Hi,

This works the best:

Filter by using advanced criteria

The Advanced Filter command on the Data menu lets you use complex criteria
(criteria: Conditions you specify to limit which records are included in the
result set of a query. For example, the following criterion selects records
for which the value for the Order Amount field is greater than 30,000: Order
Amount 30000.) to filter a range, but it works differently from the
AutoFilter command in several important ways.

It displays the Advanced Filter dialog box instead of the Custom AutoFilter
dialog box.

You do not type the complex criteria in the Advanced Filter dialog box as
you do in the Custom AutoFilter dialog box. Rather, you type the complex
criteria in a criteria range on the worksheet and above the range you want to
filter. Excel uses the separate criteria range in the Advanced Filter dialog
box as the source for the complex criteria.

Although you can filter a range in place, like the AutoFilter command, the
Advanced Filter command does not display drop-down lists for the columns.

1. Insert at least three blank rows above the range that can be used as a
criteria range. The criteria range must have column labels. Make sure there
is at least one blank row between the criteria values and the range.
Example criteria range and data range for the criteria examples in step 2

A B C
1 Type Salesperson Sales
2
3
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544

2. In the rows below the column labels, type the criteria you want to match.
Criteria examples

Important

Because the equal sign is used to indicate a formula when you type text or a
value in a cell, Microsoft Excel evaluates what you type; however, this may
cause unexpected filter results. To indicate an equality comparison operator
for either text or a value, type the criteria as a string expression in the
appropriate cell in the criteria range:
=''=entry''

Where entry is the text or value you want to find. For example:

What you type in the cell What Excel evaluates and displays
="=Davolio" =Davolio
="=3000" =3000

When filtering text data, Excel does not distinguish between uppercase and
lowercase characters. However, you can use a formula to perform a
case-sensitive search. For an example, see Filtering for text by using a
case-sensitive search.
The following sections provide examples of complex criteria.

Multiple criteria in one column
Multiple criteria in multiple columns where all criteria must be true
Multiple criteria in multiple columns where any criteria can be true
Multiple sets of criteria where each set includes criteria for multiple
columns
Multiple sets of criteria where each set includes criteria for one column
Criteria to find text values that share some characters but not others
Criteria created as the result of a formula
Filtering for values greater than the average of all values in the data range
Filtering for text by using a case-sensitive search


Multiple criteria in one column
Boolean logic: (Salesperson = "Davolio" OR Salesperson = "Buchanan")

To find rows that meet multiple criteria for one column, type the criteria
directly below each other in separate rows of the criteria range.

In the following data range (A6:C10), the criteria range (B1:B3) displays
the rows that contain either "Davolio" or "Buchanan" in the Salesperson
column (A8:C10).

A B C
1 Type Salesperson Sales
2 =Davolio
3 =Buchanan
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


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Multiple criteria in multiple columns where all criteria must be true
Boolean logic: (Type = "Produce" AND Sales 1000)

To find rows that meet multiple criteria in multiple columns, type all of
the criteria in the same row of the criteria range.

In the following data range (A6:C10), the criteria range (A1:C2) displays
all rows that contain "Produce" in the Type column and a value greater than
$1,000 in the Sales column (A9:C10).

A B C
1 Type Salesperson Sales
2 =Produce 1000
3
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


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Multiple criteria in multiple columns where any criteria can be true
Boolean logic: (Type = "Produce" OR Salesperson = "Davolio")

To find rows that meet multiple criteria in multiple columns, where any
criteria can be true, type the criteria in different rows of the criteria
range.

In the following data range (A6:C10), the criteria range (A1:B3) displays
all rows that contain "Produce" in the Type column or "Davolio" in the
Salesperson column (A8:C10).

A B C
1 Type Salesperson Sales
2 =Produce
3 =Davolio
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


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Multiple sets of criteria where each set includes criteria for multiple
columns
Boolean logic: ( (Salesperson = "Davolio" AND Sales 3000) OR (Salesperson
= "Buchanan" AND Sales 1500) )

To find rows that meet multiple sets of criteria, where each set includes
criteria for multiple columns, type each set of criteria in separate rows.

In the following data range (A6:C10), the criteria range (B1:C3) displays
the rows that contain both "Davolio" in the Salesperson column and a value
greater than $3,000 in the Sales column, or displays the rows that contain
"Buchanan" in the Salesperson and a value greater than $1,500 in the Sales
column (A9:C10).

A B C
1 Type Salesperson Sales
2 =Davolio 3000
3 =Buchanan 1500
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


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Multiple sets of criteria where each set includes criteria for one column
Boolean logic: ( (Sales 6000 AND Sales < 6500 ) OR (Sales < 500) )

To find rows that meet multiple sets of criteria, where each set includes
criteria for one column, include multiple columns with the same column
heading.

In the following data range (A6:C10), the criteria range (C1:D3) displays
rows that contain values between 5,000 and 8,000 and values less than 500 in
the Sales column (A8:C10).

A B C D
1 Type Salesperson Sales Sales
2 6000 <6500
3 <500
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


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Criteria to find text values that share some characters but not others
To find text values that share some characters but not others, do one or
more of the following:

Type one or more characters without an equal sign (=) to find rows with a
text value in a column that begin with those characters. For example, if you
type the text Dav as a criterion, Excel finds "Davolio," "David," and "Davis."
Use a wildcard character.
How?

The following wildcard characters can be used as comparison criteria.

Use To find
? (question mark) Any single character
For example, sm?th finds "smith" and "smyth"
* (asterisk) Any number of characters
For example, *east finds "Northeast" and "Southeast"
~ (tilde) followed by ?, *, or ~ A question mark, asterisk, or tilde
For example, fy91~? finds "fy91?"


In the following data range (A6:C10), the criteria range (A1:B3) displays
rows with "Me" as the first characters in the Type column or rows with the
second character equal to "u" in the Salesperson column (A7:C9).

A B C
1 Type Salesperson Sales
2 Me
3 =?u*
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


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Criteria created as the result of a formula
You can use a calculated value that is the result of a formula (formula: A
sequence of values, cell references, names, functions, or operators in a cell
that together produce a new value. A formula always begins with an equal sign
(=).) as your criterion. Remember the following important points:

The formula must evaluate to TRUE or FALSE.
Because you are using a formula, enter the formula as you normally would,
and do not type the expression in the following way:
=''=entry''

Do not use a column label for criteria labels; either keep the criteria
labels blank or use a label that is not a column label in the range (in the
examples below, Calculated Average and Exact Match).
If you use a column label in the formula instead of a relative cell
reference or a range name, Excel displays an error value such as #NAME? or
#VALUE! in the cell that contains the criterion. You can ignore this error
because it does not affect how the range is filtered.

The formula that you use for criteria must use a relative reference
(relative reference: In a formula, the address of a cell based on the
relative position of the cell that contains the formula and the cell referred
to. If you copy the formula, the reference automatically adjusts. A relative
reference takes the form A1.) to refer to the corresponding cell in the first
row (in the examples below, C7 and A7).
All other references in the formula must be absolute references (absolute
cell reference: In a formula, the exact address of a cell, regardless of the
position of the cell that contains the formula. An absolute cell reference
takes the form $A$1.).
The following subsections provide specific examples of criteria created as
the result of a formula.

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Filtering for values greater than the average of all values in the data range
In the following data range (A6:D10), the criteria range (D1:D2) displays
rows that have a value in the Sales column greater than the average of all
the Sales values (C7:C10). In the formula, "C7" refers to the filtered column
(C) of the first row of the data range (7).

A B C D
1 Type Salesperson Sales Calculated Average
2 =C7AVERAGE($C$7:$C$10)
3
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544

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Filtering for text by using a case-sensitive search
In the data range (A6:D10), the criteria range (D1:D2) displays rows that
contain "Produce" in the Type column by using the EXACT function to perform a
case-sensitive search (A10:C10). In the formula, "A7" refers to the filtered
column (A) of the first row of the data range (7).

A B C D
1 Type Salesperson Sales Exact Match
2 =EXACT(A7, "Produce")
3
4
5
6 Type Salesperson Sales
7 Beverages Suyama $5122
8 Meat Davolio $450
9 produce Buchanan $6328
10 Produce Davolio $6544


3. Click a cell in the range.

4. On the Data menu, point to Filter, and then click Advanced Filter.

5. To filter the range by hiding rows that don't match your criteria, click
Filter the list, in-place.

To filter the range by copying rows that match your criteria to another area
of the worksheet, click Copy to another location, click in the Copy to box,
and then click the upper-left corner of the area where you want to paste the
rows.

6. In the Criteria range box, enter the reference for the criteria range,
including the criteria labels.

To move the Advanced Filter dialog box out of the way temporarily while you
select the criteria range, click Collapse Dialog .

7. To change how the data is filtered, change the values in the criteria
range and filter the data again.

Notes

You can name a range Criteria, and the reference for the range will appear
automatically in the Criteria range box. You can also define the name
Database for the range of data to be filtered and define the name Extract for
the area where you want to paste the rows, and these ranges will appear
automatically in the List range and Copy to boxes, respectively.

When you copy filtered rows to another location, you can specify which
columns to include in the copy. Before filtering, copy the column labels for
the columns you want to the first row of the area where you plan to paste the
filtered rows. When you filter, enter a reference to the copied column labels
in the Copy to box. The copied rows will then include only the columns for
which you copied the labels.

Challa Prabhu


"Plexed" wrote:

I have two worsheets with one workbook and I am trying to match the names and
return certain fields associated with these names. I was wondering if you
could use the like feature such as the one in Access that matches on so many
characters of the field (because my names don't match exactly in order for me
to use a vlookup). For example:

Column A Column B Column C
John B Smith, MD 1254654 56892
Smith John B M.D 1254654 52869

How would I do a match on these names (Column A) and possibly return the
correct information