I need a way to compare one cell to the adjacent cells and/or a range o
cells... wherein the cells would not be exactly matched strings o
text.

Example:

A1 - Bags of Apples
A2 - Bags of Oranges
-or-
A1 - C17 2004 Envelop
A2 - C19 2003 Envelopes

In these examples the formula would provide some indicator of note
like "Match" or something.

Is there anyway to do this with a function or macro

--
Message posted from http://www.ExcelForum.com

Hi
there's no build-in function for this. so you have to
develop this kind of 'pobability match' on your own.

How do you define a match?
- specific number/percentage of characters are identical
- this first or the last part of the two strings are
identical
- ...


-----Original Message-----
I need a way to compare one cell to the adjacent cells
and/or a range of
cells... wherein the cells would not be exactly matched
strings of
text.

Example:

A1 - Bags of Apples
A2 - Bags of Oranges
-or-
A1 - C17 2004 Envelop
A2 - C19 2003 Envelopes

In these examples the formula would provide some
indicator of note,
like "Match" or something.

Is there anyway to do this with a function or macro?


---
Message posted from http://www.ExcelForum.com/

.

Well, most of the instances occur where the first 5-20 characters ar
identical. However, many instances are like the second example tha
are more troublesome. Those would need to match a word that might b
in the middle of the description in one field and at the end of th
description in another. For example: Dec 2004 Broc & Oct 2004 Bro
should match, but should not match based solely on the date so tha
they would match with 2004 Outlet Flyr. So I guess if a number o
characters match up, independent of where they are located in th
string I would like to have the cell beside put a count of matches o
just an asterisk or something.

Thanks if anyone has an idea how to help

--
Message posted from http://www.ExcelForum.com

I have use the =if formula to do this.
In cell C1 enter =if(a1=b1,"Match","No match")
I use this usually to find out why data that is suppose to
match doesn't. In the above example using "" instead of
"Match" leaves the cell blank.
This works well when the cells are side by side or on the
same row. In your example you listed cells a1 and a2. In
this case i suppose you would have to put the =if formula
some where else. as to using it for a range of cells, You
would have to have a =if formula for each cell in the
range.

-----Original Message-----
Hi
there's no build-in function for this. so you have to
develop this kind of 'pobability match' on your own.

How do you define a match?
- specific number/percentage of characters are identical
- this first or the last part of the two strings are
identical
- ...


-----Original Message-----
I need a way to compare one cell to the adjacent cells
and/or a range of
cells... wherein the cells would not be exactly matched
strings of
text.

Example:

A1 - Bags of Apples
A2 - Bags of Oranges
-or-
A1 - C17 2004 Envelop
A2 - C19 2003 Envelopes

In these examples the formula would provide some
indicator of note,
like "Match" or something.

Is there anyway to do this with a function or macro?


---
Message posted from http://www.ExcelForum.com/

.

.