VLOOKUP results on last names

[James]

Hi Everyone!

I'm using VLOOKUP to match last names. The problem i'm having is multiple
people with the same name. VLOOKUP returns the fist match, what are some
suggestions and ideas so that i can get a list to choose from?
Also, is there a way to do wildcard searches in excel in a VLOOKUP or does
it absolutely have to be an exact match?

any ideas?

TIA

James

 

[Bob Phillips]

You could lookup on a combination of last and first names, like

=INDEX(O2:O100,MATCH(A1&B1,M2:M100&N2:N100,0))

which is an array formula so commit with Ctrl-Shift-Enter

--

HTH

RP
(remove nothere from the email address if mailing direct)

 

[Guest]

Hi,

One possibility: You could use Conditional Formatting to shade all the rows
containing the last name you are looking for.

Regards,
B. R. Ramachandran

 

[James]

Hi Bob,
thanks for replying!

could you explain this a little more? I've never used the INDEX function.
i will try to learn more about the INDEX and MATCH formulas while i wait for
your response. Thanks again!!

JAMES

 

[Bob Phillips]

Well what it does is first find the row index of the concatenated last and
first names in the concatenated lists in columns M & N. It returns that
index to the INDEX function which uses it to retrieve the corresponding
entry in column O.

--

HTH

RP
(remove nothere from the email address if mailing direct)

 

[James]

Bob,
I figured this out and it worked wonderfully!!

thanks for the time and clarification!!

James