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Complex Filtering with Multiple Criteria

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    Complex Filtering with Multiple Criteria

    I am doing this on another forum, too. I have some general knowledge of the worksheet functions in Excel, but I have begun work on one too big for me to manage well without some extra help. So here goes...

    I'm working on giving Chinese vocabulary lessons in supplement to grammar tutorials.

    However, in order to avoid errors in other language books books, I only want to introduce so many characters at a time into the vocabulary, but at the same time, only the words that contain the more frequent characters first.

    I found that giving an example helps best.

    Let's say that I have a vocabulary list in Column X:

    幸好
    能幹
    好幾
    幾個
    幾乎沒有
    幾何學
    幾天來
    幾個小時
    好幾年
    幾年來
    有序

    Now, I want to filter out all of the results unless they contain ONLY THESE CHARACTERS: 好, 幾, 年, 來. The characters, in order of frequency, are put in column Y2:Y2551.

    If the filter is done correctly, then it should make something in Column Z:

    好幾
    好幾年
    幾年來

    Now, if I tried doing this long-hand in Column Z, it would read something like this:
    =IF(NOT(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(跑,X1)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(工,X1)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(忙,X1)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(相,X1)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(光 ,X1))...),X1,"")

    The problem is that with only six characters, the equation would be ridiculously big, with 2496 of those ISNUMBER(SEARCH(Character in Cell Y,Cell X)). I don't think I could even fit 2500 words into the equation without causing an error.

    Is there a method that allows me to enter multiple rows into the SEARCH() function? Is there any other potential shortcut that could get a product as I need it?

  2. #2
    Forum Expert NBVC's Avatar
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    You should actually post the link to the other forum(s) that you asked the question in so that people can see how far you got there and if they can get a better understanding of your dilema...

    http://www.mrexcel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354004
    Where there is a will there are many ways.

    If you are happy with the results, please add to the contributor's reputation by clicking the reputation icon (star icon) below left corner

    Please also mark the thread as Solved once it is solved. Check the FAQ's to see how.

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    Thanks for mentioning the other part. The main responder in the other forum offered some VBA scripting solution, and while it didn't give exactly what I was seeking, if the program had run correctly, it would have allowed me to just add another conditional that would have organized the data in the way that I needed.

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    Forum Expert NBVC's Avatar
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    I think you should wait for that poster (Fazza) to come back.. I have had help from Fazza when I frequented that forum often... and he is good at the VBA and stuck with me to the end. I am confident he will come back to assist you in finishing it.

    Adding too many other opinions may end up confusing the whole thing.... but someone else may help you out anyways here if they think they have a solution for you.

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    I found a solution to this problem. If anyone cares to know how this is done, just respond and I'll go into the details.
    Last edited by corpusworker; 12-02-2008 at 06:57 AM. Reason: SOLVED

  6. #6
    Valued Forum Contributor rwgrietveld's Avatar
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    re: Complex Filtering with Multiple Criteria

    Don't ask. GIVE !! This forum is for us ALL.
    Looking for great solutions but hate waiting?
    Seach this Forum through Google

    www.Google.com
    (e.g. +multiple +IF site:excelforum.com/excel-general/ )

    www.Google.com
    (e.g. +fill +combobox site:excelforum.com/excel-programming/ )

    Ave,
    Ricardo

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