Thank you, Bernard, but my spreadsheets are wider than 26 columns and the
text varies because each of the manufacturers makes different products. For
instance, both IBM and CA are manufacturers of TCP/IP, but if the text is in
the first few columns, then the manufacturer is IBM; in any of another range
of columns, it's CA.

Appreciate the help, though and will keep your solutions in mind - there's
no telling when I'll be able to use them!!

"Bernard Liengme" wrote:

Assuming there are no other entries in the cells B1 to Z1
=CHOOSE(MATCH(LOOKUP(2,1/(A1:Z1<""),A1:Z1),A1:Z1),"in a","in b","in
c","IBM","in e","in f","in g", "CA")

LOOKUP find the last item, MATCH tell what column it is in, CHOOSE pick the
text
But for 26 columns this will be horrid.

On another sheet (I used Sheet4) in A1:A26 enter the required text. So A4
has IBM and A* has CA
Then use
=INDEX(Sheet4!A1:A26,MATCH(LOOKUP(2,1/(A1:Z1<""),A1:Z1),A1:Z1))

best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
Microsoft Excel MVP
http://people.stfx.ca/bliengme
remove caps from email

"Always need help asap :-)" <Always need help asap
wrote in message
...
Hello. I'm a fairly new user to Excel and need help with an IF statement.
I've tried using ISTEXT, but that only seems to work with single cells.

I have a spreadsheet several columns wide and in the first column, need to
put a value, based on which column the text is in (There's only 1 item per
line).

Example:
Col A B C D..... J H I ..... W X Y Z
Results Text
Results Text

If the text is in Col. D, I need the result to be "IBM", if it's in Col.
H,
then "CA", etc.
Can someone help me with this, please?