Unlock the Power of Excel: Automating Dynamic Row Generation from Another Set of Data

Are you tired of manually entering data into Excel, only to find out that the number of rows changes every time? Do you wish there was a way to automate the process of generating rows based on another set of data? Well, you’re in luck! In this article, we’ll show you how to harness the power of Excel to automate dynamic row generation from another set of data.

Understanding the Problem

Let’s say you have a dataset that looks like this:

ID	Name	Orders
1	John	3
2	Jane	2
3	Bob	4

Your task is to create a table that shows each order for each customer, with the customer’s name and ID repeated for each order. The problem is, the number of orders varies for each customer, and you don’t want to manually enter the data every time the dataset changes.

Solution Overview

To automate dynamic row generation, we’ll use a combination of Excel formulas and Power Query. Power Query is a powerful data manipulation tool in Excel that allows you to connect to various data sources, transform and load data, and even automate tasks. We’ll use Power Query to generate the rows based on the number of orders for each customer.

Step 1: Prepare the Data

First, let’s prepare the data by creating a table that contains the customer information and the number of orders for each customer. We’ll call this table “Customers” and format it as follows:

ID	Name	Orders
1	John	=OFFSET(A2,MATCH(A2,A:A,0)-1,0)
2	Jane	=OFFSET(A3,MATCH(A3,A:A,0)-1,0)
3	Bob	=OFFSET(A4,MATCH(A4,A:A,0)-1,0)

In the “Orders” column, we’re using the OFFSET and MATCH functions to get the number of orders for each customer. The OFFSET function returns a range of cells, and the MATCH function returns the relative position of the customer ID in the range.

Step 2: Create a Power Query Connection

Next, we’ll create a Power Query connection to the “Customers” table. To do this, go to the “Data” tab in Excel and click on “From Table/Range”. Select the “Customers” table and click “OK”. This will open the Power Query Editor.

= Table.FromRange(Customers)

In the Power Query Editor, we’ll use the “FromRange” function to create a table from the “Customers” range.

Step 3: Add a Custom Column

In the Power Query Editor, we’ll add a custom column that generates a list of numbers from 1 to the number of orders for each customer. To do this, click on “Add Column” and enter the following formula:

= Table.Addcolumn(Source, "Orders_List", each List.Generate(()=>1,{each _ <= [Orders]}))

This formula uses the List.Generate function to create a list of numbers from 1 to the number of orders for each customer. The "each" keyword iterates over each row in the table, and the "_" variable is used to ignore the iteration variable.

Step 4: Expand the List Column

Next, we'll expand the "Orders_List" column to generate a new row for each item in the list. To do this, click on the "Orders_List" column and select "Expand" > "To Rows". This will create a new table with one row for each item in the list.

= Table.ExpandListColumn(Source, "Orders_List")

Step 5: Add Columns for Customer Information

Now, we'll add columns to the new table to include the customer information. To do this, click on "Add Column" and enter the following formulas:

= Table.AddColumn(Source, "Customer_ID", each [ID])
= Table.AddColumn(Source, "Customer_Name", each [Name])

These formulas add two new columns, "Customer_ID" and "Customer_Name", which repeat the customer information for each row.

Step 6: Load the Data

Finally, we'll load the data back into Excel. To do this, click on "Load" and select "Load To" > "Worksheet". Choose a worksheet and click "OK". This will load the data into the worksheet.

Result

Here's the resulting table:

Order	Customer_ID	Customer_Name
1	1	John
2	1	John
3	1	John
1	2	Jane
2	2	Jane
1	3	Bob
2	3	Bob
3	3	Bob
4	3	Bob

As you can see, the table has been dynamically generated to show each order for each customer, with the customer information repeated for each row.

Conclusion

In this article, we've shown you how to automate dynamic row generation from another set of data using Excel and Power Query. By following these steps, you can create a table that adjusts to changes in the underlying data, without having to manually enter the data every time. This technique has many applications in data analysis, reporting, and automation, and we hope you'll find it useful in your own work.

• Remember to adjust the formulas and queries to fit your specific needs.
• Use Power Query to connect to various data sources, such as databases, files, and web pages.
• Experiment with different formulas and functions to automate other tasks in Excel.

Happy automating!

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