Matching two columns of data
 

Hi All,

I have two columns of numbers that need to be kept as pairs for example;

122 505
122 909
345 6576
555 676

I need to randomly choose a pair x amount of times. I am using this formula in the first output column =INDEX($I$2:$I$5,RANDBETWEEN(1,COUNTA($I:$I)),1), which is fine to choose one of the numbers of column 1, however I am struggling to match the randomly chosen first number with its corresponding second number. This is as good as I have got =INDEX($J$2:$J$5,(MATCH(L2,$I$2:$I$5,0)),). But the problem with is that is chooses the first value it finds that corresponds to the correct number in column 1. So 122 is always paired with 505 never 909. I need a way to match the randomly chosen cell location rather than the value itself.

Hope this makes sense. Thanks for any help.

Matching two columns of data
 

Hi,

Am Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:19:41 +0000 schrieb JFLaj:

122 505
122 909
345 6576
555 676

I need to randomly choose a pair x amount of times. I am using this
formula in the first output column

MATCH or VLOOKUP only find the first value. Randomly choose the first
value in the column with unique values.


Regards
Claus Busch
--
Win XP PRof SP2 / Vista Ultimate SP2
Office 2003 SP2 /2007 Ultimate SP2

Matching two columns of data
 

On Wednesday, November 21, 2012 5:38:48 AM UTC-8, JFLaj wrote:
Hi All,



I have two columns of numbers that need to be kept as pairs for example;



122 505

122 909

345 6576

555 676



I need to randomly choose a pair x amount of times. I am using this

formula in the first output column

=INDEX($I$2:$I$5,RANDBETWEEN(1,COUNTA($I:$I)),1), which is fine to

choose one of the numbers of column 1, however I am struggling to match

the randomly chosen first number with its corresponding second number.

This is as good as I have got

=INDEX($J$2:$J$5,(MATCH(L2,$I$2:$I$5,0)),). But the problem with is that

is chooses the first value it finds that corresponds to the correct

number in column 1. So 122 is always paired with 505 never 909. I need a

way to match the randomly chosen cell location rather than the value

itself.



Hope this makes sense. Thanks for any help.









--

JFLaj

Hi JFLaj,

Maybe this will work for you...

A1:A4 enter 1,2,3,4
B1:C4 is your example table
D1 enter =RANDBETWEEN(1,4)
Select BOTH cells E1 & F1 and enter =VLOOKUP(D1,A1:C4,{2,3},0)
Commit with ctrl + shift + enter.
Hit F9 to recalc results.

HTH
Regards,
Howard