Databases
StackOverflow2013
Postsdbo
POExcel: need help with unusual lookup function (sorted column is different from lookup column)
 

Note that there are some explanatory texts on larger screens.

plurals
  1. POExcel: need help with unusual lookup function (sorted column is different from lookup column)
    primarykey
    data
    text
    <p>I am having trouble constructing a unusual lookup formula in Excel. </p> <p>Normally, I would use VLOOKUP(), but the pitfall is that I want to look up a number in a column from a table that is sorted on <em>an other</em> column. Vlookup can only lookup things on the sorted column itself.</p> <p><strong>The scenario</strong> is as follows:</p> <ul> <li>The table is sorted ascending on column B. </li> <li>For a given parameter P, I now want to find the first A value, starting from the top and going down, that is bigger than or equal to that parameter P. </li> <li>The function should then return the corresponding B value.</li> </ul> <p>Table(part off, the complete table is much bigger):</p> <pre><code> A B 1 640 4.5 2 1600 7.0 3 640 7.5 4 1280 12.0 5 1920 16.5 6 2560 21.0 7 1600 19.8 8 3200 26.8 9 4800 33.8 </code></pre> <p><strong>For example</strong>, say my parameter is 1100, then I want my formula to return 7.0, because the first entry when searching downwards in column A that is bigger than or equal to 1100 is 1600, which has a corresponding B value of 7.0</p> <p>I've tried my luck with <a href="http://www.cpearson.com/excel/ArrayFormulas.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Array Formula's</a> (also known as "ctrl-shift-enter formula's") and constructed something like this:</p> <pre><code>{=INDEX(table; MATCH(MIN(IF(columnA-$C1&gt;=0;columnA;FALSE)); IF(columnA-$C1&gt;=0;columnA;FALSE); 0); 2)} </code></pre> <p>with <em>C1</em> containing my parameter, <em>table</em> the range A1:B9, and <em>columnA</em> the range B1:B9</p> <p>But that doesn't work (in the example above, it returns 12.0 because 1280 is selected by the MIN() function) .</p> <p><strong>Solution I don't want to use:</strong> I could write some VBA could to go through the table, but I don't want to do that (because of annoying 'macro warnings', and because Excel on Mac doesn't support VBA anymore)</p> <p>Anybody any clues?</p>
    singulars
    1. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
    1. PTQuestion
    1. USCommunity
    1. USRabarberski
    plurals
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
    1. This table or related slice is empty.
    1. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    2. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    3. PO
      singulars
      1. PTAnswer
    1. VO
      singulars
      1. POExcel: need help with unusual lookup function (sorted column is different from lookup column)
      1. This table or related slice is empty.
      1. VTUpMod
    2. VO
      singulars
      1. POExcel: need help with unusual lookup function (sorted column is different from lookup column)
      1. USAccidentallyObtuse
      1. VTFavorite
    1. COIf it were I, I would probably try to use a Pivot table or use MS Access to query the data since they handle "query stuff" and data aggregation much better. However, perhaps that's not the type of solution you're looking for.
      singulars
      1. POExcel: need help with unusual lookup function (sorted column is different from lookup column)
      1. USBen McCormack
    2. CO@Ben: no indeed. Pivot Table are very useful but I find them a bit tricky when you don't use them daily (as is the case for me). And i want to keep the solution/problem in one program, no need for Access :-)
      singulars
      1. POExcel: need help with unusual lookup function (sorted column is different from lookup column)
      1. USRabarberski
 

Querying!

 
Guidance
A row detail

Detail views are divided into sections. All the information in the data section comes from columns in the selected row. The other sections display data from other, related rows.

Related data can be related in a to-one or a to-many fashion. Captions of data related in a to-many fashion link to a list view showing a filtered view of the table.

Try moving around until you find a non-empty to-many entry and click on the label to get to one. You can move back to the root by clicking on the database name in the header.

SQuiL has stopped working due to an internal error.

If you are curious you may find further information in the browser console, which is accessible through the devtools (F12).

Reload