Data manipulation help

[Brian]

Howdy all,

I have employee records with corresponding image files list all in Column A.
Each employee record is proceeded by the word BEGIN:, then SSN, NAME, DOB,
and then a varying number of image file paths. There are thousands of these,
and I want to format them like I've shown below.

Is this possible?

Here is what I have:

A
1 BEGIN:
2 SSN: 111-22-3333
3 NAME: Joe Blow
4 DOB: 01/01/60
5 \v\wst1.jpg
6 \v\wst2.jpg
7 \v\wst3.jpg
8 BEGIN:
9 SSN: 222-33-4444
10 NAME: Henry Ford
11 DOB 02/02/70
12 \v\qwe1.jpg
13 \v\qwe2.jpg
etc, etc.

What I want:

A B C
D
1 SSN: 111-22-3333 NAME: Joe Blow DOB: 01/01/60 \v\wst1.jpg
2 SSN: 111-22-3333 NAME: Joe Blow DOB: 01/01/60 \v\wst2.jpg
3 SSN: 111-22-3333 NAME: Joe Blow DOB: 01/01/60 \v\wst3.jpg
4 SSN: 222-33-4444 NAME: Henry Ford DOB 02/02/70 \v\qwe1.jpg
4 SSN: 222-33-4444 NAME: Henry Ford DOB 02/02/70 \v\qwe2.jpg



Thanks,
Brian

 

[Dave Peterson]

Is a macro ok?

If yes...

Try this against a copy of your worksheet--or save before you run this. It
destroys the original data when it runs. So you'll want to be able to close
without saving to get things back.

Option Explicit
Sub testme()
Dim myBigRng As Range
Dim mySmallArea As Range
Dim HowManyRows As Long
Dim rCtr As Long
Dim wks As Worksheet

Set wks = ActiveSheet

With wks
With .Columns(1)
'no formulas!
.Value = .Value

'make the the "Begin:" cell empty
.Replace _
What:="Begin:*", _
Replacement:="", _
lookat:=xlWhole, _
SearchOrder:=xlByRows, _
MatchCase:=False

Set myBigRng = Nothing
On Error Resume Next
Set myBigRng = .Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeConstants)
On Error GoTo 0

If myBigRng Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "Nothing found to convert!"
Exit Sub
End If
End With

For Each mySmallArea In myBigRng.Areas
With mySmallArea
HowManyRows = .Rows.Count - 3
If HowManyRows > 0 Then
.Resize(3, 1).Copy
.Cells(1, 1).Offset(0, 1) _
.Resize(HowManyRows, 3).PasteSpecial Transpose:=True
For rCtr = 4 To 4 + HowManyRows - 1
.Cells(rCtr - 3, 5).Value = .Cells(rCtr, 1).Value
Next rCtr
End If
End With
Next mySmallArea

.Columns(2).Cells.SpecialCells(xlCellTypeBlanks).EntireRow.Delete

.Columns(1).Delete
End With

End Sub

This expects that "Begin:" in column A for each group and 3 rows of "headers".

If you're new to macros:

Debra Dalgleish has some notes how to implement macros here:
http://www.contextures.com/xlvba01.html

David McRitchie has an intro to macros:
http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/getstarted.htm

Ron de Bruin's intro to macros:
http://www.rondebruin.nl/code.htm

(General, Regular and Standard modules all describe the same thing.)

Debra Dalgleish has some getstarted instructions for userforms at:
http://contextures.com/xlUserForm01.html

 

[Brian]

Thanks Dave!

Will this work with varying numbers of image files paths present below the
DOB row?
Also, if the SSN row is NOT present, will this still work?

Thanks again,
Brian

 

[Dave Peterson]

The lack of the SSN row will blow it to bits.

It expects 3 lines of headers for each group.

 

[Dave Peterson]

So what does your data really look like?

Does it really have those prefixes in the beginning of each of the header cells:

SSN:
NAME:
DOB:

Any prefix for the other rows (the image file strings?)

Is the SSN the only header that could be missing?

It may be easier to just insert that if it wasn't found, then run the other
code.

You can run this routine before you run the original if SSN is the only one that
could be missing.

Sub RunMeFirst()
Dim wks As Worksheet
Dim iRow As Long
Dim FirstRow As Long
Dim LastRow As Long

Set wks = ActiveSheet

With wks
FirstRow = 1
LastRow = .Cells(.Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row

For iRow = LastRow To FirstRow Step -1
If LCase(.Cells(iRow, "A").Value) = LCase("Begin:") Then
If LCase(Cells(iRow + 1, "A").Value) Like LCase("SSN:*") Then
'this group is ok
Else
.Rows(iRow + 1).Insert
.Cells(iRow + 1, "A").Value = "SSN:"
End If
End If
Next iRow
End With
End Sub

==========
If you wanted to just run a single macro, you can have the original call the
first:

Call RunMeFirst '<-- added

 

[Brian]

Dave,

Yes, it appears that occasionally the SSN line is not present.

So this macro would insert SSN if it wasn't present and ignore the header
section if it is present?

Once I figure out how to run a macro, I'll post back.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Dave Peterson]

Yep.

And read a few of those links included in the original suggestion.

Dave,

Yes, it appears that occasionally the SSN line is not present.

So this macro would insert SSN if it wasn't present and ignore the header
section if it is present?

Once I figure out how to run a macro, I'll post back.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Brian]

Dave,

I ran both macros on a sample of the data and it worked like a charm!!!
Thanks a million!

Brian

 

[Dave Peterson]

Glad you got it working.

Dave,

I ran both macros on a sample of the data and it worked like a charm!!!
Thanks a million!

Brian

 

[Brian]

Dave,

You seem to be the Excel VBA guru.
I posted another VBA question, and was wondering if you could take a look?

Here's the link:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...s/browse_thread/thread/66c11167cd38be98?hl=en

Thanks,
Brian