I have the months of the year, in reverse alphabetical order, in the range
I1:I12 (i.e., September is in I1 and April is in I12, with the rest of the
months appearing within that range.

When I enter the formula =MATCH("October",I1:I12) the value 12 is returned.
Now, if I change the formula to =MATCH("October",I1:I12,0) then 2 is
returned, which is correct since "October" is the second value in the range,
going from top to bottom.

The question I have is that the discussion of the MATCH function that is
here, http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/formulas/match.php , indicates that
the default argument for the MATCH function, 1, searches for a value equal to
the one given in the formula.

So what am I missing here? Why is 0 required for me to get the correct
result?

Dave
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.

I don't read it that way at all, it says for a match_type of 1

The Match function will find the largest value that is less than or equal to
value. You should be sure to sort your array in ascending order.
If the match_type parameter is omitted, the Match function assumes a
match_type of 1.

which is not searching for the value equal to the one given.


--
HTH

Bob Phillips

(replace somewhere in email address with gmail if mailing direct)

"Dave F" wrote in message
...
I have the months of the year, in reverse alphabetical order, in the range
I1:I12 (i.e., September is in I1 and April is in I12, with the rest of the
months appearing within that range.

When I enter the formula =MATCH("October",I1:I12) the value 12 is
returned.
Now, if I change the formula to =MATCH("October",I1:I12,0) then 2 is
returned, which is correct since "October" is the second value in the
range,
going from top to bottom.

The question I have is that the discussion of the MATCH function that is
here, http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/formulas/match.php , indicates
that
the default argument for the MATCH function, 1, searches for a value equal
to
the one given in the formula.

So what am I missing here? Why is 0 required for me to get the correct
result?

Dave
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.

Duh you're right. I only read that first sentence.
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.


"Bob Phillips" wrote:

I don't read it that way at all, it says for a match_type of 1

The Match function will find the largest value that is less than or equal to
value. You should be sure to sort your array in ascending order.
If the match_type parameter is omitted, the Match function assumes a
match_type of 1.

which is not searching for the value equal to the one given.


--
HTH

Bob Phillips

(replace somewhere in email address with gmail if mailing direct)

"Dave F" wrote in message
...
I have the months of the year, in reverse alphabetical order, in the range
I1:I12 (i.e., September is in I1 and April is in I12, with the rest of the
months appearing within that range.

When I enter the formula =MATCH("October",I1:I12) the value 12 is
returned.
Now, if I change the formula to =MATCH("October",I1:I12,0) then 2 is
returned, which is correct since "October" is the second value in the
range,
going from top to bottom.

The question I have is that the discussion of the MATCH function that is
here, http://www.techonthenet.com/excel/formulas/match.php , indicates
that
the default argument for the MATCH function, 1, searches for a value equal
to
the one given in the formula.

So what am I missing here? Why is 0 required for me to get the correct
result?

Dave
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.