# Pipe-delimited cell values, but need to Add Columns From Other Project **URL:** \ **Category:** Support and Helpdesk\ **Created:** [April 28, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268 "2025-04-28T21:09:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mcyzyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mcyzyk](https://forum.openrefine.org/u/mcyzyk)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268/1 "2025-04-28T21:09:43Z")
A puzzler! Here is a snippet of my CSV: ```auto nid title field_composition_metadata field_instrumentation_metadata field_item_author field_subjects 54137 000.001 - The Anacreontic Song. 11162|11165|11163 11161|11166|11276|11278|11277|11338|11203|11406 the Words by Ralph Tomlinson, Esqr., late President of that Society; [Music attributed to John Stafford Smith (1750-1836)]. 13224|1371|13225|7152 54138 000.002 - The Anacreontic Song 11162|11165|11163 11161|11166|11276|11278|11277|11203|11406 the Words by Ralph Tomlinson, Esqr., late President of that Society; [Music attributed to John Stafford Smith (1750-1836)]. 13224|1371|13225|13227 54139 000.003 - B-A-L-T-Baltimore. Song. 11162|11163 11161|11166 Lyric and Music by Harry H. Goldberg. 27|15|34|1013|22|186 ``` Some of these cells have pipe-delimited values, e.g., Subjects. Those values are numeric identifiers pointing to taxonomy values in another table/project, for example the "tid" field in this Subject Taxonomy snippet: ```auto tid,uuid,name,status,revision_id,description __value,description__ format,weight,parent_name,parent_tid 13642,f3a9d4d4-46f6-4f7d-9170-1214660a7e2b," Courage",1,13642,,,0,, 1068,c1019bbf-3590-4187-83c3-8f16afde3712," Political parties",1,1068,,,0,, 5730,7fd2d6fa-7691-46dc-87f2-749acbea3c5c," Politicians",1,5730,,,0,, 1169,24bd1ee3-1a4f-4aac-81af-6d6e0d5bb773," Railroad companies",1,1169,,,0,, ``` I somehow need to replace the numeric IDs in the main dataset with the corresponding alphabetic values from the Taxonomy. I've done this before -- Add Columns From Other Project -- using the old but very useful VIB-Bits plugin. What's different this time is that there are _multiple values_ in my cell, not just one. Thinking how best to do this. Advice appreciated! Mark ---
**Author:** ![mcyzyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mcyzyk](https://forum.openrefine.org/u/mcyzyk)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 1:18am UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268/2 "2025-04-29T01:18:03Z")
Whatever the solution, it's going to involve forEach() and cross()! I LUV Openrefine. Found these, major Clues: > [@Hints, Tips and Tricks](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/hints-tips-and-tricks/127): > > I thought it might be fun and interesting to post some OpenRefine hint/tip/tricks. I’m going to try to post one every week on a Friday - at least for as long as I can keep it going… so here goes with my first one: The GREL [length()](https://docs.openrefine.org/manual/grelfunctions#lengtha) function can be used to check the length of an array. It’s surprisingly useful in a wide variety of scenarios. For example: value.find("string").length() or value.find(/regular expression/).length() can be used in a custom text facet to see how often a particular… > [@Combine Specific Parts of Two Spreadsheets](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/combine-specific-parts-of-two-spreadsheets/796): > > Hello, I would appreciate some help trying to combine parts of two spreadsheets that contain many different values, but one standard value that could be used as a key. I will provide two links. One to the spreadsheet that contains the current metadata: And to another that contains the “keys” which is where I want the values from the previous sheet to me moved to: As you can see. The “key” is that the “Identifier ID” columns from both sheets match up in certain places, and I would like for… So good! ---
**Author:** ![b2m](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex017/user_avatar/forum.openrefine.org/b2m/32/139_2.png) [@b2m](https://forum.openrefine.org/u/b2m)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 5:20am UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268/3 "2025-04-29T05:20:18Z")
Yes you can build a GREL expression with forEach and cross... but let's save you some headache. In OpenRefine there is a concept called records (see [Row vs. records](https://openrefine.org/docs/manual/exploring#rows-vs-records)). Using this concept you could split the multiple values into single values but keep them together as unit using the [split multi-valued cells](https://openrefine.org/docs/manual/cellediting#split-multi-valued-cells) function. After adding the names for the ids either using cross or the VIB-Bits plugin you can then combine them back together via the [join multi-valued cells](https://openrefine.org/docs/manual/cellediting#join-multi-valued-cells) function. The advantage of this strategy is, that you transfer the complexity of forEach to a visual approach, where you can also manually handle errors and/or missing values. ---
**Author:** ![mcyzyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mcyzyk](https://forum.openrefine.org/u/mcyzyk)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 2:11pm UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268/4 "2025-04-29T14:11:54Z")
Oh, thanks so much for this strategy! Reading up on "records" and split/join multivalued cells now. Excited to be learning one more useful thing about OpenRefine. ---
**Author:** ![jcorrice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/da6949/32.png) [@jcorrice](https://forum.openrefine.org/u/jcorrice)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2025, 2:35pm UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268/5 "2025-04-29T14:35:46Z")
I'm currently working on a similar project (each line has multiple subject headings and I need to add the corresponding identifiers), and this is the way I'm doing it. I've split the subject headings out into lines in records mode, then I do cell cross to add a column for the identifiers. After the identifiers are in, I rejoin the cells in both columns. ---
**Author:** ![mcyzyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mcyzyk](https://forum.openrefine.org/u/mcyzyk)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://forum.openrefine.org/t/pipe-delimited-cell-values-but-need-to-add-columns-from-other-project/2268/6 "2025-05-03T19:10:21Z")
Just reporting back... I got sidetracked this week and just got back to this. B2m and jcorrice: I tried the Record method of splitting/crossing/joining and it WORKED quickly and perfectly! Spinning in chair... I have a bunch of these to do, but now that I know how to do them -- I'm taking a Saturday Nap. MUCH appreciated, Mark