formula to extract unique values except specific string

[DDT~123]

Greetings - I have the below formula which lists the unique names from a list. The format of the list is as follows:
Name1
Total
Name2
Total
Name3
Total
...

Formula:
{=INDEX('Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300,MATCH(0,COUNTIF($B$3:B3,'Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300),0))}

The formula is doing what it should but I'd like for it to exclude the string "Total" (without leaving a blank row). As of now, it lists like this:
John Doe
Total
Kanye West
Jennifer Anniston
David Gilmour
Gene Simmons

 

[crazydragon84]

1. you don't want to use the remove duplicate function?
2. Maybe you can just use a pivot table and filter out "total"?

 

[DDT~123]

I can use the remove duplicate function but was wanting to automate the report as much as possible since I have so many other reports due at the same time. Also unable to use pivot tables without getting the blue screen of death (an issue Microsoft has had for several years and not wanting to fix).

 

[Eric W]

Try:

=IFERROR(INDEX('Dashboard Data'!$A:$A,SMALL(IF('Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300<>"Total",IF('Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300<>"",IF(COUNTIF($B$3:$B3,'Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300)=0,ROW('Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300)))),1)),"")

Confirmed with Control+Shift+Enter

 

[Eric W]

Come to think of it, are there really duplicates? Your layout (name, total, name, total, etc.) somewhat indicates that the name will only occur once. If so, you could just use:

=INDEX('Dashboard Data'!$A$5:$A$300,2*ROWS($C$4:$C4)-1)&""

which just extracts every other row, starting on A5.