Concatenation and skipping blank cells

[Guest]

I'm trying to set up a formula which will contactenate the contents of 6 or 7
cells. I would like to be able to skip any blank values.

Using the following formula: =a1&", "&b1&", "c1&", "&d1&", "&e1&", "&f1
Assuming cell b1, d1, and e1 were left blank, I would get the following:
Ann, , Cathy, , , Frank

What I want to see is: Ann, Cathy, Frank
Can anyone give me any ideas on how to go about this?

Soma104

 

[Dave Peterson]

Are all the values in A1:F1 single words--no spaces?

If yes:

=SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(A1&" "&B1&" "&C1&" "&D1&" "&E1&" "&F1)," ",", ")

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

I'm trying to set up a formula which will contactenate the contents of 6 or 7
cells. I would like to be able to skip any blank values.

Using the following formula: =a1&", "&b1&", "c1&", "&d1&", "&e1&", "&f1
Assuming cell b1, d1, and e1 were left blank, I would get the following:
Ann, , Cathy, , , Frank

What I want to see is: Ann, Cathy, Frank
Can anyone give me any ideas on how to go about this?

Soma104

You could download and install Longre's free morefunc.xll add-in from
http://xcell05.free.fr.

Then use the formula:

=MCONCAT(A1:A6,", ")

OR you could use a UDF. <alt-F11> opens the VB Editor. Ensure your project is
highlighted in the project explorer window, then Insert/Module and paste the
code below into the window that opens.

Use the formula:

=ConcatNonBlanks(A1:A6,", ")

===========================
Function ConcatNonBlanks(rg As Range, Optional Separator As String) As String
Dim c As Range

For Each c In rg
If Len(c.Text) > 0 Then
ConcatNonBlanks = ConcatNonBlanks & c.Text & Separator
End If
Next c

'remove last separator
If Not IsEmpty(Separator) Then
ConcatNonBlanks = Left(ConcatNonBlanks, _
Len(ConcatNonBlanks) - Len(Separator))
End If

End Function
==============================


--ron

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

Are all the values in A1:F1 single words--no spaces?

If yes:

=SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(A1&" "&B1&" "&C1&" "&D1&" "&E1&" "&F1)," ",", ")

Neat solution for single word entries!


--ron

 

[Dave Peterson]

I think I'd use a UDF, too. But that formula could be modified for cells with
multiple words:

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(B1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(C1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(D1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(E1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(F1," ",CHAR(1)))," ",", "),CHAR(1)," ")

But it gets kind of ugly kind of fast.

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

I think I'd use a UDF, too. But that formula could be modified for cells with
multiple words:

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(SUBSTITUTE(A1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(B1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(C1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(D1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(E1," ",CHAR(1))
&" "&SUBSTITUTE(F1," ",CHAR(1)))," ",", "),CHAR(1)," ")

But it gets kind of ugly kind of fast.

UDF's are certainly more flexible.
--ron

 

[Ron Rosenfeld]

You could download and install Longre's free morefunc.xll add-in from
http://xcell05.free.fr.

Then use the formula:

=MCONCAT(A1:A6,", ")

OR you could use a UDF. <alt-F11> opens the VB Editor. Ensure your project is
highlighted in the project explorer window, then Insert/Module and paste the
code below into the window that opens.

Use the formula:

=ConcatNonBlanks(A1:A6,", ")

===========================
Function ConcatNonBlanks(rg As Range, Optional Separator As String) As String
Dim c As Range

For Each c In rg
If Len(c.Text) > 0 Then
ConcatNonBlanks = ConcatNonBlanks & c.Text & Separator
End If
Next c

'remove last separator
If Not IsEmpty(Separator) Then
ConcatNonBlanks = Left(ConcatNonBlanks, _
Len(ConcatNonBlanks) - Len(Separator))
End If

End Function
==============================


--ron

Some testing reveals that we can eliminate testing for the use of Separator, so
the routine simplifies a bit:

============================
Function ConcatNonBlanks(rg As Range, Optional Separator As String) As String
Dim c As Range

For Each c In rg
If Len(c.Text) > 0 Then
ConcatNonBlanks = ConcatNonBlanks & c.Text & Separator
End If
Next c

'remove last separator
ConcatNonBlanks = Left(ConcatNonBlanks, _
Len(ConcatNonBlanks) - Len(Separator))

End Function
========================
--ron