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Read Data into a Dictionary of Arrays
There are many scenarios where we need to categorize and split raw data.
In this scenario, we will split raw data into new workbooks, by category, using a Dictionary of Arrays.
Normally, it’s best to combine data into a single location, as I did in this article.
The main challenge is to find an efficient way to read data into categories:
- the table might not be sorted by category:
- reading and writing data row by row is very slow.

Download the demo file to try the solution:
Which is the most efficient way to collect and write data?
Based on my experience, even reading data row by row from a list object is a slow operation, the fastest way to read data is to load it into an array.
A bi-dimensional array is the best option to paste data into a worksheet, fits perfectly into a range of cells that has the same dimensions: rows and columns.
Because we want to separate data by category, we have to create an array of data for each category.
We will store the arrays into a dictionary object in this exercise, using category as a dictionary key.
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