OpenOffice: get distinct values from column

Question

How do I get a list of all distinct values from a column of values?

Basically, this question:

Excel: Get distinct values in column

but I need the answer for Open Office Calc instead of MS Excel.

I'm using Open Office 3.2

Answer 1

You can do this with the OpenOffice advanced filter (on the main menu..Data/Filter/Advanced Filter)

1. Ensure your column of data has a title at the top, e.g. title and that the data is contiguous (no empty cells) or select the whole column including empty cells.,
2. Create a filter criterion that would include all the data in your column, e.g. in cell D1 enter title; in cell D2 enter >" "
3. Select the title cell of your data column, then choose Data/Filter/Advanced Filter.
4. In the box that opens, for 'Read Filter Criteria from' choose both cells of your filter (e.g. D1 and D2)
5. Click the 'More' button and check the 'No duplication' box. Optionally you can choose to copy the filtered data somewhere else. Click OK and distinct cells will be displayed.

Not very intuitive, but once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast.

Answer 2

You could try the procedure described in http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/How_Tos/Removing_Duplicate_Rows to completely remove non-unique rows according to the column in question, or select rows based on the new column.