Multiple Names in single cell -- filtering and pivot-tables in Numbers??

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Level 1

8 points

Multiple Names in single cell -- filtering and pivot-tables in Numbers??

So - I cant really wrap my head around this issue, so hope someone here can help.

I have a table where one column has multiple names in them, all referencing what 'game' they are part of. BUT having multiple names in a cell, makes filtering and pivot-tables impossible, because the names are not treated separetly but rather the whole text in the cell is seen as "one data-point"

I have attached an extremely simplified image of the issue ... sinces there are 30-40-50 different 'names' I would really want to avoid giving them a column each - since the sheet would be impossible to read. Same with "games" -- there are more than 150 'games' rows so making one row for each person would also make the sheet huge and unuseable.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated !

/Jean

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on Nov 18, 2024 12:32 PM

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Answer 1

SGIII

Level 8

36,128 points

Nov 18, 2024 7:31 PM in response to zballz

You don't mention what you hope to do with the data, but in general you will be better off with a "tall" table with many rows but fewer columns. You can then use Pivot Tables to summarize that data in endless ways and formats. And remember you can filter the Pivot Tables themselves.

Simple example:

SG

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Answer 2

zballz Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 18, 2024 9:56 PM in response to SGIII

Thx SGIII

— First, I Will be distributing a printed handout, where everybody can see which games they are in. That is why I would like to avoid the ‘tall’ version, which really makes reading the paper quite confusing.

— second, I would like to be able to do some pivot tables so that I can get specific data and breakdowns easily. Like; how many games are ‘Bill‘ in and so on…

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