New to Forum: How to Append Column B to another ss using vlookup (or another function)

[DMMetrics]

I have two worksheets and want to return a value of "state" from worksheet 2 that matches the value of "city" in worksheet 1. Simplified example:

1:
Phila
NY
LA

2:
Phila PA
NY NY
LA CA

I went to spreadshet 1, and keyed in =Vlookup(A2, A12:B14, 2) but got random values from column B (e.g., "Phila" "AK"). When I put a $A2 in the expression, I got "PA" for all records, not just the ones in PA.

Is there a way to do this, either through Vlookup or another function?

thx

DMM

[FDibbins]

are the values all in 1 cell, or multiple cells?

post a sample workbook please

[jeffreybrown]

You might also want to consider if you are looking for an exact match then you need to use the 4th argument...

=VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,col_index_num,range_lookup)

[DMMetrics]

Ok, i added a simple example file. in reality, i have the two tables in separate tabs but i put them in one tab for simplicity.

re: the 4th parameter jeff mentioned, what IS that?

thx!

DMM

[jeffreybrown]

The 4th argument is for the match, exact or not.

In D2 copied down

=VLOOKUP(B2,$B$12:$L$20,3,0)

Look in Excel help for VLOOKUP

range_lookup Optional. A logical value that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match:

If range_lookup is either TRUE or is omitted, an exact or approximate match is returned. If an exact match is not found, the next largest value that is less than lookup_value is returned.

Important If range_lookup is either TRUE or is omitted, the values in the first column of table_array must be placed in ascending sort order; otherwise, VLOOKUP might not return the correct value.

For more information, see Sort data.

If range_lookup is FALSE, the values in the first column of table_array do not need to be sorted.

If the range_lookup argument is FALSE, VLOOKUP will find only an exact match. If there are two or more values in the first column of table_array that match the lookup_value, the first value found is used. If an exact match is not found, the error value #N/A is returned.