使用上面最接近的填充单元格的值填充Excel工作表（或SQLite）中的空单元格

Question

I have faced an issue when sending queries to a SQLite database.

The problem is that the database (which origins from an excel sheet) has empty cells where there should be values, values that are given from a cell above, in the same column.

In other words, the maker of the excel sheet has left the cells in he same column blank if the value does not change. I actually need values in those cells!

I can not do this manually due to the size of the sheet/db, is there a way to do this programmaticly?

I would really prefer a sql-query way, if there is any!

Best wishes, Tor

Answer 1

you can do this in excel. I answered a similar question here:

Blank Values in Excel File From CSV (not just rows)

You can also do this entirely in excel:

Select column (or whatever range you're working with), then go to Edit>Go To (Ctrl+G) and click Special. Check Blanks & click OK. This will select only the empty cells within the list. Now type the = key, then up arrow and ctrl-enter.

This will put a formula in every blank cell to equal the cell above it. You could then copy ^ paste values only to get rid of the formulas.

Answer 2

A similar way to the one proposed by @maneesha would be to filter by blank cells, then write the "equals to the upper cell" formula and then clear the filter.

But I think @maneeshas' solution is cooler.

Answer 3

You query the whole db, keep the original sort order and then iterate over each row. If something is empty update it with the value from above.

Edit: you might do it with something similar to this here:

SQLiteDatabase db = SQLiteDatabase.openDatabase("myDb.db", null, SQLiteDatabase.OPEN_READWRITE);
Cursor c = db.query("table", null, null, null, null, null, "the column that defines the sort order");
if (c != null) {
    int columnCount = c.getColumnCount();
    String[] lastValues = new String[columnCount];
    while (c.moveToNext()) {
        ContentValues cv = new ContentValues();
        for (int i = 0; i < columnCount; i++) {
            String value = c.getString(i);
            if (TextUtils.isEmpty(value)) {
                // if that happens on first column you are screwed anyways.
                cv.put(c.getColumnName(i), lastValues[i]);
            } else {
                lastValues[i] = value;
            }
            // we need to save some id here
        }
        if (cv.size() > 0) {
            // use the id here
            db.update("table", cv, "column=?", new String[] { "id" });
        }
    }
    c.close();
}

But i'd suggest you use Excel to fix the database. That's easier and you don't need to understand above code.