I am trying to use VLOOKUP (or a similar function) to do the following:

1) I have a master file, let's say name "ABC". This master file is populated
with three columns: one being a reference number column (e.g. 1A-1, 1A-2,
etc; the other two columns contain all text (one column is a description, the
other a strategy).
2) I would like to create separate excel files that would be populated with
some of this information but not necessarily all. For example, I have 120
lines on the master but I may need just 20 of those lines in another file.
3) I would like to call up the information in these separate files from the
"master" by using the reference number column.

The purpose of this exercise would be to prevent the separate files from
containing outdated data so that, every time a change occurs in the "master",
the other excel files are automatically updated.
I guess I could do this using one file and tabs but it is not practical in
this case because there is another set of tabs attached to each one of the
separate excel files, e.g., the ideal solution is to have a master and
separate files for each of the business units.

Hope I explain the problem clearly. Thanks for any help.