vlookup not working

[Jeff]

I use vlookups constantly, but sometimes (seems kind of
random) when I try to vlookup a value on another workbook,
the function does not work. For instance, today I copied
data from an Access table into a new workbook. I then
tried to do a vlookup function in the new workbook to
another workbook. After getting to this point [ =vlookup
(A2, ] I switched over to the other workbook, but the
formula disappeared from the formula box, and I couldn't
select the range I want to do the vlookup on. The
workaround for me has been to copy the worksheet I'm
trying to vlookup, and paste it into a worksheet in the
workbook I'm writing the formula in. This isn't terrible,
but it is kind of a pain. I'm using Office 2003. Does
anybody know why this happens?

 

[Joe Mac]

I've run into the issue in the past... what I've found is
that the export from the Access database does not carry
the values forward, rather the cells are imported as
a "Label"... to verify that this is occuring, type the
following formaula
=cell("type",A1) assuming that the cell that you want to
verify is in cell A1...
If this is occurring then you need to include a
translation of the cell content using the VALUE function