Forum Discussion
Vlookup strings - Different types of matches in Data
Hi all, I am struggling to figure out how to String Vlookup based on wildcards. Please see the image I attached to understand the problem. As you can see from the red highlighted text, I want...
To supplement what Patrick2788 has already said, your situation is a good argument for always designing data tables--when names are concerned--such that there are separate columns for FIRST, MIDDLE and LAST names, rather than putting them all together in one. It's far easier to do all kinds of things with them separated (for example, sort alphabetically by last name; assemble lists alphabetically by last name; print name name cards with first name first, etc.
If I were you in this case, assuming you are going to want to do this kind of lookup with all the names, why don't you take time, using LEFT, MID, and RIGHT functions, to break the names apart into separate columns.