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Fill a Column by Groups

Select menu: Spread | Calculate | Fill by Groups

Use this to fill a column with a numerical sequence within groups defined by another selected factor column. The pattern or sequence of numbers which is used to fill each group, and is inserted from row 1 onwards, and is repeated as necessary to fill each group. If the length of a group is not an exact multiple of the pattern length, the remainder of the group will be filled with part of the pattern.

  1. From the menu select Spread | Calculate | Fill by Groups.
  2. Fill in the fields as required then click OK.

Column

Select a column from the dropdown list to have the cells filled with the numerical sequence.

Within groups defined by factor

List of factors within the current spreadsheet that can be used to define the groups. Each group will have an identical, but independent sequence applied to the corresponding column that is to be filled.

Sequence

These options control the numerical sequence that is to be used in the column.

Starting value First value in the sequence.
Ending value Last value in the sequence. If this differs from the Starting value by an exact number of Increments it will be included in the pattern, otherwise the pattern will terminate at the value less than the Ending value (greater than in the case of a negative increment).
Increment The increment used to form intermediate values in the sequence. A negative increment must be specified if the Starting value is greater than the Ending value.
Number of repeats Allows a pre-multiplier to be applied to the sequence, so that each element is repeated the specified number of times.

Ignore restricted/filtered rows

When selected, rows that have been restricted/filtered will be excluded from the cells filled. The sequence of values will be inserted into the cells, jumping over the filtered/restricted cells, so if units 2 and 5 are restricted you will get the sequence 1 * 2 3 * 4.

Fill selected rows only

When selected, only the cells in the column that belong in the currently selected rows will be filled. This option is only available if there is a row selection defined on the sheet before opening the dialog.

Preview

This list illustrates the sequence of numbers that will be inserted in to the column. For very long sequences, the list only displays the first 20 and last 20 items, separated by a ‘…’ item.

Action buttons

OK Fill column with list and close the dialog.
Apply Fill column with list and leave dialog open.
Cancel Close the dialog without further changes.

See also

Spreadsheet Column Fill
Fill a Column using a List
Fill a Column with Dates or Times
Spreadsheet Calculate Menu

Updated on March 18, 2019

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