help with making a function to filter lists

[monkeytrader]

hello. i am trying to sort through a list of data by displaying only one
occurance of a name from one column that has many repeating names into a new
column.

ex:

A B C
1 apple
apple
apple
pear
pear
apple
pear
orange
orange
orange
banana
banana

is it possible to show in column "B" only one "apple", one "pear", one
"orange", one "banana", etc? thanks in advance for your help.

 

[T. Valko]

The easiest way is to use the Advanced filter.

Assuming A1 is your column header and the data is in the range A2:A13...

Select the range A1:A13.
Goto Data>Filter>Advanced filter
Select: Copy to another location
Copy to: enter the first cell where you want the data to appear, like, say,
B1.
Select: Unique records only
OK

 

[Max]

Here's one quick n simple formulas play which can drill out a dynamic uniques
listing ..

Assuming source names running in A1 down

In B1:
=IF(A1="","",IF(COUNTIF($A$1:A1,A1)>1,"",ROW()))

In C1:
=IF(ROW()>COUNT(B:B),"",INDEX(A:A,SMALL(B:B,ROW())))
Select B1:C1, copy down to cover the max expected extent of source data in
col A. Hide away col B. Col C returns the desired list of uniques from col A,
all neatly bunched at the top.