I have two columns, one of which is a subset of the other,
both sorted in the same way, and a third column that is
tied to the second one.

Example:
A B C
Arabia Arabia 12.5
Africa Albania 31.2
Albania Mexico 52
Macedonia
Mexico
Norway
.
.
.

I would like to arrange the columns so that entries in
column B match up with entries in column A while keeping
the numbers in C next to the corresponding entries in B.

Thus, I want it to look like this:

A B C
Arabia Arabia 12.5
Africa
Albania Albania 31.2
Macedonia
Mexico Mexico 52
Norway
.
.
.

Does anyone know how to do this with a few excel
commands?

Thanks!

Johannes

It can be done fairly easily with VBA.

This code assumes your data begins in Row 2 - in other words, it assumes you have column headers in Row 1.

Sub Match_Entries()
'Determine how long the List in Column A is
LastRow = Range("A" & Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
'Loop through the short list
'Compare the value in B to the value in A
'If they don't match, insert cells in Columns B & C
'When they match, stop checking
For NxtName = 2 To LastRow
If Range("B" & NxtName) <> "" And _
Range("B" & NxtName) <> Range("A" & NxtName) Then
Range("B" & NxtName & ":C" & NxtName).Insert shift:=xlDown
Else: End If
Next
End Sub

Thanks for the fast response!

I inserted your code, just can't get the command button to
work.

Here is what I have so far:

Sub Match_Entries()
'Determine how long the List in Column A is
LastRow = Range("A" & Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
'Loop through the short list
'Compare the value in B to the value in A
'If they don't match, insert cells in Columns B & C
'When they match, stop checking
For NxtName = 1 To LastRow
If Range("B" & NxtName) <> "" And _
Range("B" & NxtName) <> Range("A" & NxtName) Then
Range("B" & NxtName & ":C" & NxtName).Insert
shift:=xlDown
Else: End If
Next
End Sub

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
UserForm1.Match_Entries()
End Sub

It tells me I have a syntax error

Johannes

Which piece of code is giving you the syntax error, mine or yours?

If it's mine, look for the line that reads:

shift:=xlDown

When I pasted the code from your post into the VBA editor, it put shift:=xlDown on it's own line, when it should be part of the line above.

The following should all be one line, with a space between Insert and shift:=xlDown

Range("B" & NxtName & ":C" & NxtName).Insert shift:=xlDown

If it's your code, try deleting the () after Match_Entries.

Private Sub CommandButton1_Click()
UserForm1.Match_Entries
End Sub

Ah, that must have been the problem.

Thanks so much, you just saved me about a week of work!

Johannes

Glad I could help and thanks for the acknowledgement.

So often in this forum we never know if our suggestions help or not 'cuz we never hear back from the OP.

The other day someone asked a question and said it was "Urgent!" I asked for a little more detail and never got an answer. Makes me wonder how "Urgent!" it really was.