Sort values by corresponding text
I showed you in an earlier post how to sort text by number using a formula, it was a question from Denisa. The first thing that comes to mind would be to rearrange the values and then apply a filter or an excel defined table to be able to sort the the names by value.
In other words, names in one column and numbers in another column. But I didn't, I built a formula, shown in row 3 (A3:F3), it was an interesting challenge that I could not resist.
15 is the largest number and Zack is the corresponding name. 13 is the second largest number and John is the name next to it. 10 is the smallest number and the adjacent name is Nick. Check out the post if you want to know more.
In this post I will show you a formula that sorts numbers by text, a little bit different than the previous post mentioned above. The values are in column A and the formula will sort the names alphabetically and also return the corresponding number in column C, see picture below.
The formula is in column C.
You must enter this formula as an array formula. Here are the steps:
- Copy and paste the formula in cell C1
- Press and hold CTRL + SHIFT simultaneously
- Press Enter once
- Release all keys.
The formula is now surrounded by curly brackets, like this {=formula} if you did it right. Check your formula bar and make sure you have the curly brackets.
Then copy cell C1 and paste to cells beneath.
Explaining the formula
The calculations below are for cell C1.
Sort data alphabetically
COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6)
becomes
COUNTIF({"Nick";10;"Zack";15;"John";13}, "<"&{"Nick";10;"Zack";15;"John";13})
and returns {1; 0; 2; 2; 0; 1}
The COUNTIF function compares each value in the second argument with values in the first argument and labels them with numbers depending on their position in a sorted list. The magic is done by this code "<"& in the second argument. It appends a less than sign to each value in the second argument.
Filter text values
IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), "")
becomes
IF({TRUE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE}, {1; 0; 2; 2; 0; 1}, "")
and returns {1;"";2;"";0;""}
We want to sort text values only, the IF and ISTEXT functions check if a value is a text value.
Find n-th the smallest number in array
SMALL(IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), ""), ROUND(ROW(A1)*0.5, 0))
becomes
SMALL({1;"";2;"";0;""}, ROUND(ROW(A1)*0.5, 0))
becomes
SMALL({1;"";2;"";0;""}, ROUND(0.5, 0))
becomes
SMALL({1;"";2;"";0;""}, 1)
and returns 0.
This part of the formula ROUND(ROW(A1)*0.5, 0) requires explanation, it returns a value depending on the relative cell reference A1. It changes as you copy the formula downwards. In cell C1 ROUND(ROW(A1)*0.5, 0) returns 1, C2 returns 1, C3 returns 2, C4 returns 2, C5 returns 3 and C6 returns 3. This makes it possible to get both the number and text from column A using the INDEX function, I will explain that later.
Read more about SMALL function.
Find the position in the array
MATCH(SMALL(IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), ""), ROUND(ROW(A1)*0.5, 0)), IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), ""), 0)
becomes
MATCH(0, IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), ""), 0)
becomes
MATCH(0, {1;"";2;"";0;""}, 0)
and returns 5.
Learn more about the MATCH function.
Return values from column A
INDEX($A$1:$A$6, MATCH(SMALL(IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), ""), ROUND(ROW(A1)*0.5, 0)), IF(ISTEXT($A$1:$A$6), COUNTIF($A$1:$A$6, "<"&$A$1:$A$6), ""), 0)+MOD(ROW(A2), 2))
becomes
INDEX($A$1:$A$6, 5+MOD(ROW(A2), 2))
becomes
INDEX($A$1:$A$6, 5+0)
and returns "John" from cell A5.
As you copy the formula and paste it to cells below, this part changes MOD(ROW(A2), 2). There is a relative cell reference here also, MOD(ROW(A2), 2) returns 0 in cell C1, 1 in cell C2. This makes it possible to also fetch the corresponding value.
Download excel *.xslx file
Sort numbers by adjacent text.xlsx
If data is arranged horisontally, see picture above. Use this array formula in cell A3:
Table of Contents Sort a column using array formula Two columns sorting by the second column Sort alphanumeric values I […]
Extract a unique distinct list sorted from A to Z ignore blanks
The image above demonstrates a formula in cell D3 that extracts unique distinct numbers and text values sorted from A […]
Sort dates within a date range
Array formula in D5: =SMALL(IF(($B$3:$B$12<=$E$3)*($B$3:$B$12>=$E$2), $B$3:$B$12, "A"), ROWS($A$1:A1)) How to create an array formula Copy array formula Select cell D5 […]
Lookup and return multiple sorted values based on corresponding values in another column
This article demonstrates a formula that extracts values based on a condition and sorts the returned values based on values […]
The image above shows a table with two columns in cell range B3:C16, it contains random text values in column […]
Sort column based on frequency
Question: How do I create a new unique distinct list from a column. I also want the list sorted from large […]
Sort text cells alphabetically from two columns
Table of Contents Sort text from two columns combined (array formula) Sort text from multiple cell ranges combined (user defined […]
Denisa asks: I have a problem and i cant figure it out, even if i'm seraching for 2 days. I […]
Sort values in an Excel table programmatically [VBA]
This article demonstrates how to sort a specific column in an Excel defined Table based on event code. The event […]
Sort a range from A to Z [Array formula]
Question: How do I sort a range alphabetically using excel array formula? Answer: Cell range $B$2:$E$5 contains text values in random […]
Leave a Reply
How to comment
How to add a formula to your comment
<code>Insert your formula here.</code>
Convert less than and larger than signs
Use html character entities instead of less than and larger than signs.
< becomes < and > becomes >
How to add VBA code to your comment
[vb 1="vbnet" language=","]
Put your VBA code here.
[/vb]
How to add a picture to your comment:
Upload picture to postimage.org or imgur
Paste image link to your comment.