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Shane10326's avatar
Shane10326
Copper Contributor
Dec 30, 2019
Solved

IFS function #N/A

Hi all, 

 

I have built a formula (below) to help organise postcodes into patches, my formula shows a true value when I walk through it but returns #N/A.

 

I have tested this across a number of variables and it seems there is an overlap, example: AB1 2CD would be true and AB12 3CD would also be true, i have used left a1,3 left a1,4 to try and separate the two "similar" postcodes because using wildcards didnt get me anywhere, I just can get it to work.

 

Any ideas???

 

=IFS

(LEFT(E2,3)={"SL1","SL2","SL3","SL4","SL6","SL7","SL8"},1,

LEFT(E2,4)={"HP10","HP11","HP12"},1,

 

LEFT(E2,3)={"RG1","RG2","RG4","RG5","RG6","RG7","RG8","RG9"},2,

LEFT(E2,4)={"RG10","RG30","RG31"},2,

 

LEFT(E2,3)="SL5",3,

LEFT(E2,4){"GU14","GU15","GU16","GU17","GU18","GU19","GU20","GU25","GU46","GU47","GU51","GU52","RG12","RG40","RG41","RG42","RG45"},3,

 

LEFT(E2,4){"RG14","RG17","RG18","RG19","RG20","RG21","RG22","RG23","RG24","RG25","RG26","RG27","RG28","RG29"},4,

 

LEFT(E2,2)={"DT","BH"},5,

LEFT(E2,3)={"SP1","SP2","SP3","SP4","SP5","SP6","SP7","SP8"},5,

 

LEFT(E2,3)="SP9",6,

LEFT(E2,4)={"SP10","SP11"},6,

LEFT(E2,2)="SO",6,

 

LEFT(E2,2)="PO",7,

LEFT(E2,4)={"GU26","GU29","GU30","GU31","GU32","GU33","GU34","GU35"},7)

 

11 Replies

  • JKPieterse's avatar
    JKPieterse
    Silver Contributor

    Shane10326 I created a table with the patch groupings from your formula. I expect if you make sure the table remains sorted on the first column, the formulas in E3 and F3 return the correct code and patch number from the postal code.

    • Shane10326's avatar
      Shane10326
      Copper Contributor
      This is perfect, table will be in a separate sheet and formula works across all bases.

      Thank you
  • Twifoo's avatar
    Twifoo
    Silver Contributor
    Your formula defies logic! For example, if the value of E2 is RG12, it either returns 2 if 3 characters are extracted or 3 if 4 characters are extracted but it doesn’t specify when 3 or 4 characters should be extracted. Thus, I suggest you set up those characters in a tabular format and use VLOOKUP, exact match, to return your desired results.
    • Shane10326's avatar
      Shane10326
      Copper Contributor

      Thank you but how would I specify exact match for the first 3 or 4 characters? I couldnt do the whole postcode as i would have near a thousand.

       

      Is there no wildcard or even blank space I can use with the IFS formula?

       Twifoo 

  • JKPieterse's avatar
    JKPieterse
    Silver Contributor
    Is there a rule that determines how many characters we need to take from the postal code?

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