Forum Discussion
Extract data using text within set of data
- Aug 27, 2025
Don't understand why my simple solution shouldn't work. Used Patrick's file to illustrate how it works.
You can do this with a simple formula approach.
If your load cases (with names like SLS1, SLS2, ULS1, etc.) are in column A, and the corresponding axial values are in column C, then:
For maximum SLS axial value, enter:
=MAX(FILTER(C:C,ISNUMBER(SEARCH("SLS",A:A))))
For maximum ULS axial value, enter:
=MAX(FILTER(C:C,ISNUMBER(SEARCH("ULS",A:A))))
This way, Excel will look through column A for anything containing "SLS" (or "ULS") and return the maximum value from column C.
If you’re on an older Excel version without FILTER, you can use an array formula (Ctrl+Shift+Enter):
=MAX(IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("SLS",A:A)),C:C))
This should give you exactly what you need in cell P8 for SLS, and similarly in another cell for ULS.