to include these ‘curiosities’ and to match the cell reference used by the OP in his answer.

Upvotes: 1

jlcv
jlcv

Reputation: 1808

With the help of pnuts I was able to come up with my own solution:

=LEFT(F11,LEN(F11)-5)&MID(F11,LEN(F11)-2,2)&"Data["&MID(F11,LEN(F11)-4,1)&"]"&RIGHT(F11,2)

My solution works based on the fact that the length of the last six values in the string ABC:1:I:0 will always be the same in size for all the data I have, hence you see LEN(F11)-some number in my code. The only part of the string that changes in size is the first part, in this case ABC which can also be ABCDEF, etc.

Upvotes: 1

Tim Williams
Tim Williams

Reputation: 166456

=LEFT(A1,SEARCH(":",A1)) & MID(A1, SEARCH(".",A1)-1, 2) &
  "Data[" & MID(A1,SEARCH(":",A1)+1,1) & "]" & RIGHT(A1,2)

Upvotes: 1

Jane
Jane

Reputation: 851

If you'd like to use formulas rather than VBA, an easy option is to split the data into 4 columns, using the Text To Columns option - first split using the colon as a delimiter, then using a full-stop / period as a delimiter.

Once you have 4 columns of data (one for each block), you can use the Concatenate function to join them and add in the extra characters: =CONCATENATE(A1,":",C1,".","Data[",B1,"].",D1)

This should still work if you have extra / alternative characters (eg ABCD instead of ABC), as long as you have the same delimiters, but obviously you'd need to test to make sure.

Upvotes: 0

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