Comparing two columns for identical sub-strings with a mixture of numbers and text

armchairandy

Board Regular
Joined
Mar 27, 2012
Messages
53
I am looking to compare two columns A & B and find if there are any sub-strings that are the same & Infill column C either with the same text or 1 if it matches - whichever is easier

[TABLE="width: 500"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Col A[/TD]
[TD]Col B[/TD]
[TD]Col C[/TD]
[TD]Alt Col C[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R5[/TD]
[TD]201F35[/TD]
[TD]030` 020` 712[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R6[/TD]
[TD]NFL1006235` 1001 [/TD]
[TD]1001[/TD]
[TD]1001[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R7[/TD]
[TD]050` 070` 010[/TD]
[TD]070[/TD]
[TD]070[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R8[/TD]
[TD]125` PP120653[/TD]
[TD]PP120653` 5001` 100`125[/TD]
[TD]PP120653` 125[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R9[/TD]
[TD]040` 050` 060[/TD]
[TD]060` 1001[/TD]
[TD]060[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R10[/TD]
[TD]2222` 234` QF45[/TD]
[TD]561` GH675` 1234[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

The values of each column can be numbers, text or numbers & text.
I do not necessarily need the same text extracted to column C, a 1,0 would be sufficient. I have thousands of rows in each column and therefore would be looking for a formula rather than VBA. I have seen some similar examples on the board, but none that would meet my needs. If there is more than one sub-string present they are always differentiated by "` " with a space after the character, and the sub-string is a varying length.

Any help would be appreciated

Regards

Andrew
 

Excel Facts

What did Pito Salas invent?
Pito Salas, working for Lotus, popularized what would become to be pivot tables. It was released as Lotus Improv in 1989.
Formulaic would be real weird.

VBA code below, though

(also, in the example given not all values are delimited by ` and a space, so could run into other issues down the road if that's the case)

Code:
Function valsInBothStrings(ByVal strOne As String, _
                            ByVal strTwo As String, _
                            ByVal strDelimiter As String, _
                            Optional ByVal trimSpaces As Boolean = True) As String
'Takes two strings with a delimiter (ex `)
'Compares by trimming spaces by default (eg " 100" = "100"), but can set to false
'Will return the values common to both separated by commas


'strOne = "PP120653` 5001` `  78  ` the hills`100`125"
'strTwo = "PP120653` 125`      the hills `78"
'strDelim = "`"
'^Example: returns
'          PP120653,78,the hills,125


Dim arrStrOne As Variant 'Array to hold string one
Dim arrStrTwo As Variant 'Array to hold string two
Dim elementOuter As Variant 'Element in an array
Dim elementInner As Variant 'Element in an array


arrStrOne = Split(strOne, strDelim)
arrStrTwo = Split(strTwo, strDelim)


If trimSpaces = True Then
    For Each elementOuter In arrStrOne
        For Each elementInner In arrStrTwo
            If valsInBothStrings = "" Then
                If Trim(elementOuter) = Trim(elementInner) Then
                    valsInBothStrings = Trim(elementInner)
                End If
            Else
                If Trim(elementOuter) = Trim(elementInner) Then
                    valsInBothStrings = valsInBothStrings & "," & Trim(elementInner)
                End If
            End If
        Next elementInner
    Next elementOuter
Else
    For Each elementOuter In arrStrOne
        For Each elementInner In arrStrTwo
            If valsInBothStrings = "" Then
                If elementOuter = elementInner Then
                    valsInBothStrings = elementInner
                End If
            Else
                If elementOuter = elementInner Then
                    valsInBothStrings = valsInBothStrings & "," & elementInner
                End If
            End If
        Next elementInner
    Next elementOuter
End If




End Function
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Hi

Another option, in C2:

=CommonStrings(A2,B2)

Copy down


Code:
Function CommonStrings(s1 As String, s2 As String) As String

With CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
    .Pattern = "(.*?)\b(\w+)\b(?=.*\|.*\b\2\b)|.+"
    .Global = True
    CommonStrings = Replace(Trim(.Replace(s1 & "|" & s2, " $2")), " ", "` ")
End With
If CommonStrings = "" Then CommonStrings = 0 ' in case there are no matches
End Function

Test:


<table border="1" cellpadding="1" style="background:#FFF; border-collapse:collapse;border-width:2px;border-color:#CCCCCC;font-family:Arial,Arial; font-size:10pt" ><tr><th style="border-width:1px;border-color:#888888;background:#9CF " > </th><th style="border-width:1px;border-color:#888888;background:#9CF; text-align:center" >A</th><th style="border-width:1px;border-color:#888888;background:#9CF; text-align:center" >B</th><th style="border-width:1px;border-color:#888888;background:#9CF; text-align:center" >C</th><th style="border-width:1px;border-color:#888888;background:#9CF; text-align:center" width=30 >D</th></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>1</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>2</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">201F35</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">030` 020` 712</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">0</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>3</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">NFL1006235` 1001</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">1001</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">1001</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>4</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">050` 070` 010</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">70</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">0</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>5</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">125` PP120653</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">PP120653` 5001` 100`125</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">125` PP120653</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>6</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">040` 050` 060</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">060` 1001</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">060</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>7</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">2222` 234` QF45</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">561` GH675` 1234</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">0</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>8</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">a` b` c` d` e` 1` 2</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">1` b` c` 2` f` e</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:left;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; ">b` c` e` 1` 2</td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;background:#9CF; text-align:center; " ><b>9</b></td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td><td style="border-width:1px;border-color:#000000; padding-left:0.5em; padding-top:0.4em; padding-right:0.5em; padding-bottom:0.25em;text-align:right;border-width: 1px;border-color:#888888; "> </td></tr><tr><td colspan=5 style="background:#9CF; padding-left:1em" > [Book1]Sheet2</td></tr></table>
 
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