Editing Incubator escapee wiki:Help desk/Archive 3 (section)

== More questions ==

This is not related to Wiki itself, but editing a long document for Wiki.

1) If I have a very long list of names (around 2000 ) and I want to check which names have been duplicated - how would I do it without going over every name in the list and removing duplicates as they occur? Is there a function or method in Word, Excel, etc which will make this quicker/ easier?

2) For the same list of names, if I want to add code around them - brackets for links, etc. - what is the quickest way, instead of typing brackets around each? Are there buttons which will let you put code around each name on a list? I can add easily add the first half of code at the front but bulleting the list, then doing a "Replace" around that list. The second half is the problem. Unless... I do a replace on the bullet that includes the end code for the previous name and the bullet... let me try that out.

:Nope, didn't work. -- [[User:Simonides|Simonides]] 03:06, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

::Can you use a regular expression search to search for end of line (which I believe is written as $)? --Mikeyd 22:31, 06 July 2004

3) Complaint of the day - my watchlist doesn't seem to be working :( . -- [[User:Simonides|Simonides]] 02:54, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

:Still not working. Just get a blank page. -- [[User:Simonides|Simonides]] 03:06, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

::I know you've now reported the watchlist bug on IRC, but for future reference, bugs can be reported at [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=34373&atid=411192 SourceForge], where they're more likely to get attention from the right people than if you just mention them here. [[User:Angela|Angela]][[user talk:Angela|.]] 03:47, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

:No watchlist here either. Have many people been complaining of this? [[User:Rhymeless|Rhymeless]] 05:54, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

:Here's a way to use Excel to make this task immensely less tedious:

:Copy the list into Cell B1. (B1, not A1. You'll see why later, or maybe you've already figured out why.) Sort it in Excel so that, if there are duplicates, they are adjacent. Then, in cell C2, type ''=IF(B1=B2,"DUPLICATE","")'' and then use the fill handle to copy the formula for as long as the list goes. At this point, items that are duplicates of the previous item should have the word "DUPLICATE" next to them, and those items that aren't duplicates should have nothing next to them. Then, go to the Data menu and turn on Autofilter in the Filter submenu. At the top of Column C, select "DUPLICATE" and this will give you a list of all items in the list that are duplicates of the previous item (since all duplicates are adjacent because of the sorting, that means you have all the duplicates). Delete the duplicates and turn off Autofilter.

:Once you've winnowed out the duplicates, delete column C. Then, in cell A1, type in what you need before each item, such as <nowiki>[[. In cell C1, type in what you need after each item, such as ]].</nowiki>  In cell D1, type in ''=CONCATENATE(A1,B1,C1)'' and then use the fill handles to fill up columns A, C, and D with what you've just typed. Column D should now contain a Wiki-ready list. 

:HTH, [[User:LuckyWizard|Lucky Wizard]] 06:15, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC) (BTW, I'm having watchlist problems too.)

::HTH/Lucky Wizard - that was freakin' smooth! I actually had nearly 2600 names and your macros helped me to remove more than 350. Some have remained because of spelling variations, but it was really helpful nevertheless. Thanks! I think we ought to save your reply somewhere for anybody who finds themselves in a similar predicament. 

::The watchlist appears to be up again by the way. -- [[User:Simonides|Simonides]] 07:31, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

: To remove duplicates, using standard Unix filters, check out [[uniq]]. If you're using vi, perl, sed, or anything that does textual substitution, try something along the lines of <nowiki>s/\(name\)/[[\1]]/g</nowiki>. [[User:Dysprosia|Dysprosia]] 06:17, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

::Dyspropia, I was not using any of those filters/ languages - just basic office software, hence the limitations. Thanks anyway! -- [[User:Simonides|Simonides]] 07:31, 21 Jun 2004 (UTC)

::: But if you did, it'd be a one-liner ;) [[User:Dysprosia|Dysprosia]] 07:54, 22 Jun 2004 (UTC)