I am using a vlookup but the data it is searching is protected. I am getting a few N/A's returned as there are some blanks after the data fields. As I cannot insert a column in the searched data (as its protected) can I use a nested trim somehow? or can it only be done by copying the data somewhere?

This is my funtion so far (might look a bit messy but works)

=IF(ISBLANK(E10),0,IF(COUNTIF('[data]Sheet1'!$B$2:$D$446,E10),VLOOKUP(TRIM(E10),'[data.xls]Sheet1'!$B$2:$D$446,3,FALSE),"check"))

I think i need the trim before the table array [data.xls]Sheet1'!$B$2:$D$446 but I cannot figure it out.

Any help would be appreciated.