formula in excel 2003

[samantha]

Is it possible to have a formula that says: "IF A3 "begind with 'P' return a
value of 'ELECTRICAL' in cell G3" or is this type of formula to complex for
Excel to handle? I am attempting to have certain cells fill in automatically
based on imported data.
Thanks,
Samantha

 

[Richard Schollar]

Hi Samantha

=IF(LEFT(A3)="P","ELECTRICAL","Value otherwise")

will do this. But I presume you will have a range of values you want
returned dependent on what the cell contains? In which case I suggest you
look at VLOOKUP - a possible form would be:

=VLOOKUP(LEFT(A3),LookupSheet!$A$1:$B$10,2,0)

where you have a table in LookupSheet in A1:B10 with the single letters you
want to lookup in the A column (eg "P" etc) and the value to return in the
corresponding B column eg "Electrical"

Richard