One Dynamic Array Formula
February 25, 2020 - by Bill Jelen
Note
This is one of a series of articles detailing solutions sent in for the Podcast 2316 challenge.
YouTuber Rico S took a completely different approach. His table is generated by a single dynamic array formula.
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The Total in O is not filling in. If you had Charles Williams Speed Tools V4, you could wrap Rico’s formula in TOTALS as shown below.
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Posted here, without further comment, is Rico’s formula in I13:
=CHOOSE({1,2,3,4,5,6},LEFT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)-1),RIGHT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),LEN(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1))-FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(LEFT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)-1),$A$3:$A$9,0),MATCH(RIGHT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),LEN(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1))-FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+1),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(LEFT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)-1),$A$3:$A$9,0),MATCH(RIGHT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),LEN(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1))-FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+2),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(LEFT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)-1),$A$3:$A$9,0),MATCH(RIGHT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),LEN(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1))-FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+3),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(LEFT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)-1),$A$3:$A$9,0),MATCH(RIGHT(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),LEN(INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1))-FIND(":",INDEX($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee"),INT(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1)/4+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(COUNTA($A$4:$A$9&":"&FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),1,0,1),4)+1),1)),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+4))
Update! Above, I used the Charles Williams HTOTALS function to improve on Rico’s formula. Rico dove into the documentation for the FastExcel add-in and found two amazing functions: SETMEM and GETMEM. You can optimize your formulas by storing and retrieving the results of very calculation-intensive expressions used more than once in a formula. This is a ground-breaking function.
Rico used it to reduce his 6,866-character formula to a 593-character formula:
=HTOTALS(CHOOSE({1,2,3,4,5,6},SETMEM(LEFT(SETMEM(LISTDISTINCTS(TRANSPOSE($A$4:$A$9)&":"&TRANSPOSE(FILTER($A$3:$Z$3,LEFT($A$3:$Z$3,8)="Employee")),,,FALSE),"A"),FIND(":",GETMEM("A"),1)-1),"B"),SETMEM(RIGHT(GETMEM("A"),LEN(GETMEM("A"))-FIND(":",GETMEM("A"),1)),"C"),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(GETMEM("B"),$A$4:$A$9,0)+1,MATCH(GETMEM("C"),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+1),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(GETMEM("B"),$A$4:$A$9,0)+1,MATCH(GETMEM("C"),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+2),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(GETMEM("B"),$A$4:$A$9,0)+1,MATCH(GETMEM("C"),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+3),INDEX(UglyData,MATCH(GETMEM("B"),$A$4:$A$9,0)+1,MATCH(GETMEM("C"),$A$3:$Z$3,0)+4)))
Read more about SETMEM and GETMEM here.
Charles Williams checked in and suggested this formula:
=HTOTALS(VSTACK(HSTACK(,A4:A9,G3,SLICES(A4:AB9,0,H4:K4)),HSTACK(,A4:A9,L3,SLICES(A4:AB9,0,M4:P4)),HSTACK(,A4:A9,Q3,SLICES(A4:AB9,0,R4:U4)),HSTACK(,A4:A9,V3,SLICES(A4:AB9,0,W4:Z4))))
On March 19, 2020 after the LET function debuted in Excel, Rico S sent in this shorter formula. This currently requires Office 365 with Insiders Fast.
=LET(
_splitChar,"~",
_categories,$A$4:$A$9,
_colHdrs,$A$3:$Z$3,
_employees,FILTER(_colHdrs,LEFT(_colHdrs,8)="Employee"),
_unique2DTable,_categories&_splitChar&_employees,
_cntE,COUNTA(_employees),
_cnt,COUNTA(_unique2DTable),
_uniqueList,INDEX(_unique2DTable,INT(SEQUENCE(_cnt,1,0,1)/_cntE+1),MOD(SEQUENCE(_cnt,1,0,1),_cntE)+1),
_category,LEFT(_uniqueList,FIND(_splitChar,_uniqueList,1)-1),
_employee,RIGHT(_uniqueList,LEN(_uniqueList)-FIND(_splitChar,_uniqueList,1)),
_row,MATCH(_category,_categories,0)+1,
_col,MATCH(_employee,_colHdrs,0),
_Q1,INDEX(UglyData,_row,_col+1),
_Q2,INDEX(UglyData,_row,_col+2),
_Q3,INDEX(UglyData,_row,_col+3),
_Q4,INDEX(UglyData,_row,_col+4),
_totalCol,INDEX(UglyData,_row,_col),
_finalTable,CHOOSE({1,2,3,4,5,6,7},_category,_employee,_Q1,_Q2,_Q3,_Q4,_totalCol),
SORT(_finalTable,2)
)
Return to the main page for the Podcast 2316 challenge.
To read the next article in this series: Old School Helper Columns.