Sep 30 2020 04:52 PM
Hi,
I have a report that contains about 13 columns (spreadsheet A) and I obtain data from another spreadsheet that contains only 7(spreadsheet B). The columns are of different length, and data that fills the rows are often duplicated. What I've been doing is using VLOOKUP and using a value from spreadsheet A to find the corresponding values in spreadsheet B. This works okay, but its very slow, repetitive, and prone to error. What I'm looking to accomplish is to use something a little more automated to avoid having to either re-type the VLOOKUP formula or use the Lookup & Reference wizard each time I move to a new column. I've tried using Index Match formulas but from what I understand columns have to be the same length in order for it to work. I also looked into Power Query but in my report, I must conserve the duplicate entries. Can anyone please offer any suggestions?
Thanks!
Oct 01 2020 05:23 AM
I'm having a difficult time grasping the specific nature of the difficulties. You mention different numbers of columns (13 and 7) but don't say how many rows. I gather there must be many rows, given your description of VLOOKUP being slow. You don't specify the nature of the errors to which it's prone.
Anyway, if VLOOKUP works, so, I think, should INDEX -- MATCH combinations, but maybe without any advantage other than some flexibility.
Nowadays there's also the recently added XLOOKUP, which delivers the best of all prior lookup functions ... so give it a try.
If you still have difficulties, might I suggest that you post a sample file that either IS your actual, so long as it contains no confidential or private information, OR is a dummy file that simulates or resembles the actual.
Oct 01 2020 07:12 AM
@mathetes Hi Thank you for your response. I will post a sample below. In the sample, I start with a sheet that contains 7 columns and 17 rows (Sheet A). The only column that has data is the Client ID column. I need to transfer the data from Sheet B to Sheet A, and also preserve the duplicates in Sheet A. Sheet B has 7 columns and 8 rows, no duplicates. What I have been doing is using a VLOOKUP formula (=VLOOKUP(A2,B.xlsx!$A$2:$B$8,2,FALSE) in each column in Sheet A to find the corresponding data in Sheet B. The problem is I have to type this formula in every column in Sheet A to get the data from Sheet B. In my actual report, there are more columns and rows, but my overall goal is to eliminate the repetition with VLOOKUP and speed up the process of transferring the data in Sheet A. Thanks!
SHEET A
Client ID | Last Name | First Name | Warehouse Price | Q. Control | Sale Price | Approved Status? |
40921 | ||||||
40921 | ||||||
40921 | ||||||
40921 | ||||||
17664 | ||||||
17664 | ||||||
17664 | ||||||
40754 | ||||||
40754 | ||||||
79481 | ||||||
79481 | ||||||
79481 | ||||||
79481 | ||||||
98540 | ||||||
98540 | ||||||
98540 |
SHEET B
Client ID | Last Name | First Name | Warehouse Price | Control | Sale Price | Approved Status? |
40921 | Withers | Bill | 50 | Passed | 100 | Approved |
17664 | Mertz | Ethel | 200 | Not Required | 500 | Not Approved |
40754 | Simmons | Bobby | 300 | Passed | 700 | Approved |
79481 | Tucks | Chris | 10 | Passed | 50 | Approved |
98540 | Dimond | Jaime | 1000 | Passed | 2500 | Approved |
99788 | Piazza | Mike | 20 | Not Required | 4000 | Approved |
24787 | John | Tommy | 800 | Passed | 400 | Not Approved |
Oct 01 2020 07:31 AM
Add a row above your Sheet A table with the numbers 2 through whatever
Let's say that's now row 1.
Then modify your formula so it uses the number in row 1 as the offset. Thus:
=VLOOKUP($A3,B.xlsx!$A$2:$B$8,B$1,FALSE)
When you copy that to all the rows and columns, the highlighted cell references will change appropriately. So you only need to write the formula once; after that it's copy and paste.
Oct 01 2020 09:29 AM
As variant
=IFNA(INDEX($K$4:$P$10,MATCH($B4,$J$4:$J$10,0),MATCH(C$3,$K$3:$P$3,0)),"no such")
and drag formula on entire range.
Oct 01 2020 03:27 PM
@Sergei BaklanHi thanks for your reply. I guess what I was doing incorrectly is having the data in two separate workbooks. I can move the columns into the one sheet and give your formula a shot. Thanks for your help!
Oct 01 2020 05:36 PM