If "apples" is on a specific row:

=MATCH(A2,'L:\My Documents\[LookupData.xls]Sheet1'!2:2,0)

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"sharonm" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I am using the Column function to get the Column number from a different
seperate workbook like the following:

=COLUMN('L:\My Documents\[LookupData.xls]Sheet1'!$O$2)

The above returns 15. (LookupData is a different workbook than where this
formula is being used.)

Would anyone know if I could return the column number where a reference
value from the current workbook is contained in the workbook LookupData.
For
example, I have "Apples" in CellA2 in the current workbook, how can I get
the
column number in LookupData which contains the text "Apples"?

Thanks in advance!