Take the work out of Excel's CONCATENATE Formula
Excel's CONCATENATE formula is widely used to combine the contents of multiple cells. However when dealing with a long range of cells, you need to spend quite a bit of time keying in the cells references and connectors. If you want to combine the contents of cells A1 through P1 it's necessary to enter:
=CONCATENATE(A1&" "&B1&" "&C1&" "&D1&" "&E1&" "&F1&" "&G1&" "&H1&" "&I1&" "&J1&" "&K1&" "&L1&" "&M1&" "&N1&" "&O1&" "&P1)
On a busy day, tedious little tasks like this will keep you in the office far longer into the night than you want to be. Excel does not allow a range of cells to be selected like this:
=CONCATENATE(A1:P1)
. . . this will just result in #VALUE! error.
Pearson Software Consulting has posted a Visual Basic code to its site which will allow this shortcoming to be overcome. See: http://www.cpearson.com/excel/stringconcatenation.aspx Press ALT + F11 and in Visual Basic right click on VBA project and insert the below code in new module. Save and close. Now you can simply type in:
=StringConcat(" ",A1:P1)
. . . and get the same result as the CONCATENATE formula which references each cell in the specificed range.
Function StringConcat(Sep As String, ParamArray Args()) As Variant
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' StringConcat
' By Chip Pearson, chip@cpearson.com, www.cpearson.com
' www.cpearson.com/Excel/stringconcatenation.aspx
' This function concatenates all the elements in the Args array,
' delimited by the Sep character, into a single string. This function
' can be used in an array formula. There is a VBA imposed limit that
' a string in a passed in array (e.g., calling this function from
' an array formula in a worksheet cell) must be less than 256 characters.
' See the comments at STRING TOO LONG HANDLING for details.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Dim S As String
Dim N As Long
Dim M As Long
Dim R As Range
Dim NumDims As Long
Dim LB As Long
Dim IsArrayAlloc As Boolean
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' If no parameters were passed in, return
' vbNullString.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
If UBound(Args) - LBound(Args) + 1 = 0 Then
StringConcat = vbNullString
Exit Function
End If
For N = LBound(Args) To UBound(Args)
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Loop through the Args
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
If IsObject(Args(N)) = True Then
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' OBJECT
' If we have an object, ensure it
' it a Range. The Range object
' is the only type of object we'll
' work with. Anything else causes
' a #VALUE error.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
If TypeOf Args(N) Is Excel.Range Then
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' If it is a Range, loop through the
' cells and create append the elements
' to the string S.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
For Each R In Args(N).Cells
If Len(R.Text) > 0 Then
S = S & R.Text & Sep
End If
Next R
Else
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Unsupported object type. Return
' a #VALUE error.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
StringConcat = CVErr(xlErrValue)
Exit Function
End If
ElseIf IsArray(Args(N)) = True Then
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' ARRAY
' If Args(N) is an array, ensure it
' is an allocated array.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
IsArrayAlloc = (Not IsError(LBound(Args(N))) And _
(LBound(Args(N)) <= UBound(Args(N))))
If IsArrayAlloc = True Then
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' The array is allocated. Determine
' the number of dimensions of the
' array.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
NumDims = 1
On Error Resume Next
Err.Clear
NumDims = 1
Do Until Err.Number <> 0
LB = LBound(Args(N), NumDims)
If Err.Number = 0 Then
NumDims = NumDims + 1
Else
NumDims = NumDims - 1
End If
Loop
On Error GoTo 0
Err.Clear
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' The array must have either
' one or two dimensions. Greater
' that two caues a #VALUE error.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
If NumDims > 2 Then
StringConcat = CVErr(xlErrValue)
Exit Function
End If
If NumDims = 1 Then
For M = LBound(Args(N)) To UBound(Args(N))
If Args(N)(M) <> vbNullString Then
S = S & Args(N)(M) & Sep
End If
Next M
Else
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' STRING TOO LONG HANDLING
' Here, the error handler must be set to either
' On Error GoTo ContinueLoop
' or
' On Error GoTo ErrH
' If you use ErrH, then any error, including
' a string too long error, will cause the function
' to return #VALUE and quit. If you use ContinueLoop,
' the problematic value is ignored and not included
' in the result, and the result is the concatenation
' of all non-error values in the input. This code is
' used in the case that an input string is longer than
' 255 characters.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
On Error GoTo ContinueLoop
'On Error GoTo ErrH
Err.Clear
For M = LBound(Args(N), 1) To UBound(Args(N), 1)
If Args(N)(M, 1) <> vbNullString Then
S = S & Args(N)(M, 1) & Sep
End If
Next M
Err.Clear
M = LBound(Args(N), 2)
If Err.Number = 0 Then
For M = LBound(Args(N), 2) To UBound(Args(N), 2)
If Args(N)(M, 2) <> vbNullString Then
S = S & Args(N)(M, 2) & Sep
End If
Next M
End If
On Error GoTo ErrH:
End If
Else
If Args(N) <> vbNullString Then
S = S & Args(N) & Sep
End If
End If
Else
On Error Resume Next
If Args(N) <> vbNullString Then
S = S & Args(N) & Sep
End If
On Error GoTo 0
End If
ContinueLoop:
Next N
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Remove the trailing Sep
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
If Len(Sep) > 0 Then
If Len(S) > 0 Then
S = Left(S, Len(S) - Len(Sep))
End If
End If
StringConcat = S
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Success. Get out.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Exit Function
ErrH:
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' Error. Return #VALUE
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
StringConcat = CVErr(xlErrValue)
End Function