Here's a formula that works. It's ugly, but it works.
=MID(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(";"&A1&";"&B1&";"&C1&";"&D1&";",";;",";"),";;",";"),2,LEN(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(";"&A1&";"&B1&";"&C1&";"&D1&";",";;",";"),";;",";"))-2)
The thing to do in a case like this is to break the problem down into
sections. There are many ways to approach this specific question, but
here's my thought process.
1. Go ahead and concatenate all the cells and worry later about whether
or not they contain data. Insert semicolons between values.
2. Include a semicolon at the beginning and end of the string to
accommodate the next two steps (in case the first or last cell is empty).
3. Where two semicolons are consecutive, eliminate one of them.
4. Eliminate the semicolons at the beginning and end of the string.
After that, I break the functions down to simplify construction of the
monster.
A. =MID([string],2,LEN([string]-2)
This strips the beginning and ending semicolons.
B. =SUBSTITUTE([string],";;",";")
This replaces every instance of two semicolons with a single
one. Unfortunately, the function is not recursive, so if there are
three in a row it will only make one replacement. This why the final
formula has two instances of the SUBSTITUTE function.
C. [string] is the concatenation of everything.
Hope this helps!
Dave
On 5/16/2013 07:23, Carl Paulsen wrote:
Hi Tom.
Well, not quite. In my particular case this formula worked. But with
some off-list input from smarter brains than mine, I realize it
wouldn't work under many situations.
It turns out the formula would need to change a bit, otherwise what I
did would leave a trailing semi-colon where column X is blank. In
fact, it's a tricky situation b/c a semi-colon is needed after U3 if
U3 has a value AND any of the others has a value, otherwise not. Then,
if V3 has a value and any of the other later cells has a value, there
should be another semi-colon. Etc. etc. In the last case, a
semi-colon should follow W3 only if there's a value in X3.
I've tried a bunch of formulas and the closest I've come is the
following:
=A13&IF(NOT(ISBLANK(A13))AND(NOT(ISBLANK(B13)))OR(NOT(ISBLANK(C13)))OR(NOT(ISBLANK(D13))),";","")&B13&IF(NOT(ISBLANK(B13))AND(NOT(ISBLANK(C13)))OR(NOT(ISBLANK(D13))),";","")&C13&IF(NOT(ISBLANK(C13))AND(NOT(ISBLANK(D13))),";","")&D13
But that clearly doesn't work. Note I'm working in a test sheet and
am using different cells. This formula leaves leading semi-colons
under a number of situations and double semi-colons under others. I'm
not entirely sure CASE would work any better here though.
Anyone want to help out, great. But it's a pretty specialized
situation, so I understand if not.
Carl
On 5/16/13 3:02 AM, Tom Davies wrote:
Hi :)
WoooHooo!! Nicely done! :) Is this whole thread solved now?
COngrats of so!
Regards from
Tom :)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Carl Paulsen <[email protected]>
*To:* [email protected]
*Sent:* Thursday, 16 May 2013, 1:44
*Subject:* Re: [libreoffice-users] "Case" function equivalent in
Calc
At long last I got this to work. Syntax is "ISBLANK" and not
"ISEMPTY"
- aaarrrrgggghhhh. My Filemaker days are getting in my way.
Replace
all "isempty" below with "ISBLANK" and it works perfectly now.
Carl
On 5/15/13 6:38 PM, Carl Paulsen wrote:
> So in the absence of a Case function, here's what I've done so
far as
> a calculated solution. Note that the data I want to concatenate
is in
> cells U3, V3, W3, and X3. In Y3, I put the following:
>
> =U3 & IF(NOT(isempty(U3)),";","") & V3 &
IF(NOT(isempty(V3)),";","") &
> W3 & IF(NOT(isempty(W3)),";","") & X3
>
> The idea is that I put together U3, a semicolon if U3 isn't
empty (and
> nothing if it is), V3 and a semicolon if V3 isn't empty, W3 and a
> semicolon if W3 isn't empty, and X3. If any of the cells is
empty,
> nothing will be added until the next cell that has data.
>
> Unfortunately, I'm getting a #NAME? error. I'm assuming some
kind of
> syntax error. Any words of wisdom?
>
> Thanks a ton all.
> Carl
>
>
>
> On 5/15/13 5:13 PM, Dan Lewis wrote:
>> On 05/15/2013 04:16 PM, Carl Paulsen wrote:
>>> Anyone know if there is an equivalent to the Filemaker Pro
"Case"
>>> function? It's kinda like the "IF" function but is simpler to
>>> concatenate multiple conditions. It basically says If
something is
>>> true then do what is specified, if the next thing is, then do
that,
>>> if the next thing is true, do that, etc.
>>>
>>> Here's what I need to do. Take 4 columns and concatenate with a
>>> semi-colon between the values, but not string together two
>>> semi-colons consecutively. Like:
>>>
>>> Phone Email Mail -> Phone;Email;Mail
>>> Phone Mail -> Phone;Mail
>>> Mail -> Mail
>>> Email Mail -> Email;Mail
>>>
>>> So semi-colons only occur if there's a value present and not
at all
>>> if there's only one value present.
>>> I hope that makes sense and displays correctly.
>>>
>>> Carl
>> I just checked the available functions in Calc. The "Case"
>> function does not appear among them. "Case When" is available
in Base
>> database queries though.
>>
>> --Dan
>>
>
>
--
Carl Paulsen
8 Hamilton Street
Dover, NH 03820
(603) 749-2310
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