Scanning text

**demerdin** · 06-12-2010, 06:39 AM

Hi,

I am stuck.

I have a column that will have text entered over time (A1:A15)

I'd like to scan from A15 up to A1 and reprint the first value that is found

Example: If 2 months into a project, we'd only have A1:A10 with values, I'd want to have the function display A10.

In addition, there are several boxes that I don't want to include in the scan (A3, A7, A9) because they are different metrics.

I started with If...Isblank... but that did not work because I used too many functions..
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

DM

**DonkeyOte** · 06-12-2010, 06:42 AM

You will need to elaborate as to the logic that dictates which values should or should not be analysed (metric type)

In general you can pull the "last" text string from the range using LOOKUP, eg:

=LOOKUP(REPT("Z",255),A1:A15)

If as inferred you need to add a condition to this to exclude certain cells - say for sake of demo. if B1:B15 contains "y" include:

=LOOKUP(2,1/((B1:B15="y")*(A1:A15<>"")),A1:A15)

If you need further assistance I would suggest posting a sample file that accurately reflects your model.

**demerdin** · 06-12-2010, 06:57 AM

Hi DonkeyOte,

Thank you for the quick reply.

To elaborate, we are pulling student scores from a semester. The row: A1:A15 has boxes with total score and boxes with score improvements. They are all numbers.

I am trying to print a copy of the final total score entered (so if a student took 6, the 6th would be printed, if a student took 10, the 10th would be printed).

I'd like to skip the boxes with score improvement because they could be confused for total score.

I am attaching an example.

Thank you,

DM