I'm not sure what you mean by a "helper" column.

I've used vlookup example: =IF(B119="","",VLOOKUP(B119,ProductLookup,2,FALSE) )
however I'm not sure where to incorporate a "helper" column that has
=left(<cell,6)?

Could you explain further?

"dlw" wrote:

use vlookup, and a "helper" column that has =left(<cell,6) to get the part
you want to match on

if it's the first time using vlookup, you might want to read the help on it,
but once you understand it, it's very useful.

"NanGio" wrote:

What formula would I use to look at data entered in one column for part of a
text string and return a select value if a set portion of that text string is
shown in a range of cells?

Example - All this data is on the same worksheet:
1) Column B, rows 12-123 are used to enter part numbers.
2) Table named "MaintTypes" in G141:H150 has column G = the first 6
characters of a part number and column H = the description of that maint type.
3) In cell C135, I want to return the equivalent description for a part
number starting with GE6300 (GE6300 and description are listed in "Maint
Types" table mentioned earlier).