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Old 12-02-2016, 08:38 PM
rustywriter rustywriter is offline Windows 10 Office 2016
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Thumbs down How can I delete every 3rd row/add 'by'/combine ever two rows (besides doing it manually)

Hi,

I have data that has this format:

<Book Title>
<Author>
<Purchase Date>
(repeat...)

Here's a sample (the first 2 sets where the above format is a set):

The Wrong Side of Goodbye
Michael Connelly
November 22, 2016
The Jewel of Dantenos
Brian D. Anderson
November 16, 2016

It's a long list. I'm hoping I can automate some or all of what needs to be done to it.

What I need is this format:

<Book Title> by <Author>

Example:

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly
The Jewel of Dantenos by Brian D. Anderson

Ergo, I need to automate the following steps:
1. delete every third row
2. place 'by' after the Book Title
3. combine ever two rows
(I hope that makes sense)

Twenty years ago on a UNIX box I could have done this with awk in seconds but now I just have excel. Any help with any of the steps would be greatly appreciated!!

Old programmer whose forgotten everything, ;-)
Rusty
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