FIRST, is it possible to use the MATCH () function on an unsorted range of
data? We just need a match from the range, regardless of whether it is the
first, last, or inbetween match. In turn, this match echos the column
heading label associated with that amount using an INDEX () function.

SECOND, is it possible to return all the matches in an unsorted series, grab
their associated column headings, and then concatenate them into one string?

Any help would be appreciated . . .

Q1 - Yes, it is. You would do so like this:

=MATCH(A2,B1:H1,0)

this would return the relative position of the first exactly matching
value in B1:H1 compared with A2. Note that the zero at the end forces
it to look for an exact match. If A2 is not in the range, then #N/A
will be returned.

Q2 - yes, this would be possible.

However, you need to give some more detail about your data so that a
formula can be offered that is more likely to suit your set up
directly.

Hope this helps.

Pete

On Dec 11, 1:13*am, "Blue Max" wrote:
FIRST, is it possible to use the MATCH () function on an unsorted range of
data? *We just need a match from the range, regardless of whether it is the
first, last, or inbetween match. *In turn, this match echos the column
heading label associated with that amount using an INDEX () function.

SECOND, is it possible to return all the matches in an unsorted series, grab
their associated column headings, and then concatenate them into one string?

Any help would be appreciated . . .

Hello Pete,

Thanks for sharing the information on the missing argument. Shortly after
our post, I did find the help for that function option. As to the more
complex issue, let me give a sample case:

The formula would need to find all the matches in a row of prices from
different vendors and then list the vendor names matching the lowest prices.
In essence, this is a price comparison table where the rows represent
line-items for specific products and the columns each represent a different
vendor.

As such, we use the MIN() function to extract the lowest price for each row
(line-item) and then we need to find all the amounts in that row that match
that row's lowest price. In turn, we need to use the location of each match
to identify the name of the matching vendors. Vendor names all reside in
the same row at the top of the columns. Finally, the matching vendor names,
separated by commas, would be concatenated into a stringfor display in the
formula cell. There will always be at least one match, but sometimes
several.

The SUMIF() function does something similar for numbers (selects numbers
based on a criteria), but, in this case, we need to use numbers to find text
that is concatenated rather than summed. In this case, however, it may be a
question of a worksheet formula where a an operation could be performed
repeatedly on each of the values of an array which is also calculated within
the formula, a loop, so to speak?

Any suggestions?

***************
"Pete_UK" wrote in message
...
Q1 - Yes, it is. You would do so like this:

=MATCH(A2,B1:H1,0)

this would return the relative position of the first exactly matching
value in B1:H1 compared with A2. Note that the zero at the end forces
it to look for an exact match. If A2 is not in the range, then #N/A
will be returned.

Q2 - yes, this would be possible.

However, you need to give some more detail about your data so that a
formula can be offered that is more likely to suit your set up
directly.

Hope this helps.

Pete

On Dec 11, 1:13 am, "Blue Max" wrote:
FIRST, is it possible to use the MATCH () function on an unsorted range of
data? We just need a match from the range, regardless of whether it is the
first, last, or inbetween match. In turn, this match echos the column
heading label associated with that amount using an INDEX () function.

SECOND, is it possible to return all the matches in an unsorted series,
grab
their associated column headings, and then concatenate them into one
string?

Any help would be appreciated . . .