If those testnames are in a single column, it sounds like =sumif() would work
ok:

=SUMIF(Sheet2!A:A,B2,Sheet2!B:B)

Sheet2 column A contains the names, sheet2 column B contains the hours.

A2 contains the name to use.

Debra Dalgleish has some instructions on summing cells at:
http://www.contextures.com/xlFunctions01.html

and for counting:
http://www.contextures.com/xlFunctions04.html




Greg wrote:

I'm trying to have a folmula on a sheet that will look
back at another sheet and find all the instances of a text
string and then add a numeric value on that row with all
the numbers that contain the same text. For instance I
have a summary sheet that lists test names and the total
hours associated with that test. I want to look back at
another sheet and find each instance that has the same
test name and add the hours together.

This is what I want my summary sheet to do:

Summary Sheet

ID Test Name Hours
1 Test1 5
2 Test2 4

Using this data:

Data Sheet

ID Test Name Hours
1 Test1 3
2 Test2 4
3 Test3 2

I tried assigning a test ID so that I could use the
VLOOKUP function, but it only finds and reports the first
instance I find. If I manually incriment it each time it
works, but this is somewhat tedious, plus I have to
continually add on to my equation.

Thanks in advance

--

Dave Peterson