Excel BI - Excel Challenge 800

excel-challenges
excel-formulas
🔰 Generate the given output by splitting the ranges given.
Published

March 24, 2026

Illustration for Excel BI - Excel Challenge 800

Challenge Description

🔰 Generate the given output by splitting the ranges given. If range is not there, then skip that number.

Solutions

library(tidyverse)
library(readxl)

path = "Excel/800-899/800/800 Split and Expand.xlsx"
input = read_excel(path, range = "A2:B6")
test  = read_excel(path, range = "D2:E12")

result = input %>%
  separate_rows(Band, sep = ", ") %>%
  filter(str_detect(Band, "-")) %>%
  mutate(Band = str_split(Band, "-")) %>%
  mutate(Numbers = map(Band, ~seq(from = as.numeric(.x[1]), to = as.numeric(.x[2])))) %>%
  unnest(Numbers) %>%
  select(-Band)

all.equal(result, test, check.atrributes= T)
# TRUE
  • Logic: Read the workbook ranges needed for the challenge; Derive the required intermediate columns; Parse the packed text or string structure.
  • Strengths: The code maps the workbook rule into a compact, reproducible pipeline.
  • Areas for Improvement: The solution assumes the workbook layout and selected ranges remain stable, so any structural change in the sheet would require small adjustments.
  • Gem: The elegant part is how little code is needed once the correct intermediate representation is chosen.
import pandas as pd

path = "800-899/800/800 Split and Expand.xlsx"
input = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="A:B", skiprows=1, nrows=4)
test = pd.read_excel(path, usecols="D:E", skiprows=1, nrows=11).rename(columns=lambda c: c.replace('.1', ''))

input_expanded = input.assign(
    Band=input['Band'].str.split(', ')
).explode('Band')

input_expanded = input_expanded[input_expanded['Band'].str.contains('-')]
input_expanded['Numbers'] = input_expanded['Band'].str.split('-').apply(lambda x: range(int(x[0]), int(x[1]) + 1))
result = input_expanded.explode('Numbers').drop(columns='Band').reset_index(drop=True)
result['Numbers'] = result['Numbers'].astype(int)

print(result.equals(test)) # True

The Python version mirrors the same workbook logic with a concise, direct implementation.

Difficulty Level

Easy / Medium

The business rule is clear, though the workbook still needs a few transformation steps to reach the expected output.