how to create table of unique records?

[just me]

I would like to create a table of sample locations.
Currently, I have a table of information on 11,000 field samples.
Problem is, there are many sample locations that are repeated because
sampling was done from year to year.
Is there a way to have excel go through the table and remove rows that have
a repeat value in a specific column? I want a table of unique sample
locations.
I can do this visually, but it would take some time!
Thanks in advance.

 

[crispbd]

select the column used for 'sample location', select from the Data
menu-> Filter->Advanced Filter, then select 'copy to new location',
select unique values, hit ok.
This will give you unique sample locations, then you can just do a
vlookup against the original data to fill in the rest. Good luck

 

[hugh jass]

Thanks mucho, crispbd!
I will try this.

 

[hugh jass]

Ok, just tried the vlookup function and couldn't make sense of it...
Let's say I have columns named 'sample loc,' 'mapsheet,' and now 'unique
sample loc' in columns A, B, C respectively. How would I set up the
function so that it returns a new table, with 'unique sample loc' and
'mapsheet' columns corresponding?
From what I understand, the vlookup function returns one corresponding value
(from the same row) to each that it is fed - meaning that I would have to
construct a loop to do this for every value. Or, is there a version of this
function that looks up value ranges?
thanks in advance,
hj

 

[Frank Kabel]

Hi
not possible with formulas alone. You'll need VBA. Maybe try Alan
Beban's VLOOKUPS UDF to return multiple results:
http://home.pacbell.net/beban