Simplify table w/out hide or group 1

[jproj]

Hi all,

I have a large group of data basically organized by columns that I want to consolodate into a much smaller table on a separate worksheet. The smaller table would contain the same information as the larger table with the same format, but would exclude many unnecessary columns. I would also like to modify the order of the columns. For example:

Large Table (located on Sheet1):
A B C D E
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 0

Small Table (located on Sheet2):
D C A
4 3 1
9 8 6

This is a very simplistic example, but hopefully it illustrates what I would like to do. I could write a macro to copy each column and paste them in the order I want, but I was hoping that there was something a bit less complicated. I tried a pivot table, but I don't think that's going to work as I'm not really trying to sum, or total numbers, just display data (mostly text).

Any suggestions are much appreciated! Let me know if you have questions.

Thanks!

Jproj

 

[MortenA]

How would excel know which columns that you found uninteresting (and the sequence that you prefer)?

Best regards

Morten

 

[jproj]

Hi Morten,

I would specify the order desired - similar to how pivot tables work. I really am just looking to summarize information contained in a very large and detailed spreadsheet into a "management friendly" format. I know how to do this with a macro, but would prefer to work in the spreadsheet if possible.

Thanks!

Jproj

 

[IDS]

There are many ways it could be done. Perhaps the simplest is to start the big table on row 2 (or lower), then have the small table in the same rows on another sheet.
On the small table sheet enter the column letters you want in row 1 (or the row above the top of the big table), then the formula below will return the contents of the cells in the selected columns:
=INDIRECT("Sheet1!"&A$1&":"&A$1)

Note the $ before the 1 but not the A. Obviously adjust the sheet name as required and then copy over the range required.

Doug Jenkins
Interactive Design Services

http://newtonexcelbach.wordpress.com/