How to automate filling a certain set of cells with the same value?

[klvasquez]

I have a data set with two columns, count and distance. I need the values in the distance column to be entered in a new column as many times as the corresponding value in the count column. For example:

Example.jpg http://tinypic.com/r/34dsrup/8

But my real data has much larger numbers in the count column and there are over 5,000 records. Is there a way to automate this process through a formula?

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Pete_UK]

Well, more than one formula.

Take a look at this thread from yesterday:

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-new-...f-chances.html

it does what you are asking for.

Hope this helps.

Pete

[klvasquez]

Thank you very much. That worked perfectly.

Unfortunately my dataset exceeds Excels row limits, so I am working on converting your
formulas into something Access can handle. But that is a different problem for a
different forum.

Thanks again for your help.

[Pete_UK]

What? Your 5,000 records will generate more than 1 million rows?

Anyway, glad to be able to help.

If that takes care of your original question, please select Thread Tools from the menu above your first post and mark this thread as SOLVED.

Also, since you are relatively new to the forum, I would like to inform you that you can directly thank those who have helped you by clicking on the small "star" icon located in the lower left corner of a post that you have found to be helpful (not just in this thread - for any post that has helped you). This also adds to the reputation of the poster (the small green bars in the poster's profile).

Pete