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[Ben]:Handy Excel Macro - Random Selection of X Number of Records Discuss This [3 comments so far] View Comments
One of my coworkers needed a macro written to speed up random selection from within a file. This is what I came up with. This is tested with Excel 2007 and will need tweaking to work with earlier versions. It works with any number of columns, asks you how many rows you want and asks if you have a header row.

Sub a_RandomSelect()
    Application.ScreenUpdating = False 'disable screen updating to avoid screen flashing
    Application.DisplayAlerts = False
    
    Dim wbk1 As Workbook, wbk2 As Workbook, lstRow As Long, wks As Worksheet, startCut As Integer, selNum As Integer, lstCol As String
    
    Set wbk1 = ActiveWorkbook
    Set wks = wbk1.ActiveSheet
    maxRng = "953360"
    If wks.Range("A1").CurrentRegion.Rows.Count > 0 Then
        If wks.Range("A1").CurrentRegion.Rows.Count - 1 > 0 Then
            lstRow = wks.Range("A" & maxRng).End(xlUp).Row
            ' get number of rows
            selNum = InputBox("How many records do you want to select?")
            ' determine if a header row exists
            hdrRsp = MsgBox("Do you have a header row?", xlQuestion + vbYesNo, "Header Row Question")
            If hdrRsp = vbYes Then
                hdrYesNo = xlYes
            Else
                hdrYesNo = xlNo
            End If
            ' add Random column
            wks.Columns("A").Insert Shift:=xlToRight
            wks.Range("A1").Formula = "=RAND()"
            wks.Range("A1").AutoFill Destination:=wks.Range("A1:A" & lstRow)
            ' copy with values only
            wks.Range("A:A").Copy
            wks.Range("A:A").PasteSpecial (xlPasteValues)
            ' sort by random
            lstCol = Cells.Find(What:="*", After:=[A1], SearchDirection:=xlPrevious).Column
            With ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(ActiveSheet.Name).Sort
                .SortFields.Clear
                .SortFields.Add Key:=Range("A:A"), _
                SortOn:=xlSortOnValues, Order:=xlAscending, DataOption:=xlSortNormal
                .SetRange Range("A1:" & GetColumnLetter(CInt(lstCol)) & lstRow)
                .Header = hdrYesNo
                .MatchCase = False
                .Orientation = xlTopToBottom
                .SortMethod = xlPinYin
                .Apply
            End With
            ' Delete any records beyond selNum+header+1
            If hdrYesNo = xlYes Then
                startCut = selNum + 2
            Else
                startCut = selNum + 1
            End If
            wks.Range("A" & startCut & ":" & GetColumnLetter(CInt(lstCol)) & lstRow).Delete
            ' Remove First Column
            wks.Range("A:A").Delete
            wks.Range("A1").Select
        End If
    End If
    Application.DisplayAlerts = True
    Application.ScreenUpdating = True
    MsgBox selNum & " Selected"
End Sub
  2010-01-22
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Handy Excel Macro - Random Selection of X Number of Records
 
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