Far from an Excel expert, I have a business reporting need where I draw from a few data sources I have to piece together information, kept in three different formats, to interpret either:
  1. employee initials (i.e. ACM)
  2. employee name (i.e. August Miles) or
  3. employee name and brackets (i.e. MILES, AUGUST {ACM})
I have built a monstrosity of an IF statement that cycles through all possibilities and outputs one standard name convention depending on the name format mentioned above like this: MILES, A.C..

This monstrosity of a statement worked well until I exceeded the 64 Nesting level limit today. I have heard/read that rewriting this statement as an ARRAY/VLOOKUP could be a better, much more efficient and cleaner way to achieve this same final result. Initial searches through the forum and on YouTube haven't yet led me to a means of accomplishing this so I thought I'd ask here if someone has an ideal of how best to accomplish my end objective.

For posterity, as well as the collective horror of the group, here is the IF statement I've been using. (I apologize in advance...)
=IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MILES, AUGUST {ACM}","Miles, A.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="AMM","Montgomery, A.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="GOGAN, BERT {BEG}","GOGAN, B.E.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="PARK, BOO {BHP}","PARK, B.H.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="HURT, BRIAN {BJH}","HURT, B.J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="NORTON, BRYCE {BJN}","NORTON, B.J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BOLTON, BINKY {BKB}","BOLTON, B.K.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BAKER, BRENT {BMB}","BAKER, B.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="PENN, CYNTHIA {CLP}","PENN, C.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CMH","NAME UNKNOWN",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="EVERETT, DAVID {DME}","EVERETT, D.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BUDDEMEYER, DAMIAN {DTB}","BUDDEMEYER, D.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="JACKSON, EVERETT {EEJ}","JACKSON, E.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BLAIR, GLEN {GMB}","BLAIR, G.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="HENSON, GLEN {GXH}","HENSON, G.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="LITTLEJOHN, HARRY {HGL}","LITTLEJOHN, H.G.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="DULLE, HUGH {HJD}","DULLE, H.J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CLUTTS, JOSH {JAC}","CLUTTS, .J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="JAF","FOSTER, J.A.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="RADER, JASON {JER}","RADER, J.E.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="SHAW, JONATHAN {JES}","SHAW, J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="GEIST, JOSHUA {JJG}","GEIST, J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="JOHNSON, JEREMIAH {JLJ}","JOHNSON, J.L.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="DUTTON, JOHN {JPD}","DUTTON, J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CATON, JARED {JRC}","CATON, J.R.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MARTY, JEFF {JSM}","MARTY, J.S.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CHANDLER, JASON {JVC}","CHANDLER, J.V.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="PARK, JOEY {JWP}","PARK, J.W.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="TURNER, JEFF {JWT}","TURNER, J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="HOLMES, KENNIE {KDH}","HOLMES, K.D.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="PANNELL, KEUSI {KLP}","PANNELL, K.L.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="GINGERICH, MENNO {MAG}","GINGERICH, M.A.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="HAHN, MIKE {MAH}","HAHN, M.A.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MOORE, MIKAL {MSM}","MOORE, M.S.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="WEBB, PAUL {PVW}","WEBB, P.V.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MARSHALL, RYAN {RBM}","MARSHALL, R.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="ZEILER, RACHAEL {RMZ}","ZEILER, R.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="REED, SUSAN {SDR}","REED, S.D.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MATTHEWS, GRANT {SGM}","MATTHEWS, S.G.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="ENGLAND, SHONDA {SLE}","ENGLAND, S.L.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="GROTE, SUSAN {SMG}","GROTE, S.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="KEELING, STEVEN {SMK}","KEELING, S.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BURTON, TRAVIS {TWB}","BURTON, T.W.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="JONES, TODD {TWJ}","JONES, T.W.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="RAY, SCOTT {WSR}","RAY, W.S.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CLEMENTS, DENNIS {DRC}","CLEMENTS, D.R.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="HAYS, CHRISTYNE {CMH}","HAYS, C.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="HOAGLAND, DUSTIN {DRH}","HOAGLAND, D.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MONTGOMERY, AMANDA {AMM}","MONTGOMERY A., A.C.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="FLINT, AUGUST {ACF}","FLINT, A.C.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BILHIMER, MARK {MAB}","BILHIMER, M.A.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CARTWRIGHT, JUSTIN {JLC}","CARTWRIGHT, J.L.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MABRY, BRAD {BWM}","MABRY, B.W.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="REED, ELLEN {EMR}","REED, E.R.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MARONEY, KEVIN {KDM}","MARONEY, K.D.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MUNOZ, ADRIAN {AXM}","MUNOZ, A.X.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MITCHELL, MELVIN {MWM}","MITCHELL, M.W.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="BLACKWELL, CHRIS {CSB}","BLACKWELL, C.S.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="MCCUNE, ANDY {ACM}","MCCUNE, A.C.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="ALDERMAN, AUSTIN {AJA}","ALDERMAN, A.J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="GREENWAY, JEFF {JMG}","GREENWAY, J.M.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="PERKINS, KEVIN {KCP}","PERKINS, K.C.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="FULCO, CHRIS {CAF}","FALCO, C.A.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="CONDE, AJ {AJC}","CONDE, A.J.",IF($F$2:$F$1048576="","NO DISPATCHER LISTED")))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
If anyone can help me retire this statement, I would be most grateful!