Find Duplicate in a Row

[Ardy]

Hello All:
Here is my dilemma…..I am using Excel 2007. I have a spreadsheet with
17,3322 row of data that spans to Column W (A2:W173322) excluding the
header. I am trying to do conditional formatting to bring to light
the duplicate values that are identical across the row and highlight
them. The problem is that the built in function is highlighting
duplicates whenever it finds it. I need to somehow only highlight if
the entire row is duplicate and not only portion. A2:W2 is the entire
row which represents a data set. I tried using =COUNTIF ($A$2:$W
$173322,A2)>1 but it is not quit working.

Any Ideas…….

Ardy

 

[T. Valko]

Let's see if I understand what you want....

If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that row.
If *every* cell in that row does not contain the same value then do nothing.

If that's what you want...

Assuming there are no empty/blank cells...

Try:

=COUNTIF($A2:$W2,$A2)=COLUMNS($A2:$W2)

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


Hello All:
Here is my dilemma…..I am using Excel 2007. I have a spreadsheet with
17,3322 row of data that spans to Column W (A2:W173322) excluding the
header. I am trying to do conditional formatting to bring to light
the duplicate values that are identical across the row and highlight
them. The problem is that the built in function is highlighting
duplicates whenever it finds it. I need to somehow only highlight if
the entire row is duplicate and not only portion. A2:W2 is the entire
row which represents a data set. I tried using =COUNTIF ($A$2:$W
$173322,A2)>1 but it is not quit working.

Any Ideas…….

Ardy

 

[Ardy]

Let's see if I understand what you want....

If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that row..
If *every* cell in that row does not contain the same value then do nothing.

If that's what you want...

Assuming there are no empty/blank cells...

Try:

=COUNTIF($A2:$W2,$A2)=COLUMNS($A2:$W2)

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


Hello All:
Here is my dilemma…..I am using Excel 2007.  I have a spreadsheet with
17,3322 row of data that spans to Column W (A2:W173322) excluding the
header.  I am trying to do conditional formatting to bring to light
the duplicate values that are identical across the row and highlight
them.  The problem is that the built in function is highlighting
duplicates whenever it finds it.  I need to somehow only highlight if
the entire row is duplicate and not only portion. A2:W2 is the entire
row which represents a data set.  I tried using =COUNTIF ($A$2:$W
$173322,A2)>1 but it is not quit working.

Any Ideas…….

Ardy

Yes Partly
If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that
row

Here is an Example
A B C D E
1 al bb cc dd ee
2 zz gg mm ll ff
3 al bb cc dd ee
4 ll mm ff pp ll
5 al bb cc dd ee

So the rows that should get highlighted are 1, 3 and 5 becuse the
rows contain the same info.

Ardy

 

[T. Valko]

Are you looking for the *specific* entries:

al...bb...cc...dd...ee

Do they have to be in that *specific* order? Would this be a match?

cc...bb...al...ee...dd

All the values are the same but they're in a different order.


--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP

Let's see if I understand what you want....

If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that
row.
If *every* cell in that row does not contain the same value then do
nothing.

If that's what you want...

Assuming there are no empty/blank cells...

Try:

=COUNTIF($A2:$W2,$A2)=COLUMNS($A2:$W2)

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


Hello All:
Here is my dilemma…..I am using Excel 2007. I have a spreadsheet with
17,3322 row of data that spans to Column W (A2:W173322) excluding the
header. I am trying to do conditional formatting to bring to light
the duplicate values that are identical across the row and highlight
them. The problem is that the built in function is highlighting
duplicates whenever it finds it. I need to somehow only highlight if
the entire row is duplicate and not only portion. A2:W2 is the entire
row which represents a data set. I tried using =COUNTIF ($A$2:$W
$173322,A2)>1 but it is not quit working.

Any Ideas…….

Ardy

Yes Partly
If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that
row

Here is an Example
A B C D E
1 al bb cc dd ee
2 zz gg mm ll ff
3 al bb cc dd ee
4 ll mm ff pp ll
5 al bb cc dd ee

So the rows that should get highlighted are 1, 3 and 5 becuse the
rows contain the same info.

Ardy

 

[Ardy]

Are you looking for the *specific* entries:

al...bb...cc...dd...ee

Do they have to be in that *specific* order? Would this be a match?

cc...bb...al...ee...dd

All the values are the same but they're in a different order.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP











Yes Partly
If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that
row

Here is an Example
       A        B         C           D         E
1      al      bb         cc         dd        ee
2     zz      gg         mm       ll          ff
3     al       bb         cc         dd        ee
4     ll        mm       ff           pp        ll
5     al       bb         cc         dd        ee

So the rows that should get highlighted are 1, 3 and 5  becuse the
rows contain the same info.

Ardy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

They will be a match, same order, exact duplicate.......

Ardy

 

[T. Valko]

Ok, because of the amount of data you're dealing with this is not easy!

You need to use a helper column and concatenate all the cells from each row.
Like this:

A B C D E
1 al bb cc dd ee

=A1&B1&C1&D1&E1

This will return the concatenated string: albbccddee

However, this has a potential problem. I'm guessing that your real data is
not al bb cc dd ee. But, if it were here's where a problem could crop up:

al...bb....cc...dd...ee
a....lbb...cc...dd...ee

When concatenated those rows would match. You can take care of that by
adding a unique character between cells like this:

=A1&"-"&B1&"-"&C1&"-"&D1&"-"&E1

Now the concatenated strings would be:

al-bb-cc-dd-ee
a-lbb-cc-dd-ee

As you can probably tell this will be a real PITA with the number of columns
of data you have. That's why this isn't easy!

So, use a helper column and concatenate each row. You can enter the formula
in the first row and then copy down to the end of data.

Now, to format the rows...

Let's assume the helper column is the range H1:H5

Select the range to highlight, assume it's A1:E5

Then use Formula Is:

=COUNTIF($H$1:$H$5,$H1)>1



--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP

Are you looking for the *specific* entries:

al...bb...cc...dd...ee

Do they have to be in that *specific* order? Would this be a match?

cc...bb...al...ee...dd

All the values are the same but they're in a different order.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP











Yes Partly
If *every* cell in the row contains the same value then highlight that
row

Here is an Example
A B C D E
1 al bb cc dd ee
2 zz gg mm ll ff
3 al bb cc dd ee
4 ll mm ff pp ll
5 al bb cc dd ee

So the rows that should get highlighted are 1, 3 and 5 becuse the
rows contain the same info.

Ardy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

They will be a match, same order, exact duplicate.......

Ardy

 

[Ardy]

Ok, because of the amount of data you're dealing with this is not easy!

You need to use a helper column and concatenate all the cells from each row.
Like this:


=A1&B1&C1&D1&E1

This will return the concatenated string: albbccddee

However, this has a potential problem. I'm guessing that your real data is
not al bb cc dd ee. But, if it were here's where a problem could crop up:

al...bb....cc...dd...ee
a....lbb...cc...dd...ee

When concatenated those rows would match. You can take care of that by
adding a unique character between cells like this:

=A1&"-"&B1&"-"&C1&"-"&D1&"-"&E1

Now the concatenated strings would be:

al-bb-cc-dd-ee
a-lbb-cc-dd-ee

As you can probably tell this will be a real PITA with the number of columns
of data you have. That's why this isn't easy!

So, use a helper column and concatenate each row. You can enter the formula
in the first row and then copy down to the end of data.

Now, to format the rows...

Let's assume the helper column is the range H1:H5

Select the range to highlight, assume it's A1:E5

Then use Formula Is:

=COUNTIF($H$1:$H$5,$H1)>1

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP










They will be a match,  same order,  exact duplicate.......

Ardy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I see your approach, Let me munch on this I like the concatenate
solution, how would you parse them back to the original

 

[T. Valko]

You wouldn't need to parse anything. You original data is not changed in any
way.

Let me show you an example...

Here's your original data:

.......A...B...C
1...al...bb...cc
2...zz...gg...mm
3...al...bb...cc
4...ll...mm...ff
5...al...bb...cc

Now, use a new column with the concatenated helper formula:

.......A...B...C.............H
1...al...bb...cc...........albbcc
2...zz...gg...mm.........zzggmm
3...al...bb...cc...........albbcc
4...ll...mm...ff............llmmff
5...al...bb...cc...........albbcc

The original data is still intact. We're just using the helper column as the
basis of the formatting.


--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP

Ok, because of the amount of data you're dealing with this is not easy!

You need to use a helper column and concatenate all the cells from each
row.
Like this:


=A1&B1&C1&D1&E1

This will return the concatenated string: albbccddee

However, this has a potential problem. I'm guessing that your real data is
not al bb cc dd ee. But, if it were here's where a problem could crop up:

al...bb....cc...dd...ee
a....lbb...cc...dd...ee

When concatenated those rows would match. You can take care of that by
adding a unique character between cells like this:

=A1&"-"&B1&"-"&C1&"-"&D1&"-"&E1

Now the concatenated strings would be:

al-bb-cc-dd-ee
a-lbb-cc-dd-ee

As you can probably tell this will be a real PITA with the number of
columns
of data you have. That's why this isn't easy!

So, use a helper column and concatenate each row. You can enter the
formula
in the first row and then copy down to the end of data.

Now, to format the rows...

Let's assume the helper column is the range H1:H5

Select the range to highlight, assume it's A1:E5

Then use Formula Is:

=COUNTIF($H$1:$H$5,$H1)>1

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP










They will be a match, same order, exact duplicate.......

Ardy- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I see your approach, Let me munch on this I like the concatenate
solution, how would you parse them back to the original

 

[Ardy]

You wouldn't need to parse anything. You original data is not changed in any
way.

Let me show you an example...

Here's your original data:

......A...B...C
1...al...bb...cc
2...zz...gg...mm
3...al...bb...cc
4...ll...mm...ff
5...al...bb...cc

Now, use a new column with the concatenated helper formula:

......A...B...C.............H
1...al...bb...cc...........albbcc
2...zz...gg...mm.........zzggmm
3...al...bb...cc...........albbcc
4...ll...mm...ff............llmmff
5...al...bb...cc...........albbcc

The original data is still intact. We're just using the helper column as the
basis of the formatting.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP
















I see your approach,  Let me munch on this I like the concatenate
solution,  how would you parse them back to the original- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

oh I get it......
This should work.....

Thanks