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flummoxed
 
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I appreciate your suggestion, but I've already nested the VLOOKUP in an IF
statement, similar to the way you've suggested. Mine follows this pattern:
IF(ISBLANK(VLOOKUP),"",VLOOKUP) I get a result that appears as a blank, but
still carries a value of zero. in your example, if you substitute a blank
for the value of a nickel instead of .05, then chart the results column (with
interpolation for blank cells), you'll see my dilemma. It won't interpolate,
because it has a zero value. The INDEX MATCH combination provides the same
result as a VLOOKUP.

"Dave O" wrote:

You have a couple of options for a workaround: one is to nest the
VLOOKUP into an IF formula, so the logic flow would be: IF(vlookup
value = "","",normal vlookup)

Another way to do it is to nest a MATCH function inside an INDEX
function, best shown by example: suppose values in A1:A4 are
penny
nickel
dime
quarter

....and suppose values in B1:B4 are
..01
..05
..1
..25

Copy the A1:A4 values into D1:D4 (to show that the values can appear in
a different cell, must be spelled exactly, etc). Then in cell E1,
enter this formula:
=INDEX($A$1:$B$4,MATCH(D1,$A$1:$A$4,0),2)

The English translation is: find an exact match of D1 in the range
A1:A4 (which becomes a row reference for the INDEX function); in the
range A1:B4 go to the row specified by the MATCH function and the
column number supplied (i.e., 2).