=if(a1="harold smith","Scott Jones","None")

If you have lots of names that could go into A1, you might want to create a 2
column table on another sheet with employee in column A and supervisor in column
B.

Then you could use =vlookup() to return the supy's name.

Visit Debra Dalgleish's site:
http://www.contextures.com/xlFunctions02.html
for nice instructions.

wrote:

Beginner here. I'm looking for a way to auto-populate one cell based
on, or "triggered" by the input from a previous cell (or selection from
a drop down validation list). The "IF" function only seems to work
with numerical values, or only if the "logical test" is a numerical or
single letter symbol. A simple example of what I am looking for is
below:

If I type "Harold Smith" in A1, I want his supervisor, "Scott Jones",
to automatically populate in B2.

I tried to make it happen using the "IF" function:

Logical_test Harold Smith
Value_if_true "Scott Jones"
Value_if_false "None"

I get the "#NAME?" result. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tim Hopkins

--

Dave Peterson