Similar texts with minor differences - How to get just ONE (a standard one)

[heytoluca]

Hello,


I have a very large database that contains names with minor differences on column A such as:
A
EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY S.A.
EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA.
EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY, S.A.
ASSOCIATION, INDUSTRIAL
ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL
L.A. COMPANY CO
LA COMPANY CO


As you can see, this makes a mess when dealing with numbers associated with them and makes analysis more difficult.
What I've been trying to figure out is how to quickly get in column B a standard name for each one, for example:
B
EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY S.A.
ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL
L.A. COMPANY CO


I was thinking of using a combination of the FIND and EXTRACT formula or maybe LEFT as well. (Maybe VB?)
Please use your excel wizardry to help a fellow comrade!


David

 

[shift-del]

Hello David

You can eliminate the comma and the period to get a "standard" name.

	A	B
1	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY S.A.	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA
2	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA.	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA
3	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY, S.A.	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA
4	ASSOCIATION, INDUSTRIAL	ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL
5	ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL	ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL
6	L.A. COMPANY CO	LA COMPANY CO
7	LA COMPANY CO	LA COMPANY CO

<colgroup><col style="width: 28ptpx"><col width="198,75pt"><col width="154,5pt"></colgroup><tbody>
</tbody>

Zelle	Formel
B1	=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,".",""),",","")

<colgroup><col style="width: 40ptpx"><col></colgroup><tbody>
</tbody>

Diese Tabelle wurde mit Tab2Html (v2.4.1) erstellt. ©Gerd alias Bamberg

<tbody>
</tbody>

 

[heytoluca]

Hello David

You can eliminate the comma and the period to get a "standard" name.

	A	B
1	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY S.A.	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA
2	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA.	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA
3	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY, S.A.	EXCEL AMERICAN COMPANY SA
4	ASSOCIATION, INDUSTRIAL	ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL
5	ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL	ASSOCIATION INDUSTRIAL
6	L.A. COMPANY CO	LA COMPANY CO
7	LA COMPANY CO	LA COMPANY CO

<tbody>
</tbody>

Zelle	Formel
B1	=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A1,".",""),",","")

<tbody>
</tbody>

Diese Tabelle wurde mit Tab2Html (v2.4.1) erstellt. ©Gerd alias Bamberg

<tbody>
</tbody>

Thanks a lot!, this effectively helped standarize the names.

However, I still have a name or two that are still not standarized. For example:

DURACORP S.A.
DURACORP S. A.

Results in:

DURACORPS SA
DURACORPS S A

Is there anything I can add to the formula to get:

DURACORPS SA

On both?



Thanks a LOT
David

 

[shift-del]

Hi David

[COLOR=#222222]=SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](A1,".","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222],",","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd],"S  A","SA")[/COLOR]

 

[heytoluca]

Hi David

[COLOR=#222222]=SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](A1,".","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222],",","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd],"S  A","SA")[/COLOR]

Many thanks!

You made me realize I can add as many "filters" I want to that formula.

However (sorry if Im becoming annoying), I just noticed there are a few names that cant fit into the fit-all formula we're developing, for example:

EXCEL CORPORATION LUMBER DBE
EXCEL CORPORATION LU DBE
QUICK CO AND FIXTURES
QUICK COAND FIXTURES

Any help with these? Maybe a LEFT formula?

Thanks a LOT!
David

 

[shift-del]

Hi

I would suggest eliminating the spaces and then take the n leftmost characters.
In my example n is 10.

[COLOR=#222222]=LEFT[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222](A1,".","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd],",","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222],"  ","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd],10)[/COLOR]

 

[heytoluca]

Hi

I would suggest eliminating the spaces and then take the n leftmost characters.
In my example n is 10.

[COLOR=#222222]=LEFT[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd](SUBSTITUTE[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222](A1,".","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd],",","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#222222],"  ","")[/COLOR][COLOR=#0000dd],10)[/COLOR]

Hey! Thanks a lot for your answer and your time. This worked great!

Thanks again!
David