How can I efficiently translate a large amount of data into a spreadsheet/database friendly format?

I have a .csv file with a transaction data for my job, and I’m trying to interpret the line items in a way that corresponds with the timestamp for their respective transactions. Each transaction is set up in the way you’d see a receipt in a retail store, with distinct lines for the timestamp, each line item, and misc. data including transaction #'s. In my working copy, I’ve filtered out everything except for the relevant timestamps and line items. Is there any way to get the timestamps to fill the empty cells beneath them? Alternatively, is there a way to compile the raw data back into individual transactions using Base?

Any assistance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hi - I’m not sure I understand. Here’s how to get the result shown in column C with the data shown in column A.

screenshot

  • Select A1:A20, Copy
  • Re-select the range starting from the first empty cell (A2:A20 in the example).
  • Type =A1

screenshot

  • validate by Alt + Enter
  • Select the all range (A1:A20)
  • Edit Paste Special, only check Text, Number, Date & Time (uncheck Formula) and check Skip empty cells, Answer Yes to the warning message.

It remains to eventually reformat the data.

Regards

That’s exactly what I needed. Thank you!