Combine two lists to compare (Excel)

Question

I have two columns in my excel sheet, example below:-

typeA       typeB

cat         product
fish        organs
chicken     slaughter
goat        live

I need to combine the cells in each column with each other, like this:-

typeC

cat_product
cat_organs
cat_slaughter
cat_live
fish_product
fish_organs
...
...
goat_slaughter
goat_live

I know we can use CONCATENATE to combine the cells, but how do i iterate it among the two columns? Each value in the cells in column typeA must be combined with each value in the cells in column typeB.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Assuming cat is in A3, copy B3:B6 to C1 and Paste Special, Transpose. Then in C3:

=$A3&"_"&C$1  

and copy across and down to suit.

Answer 2

The following code creates an array (MyArray) with all the values you need. You can manipulate this array however you like.

Sub Combine()
Dim MyArray() As String
Dim i, k As Integer
Dim msg As String

Array1 = Array("cat", "fish", "chicken", "goat")
Array2 = Array("product", "organs", "slaughter", "live")

i = 1

k = (UBound(Array1) + 1) * 4

ReDim MyArray(1 To k)

For Each x In Array1

    For Each y In Array2

        MyArray(i) = x & "_" & y

        i = i + 1

    Next

Next

'display the results in a MsgBox    

For i = LBound(MyArray) To UBound(MyArray)
    msg = msg & MyArray(i) & vbNewLine
Next i

MsgBox msg

End Sub