Three Dimensional Lookup Using INDEX/MATCH

Question

This was taken and improved slightly from Question that has since been deleted

For those who can see deleted posts, it was taken from here: https://

Answer 1

Assuming the format of the data is always Name then P, M and N this formula does the work:

=INDEX($A:$D,
MATCH($H$3,$A:$A,0)
+LOOKUP($H$4,{"P",1;"M",2;"N",3}),
MATCH($H$5,$1:$1,0))

Answer 2

This solution works on almost all conditions. One restriction I found is when one of the subjects (Names) does no have data for any of the details (letters), but as of now the same occurs with all the other answers.

The formula assumes the data is located at B6:F30 (in order to ensure it can be applied regardless of the source range location).

The formula uses the Index\Match functions:

First, a MATCH to retrieve the position of the Name:

MATCH($H8,$B$6:$B$30,0)

With that info it uses INDEX to build a range that is used to obtain the position of the Detail (letter) using a second MATCH Function:

+ MATCH($I8,INDEX($B$6:$B$30, 1 + MATCH($H8,$B$6:$B$30,0))
:INDEX($B$6:$B$30,ROWS($B$6:$B$30)),0),

Adding the results of the first and second MATCH functions obtains the position of the Name`Detail` combination and uses it in an Index to the entire data. The position of the Data Column required is obtained with a Match:

INDEX($B$6:$F$30, 1st.MATCH + 2nd.MATCH,
MATCH(J$6,$B$6:$F$6,0))

With the results located at G6:L30 enter this formula in J8 then copy to J8:L30:

= INDEX( $B$6:$F$30,
MATCH( $H8, $B$6:$B$30, 0)
+MATCH( $I8, INDEX( $B$6:$B$30 , 1 + MATCH( $H8, $B$6:$B$30 ,0))
: INDEX( $B$6:$B$30, ROWS($B$6:$B$30) ),0),
MATCH( J$6, $B$6:$F$6, 0)),"")

Answer 3

You can use two other INDEX/MATCH's inside the first MATCH to set the lookup range. Then you simply need to add the MATCH() to find the absolute position of the name.

=INDEX(A:D,MATCH($H$4,INDEX(A:A,MATCH($H$3,A:A,0)):INDEX(A:A,MATCH($H$3,A:A,0)+4),0)+MATCH($H$3,A:A,0)-1,MATCH($H$5,$1:$1,0))

---

This one works better and does not have a size constraint:

=INDEX(A:D,MATCH(F4,INDEX(A:A,MATCH(F3,A:A,0)):A1040000,0)+MATCH(F3,A:A,0)-1,MATCH(F5,A1:D1,0))

Answer 4

I think this may be slightly tidier, and a little easier to modify maybe.

=INDEX(OFFSET(INDIRECT("A"&MATCH($H$3,$A:$A,0),TRUE),0,0,4,4),MATCH($H$4,$A:$A,0),MATCH(H5,$1:$1,0))

Using offset to create the range first, we're able to use the name from H3 to set that up, and then beyond that we are just indexing within that new range.

Now this is still dependendent on staying in Column A for the names.

Answer 5

You can do this just by adding the results of two matches together. One match for the names plus one match for the letter equals the total row.

=INDEX(A:D,MATCH(G5,A3:A5,0)+MATCH(G3,A:A,0),MATCH(G4,1:1,0))

In other words: Index(All of the Data, Match(Name, In name column, exact) + Match(Letter, In letter column, exact), Match(Column name, in Column row, exact)

Screen capture of working sheet

Answer 6

My answer attempts the general case with only one caveat:

That a letter is single character text, and a name is more than 1 character. Otherwise i feel there is no difference logically between letters and names, and it is then impossible to really do...

RE-EDIT for better function construction:

{=INDEX($A$1:$D$17, MATCH($H$3,$A1:$A17, 0)+MATCH($H$4, INDEX($A1:$A17, MATCH($H$3,$A1:$A17, 0)):INDEX($A:$A, SMALL(IFERROR(MATCH($H$3,$A1:$A17, 0)+POWER(SQRT(IF(LEN($A$1:$A$17)>1, ROW($A$1:$A$17), 0)-MATCH($H$3,$A$1:$A$17, 0)), 2)-1, ROWS($A$1:$A$17)), 2)), 0)-1, MATCH($H$5, $A$1:$D$1, 0))}

This uses an array formula along column A, and checks if the length is > 1 and throws the row nums into an array, with letters given a 0.

Then match row of unique name(e.g. George) is subtracted from each.

We then use a min(of all other name rows, with the last data row as the final default - SMALL function with 2 parameter) to find the next name row(or last data row if there is no following name).

Rest is standard index/match etc.

It will correctly return #N/A if there is no such letter under the chosen name...

My dataset is A1:A17, and the formula could use A:A instead each time, but the array calc inside the IF needs the A1:A17 for speed.

EDIT for better function construction:

If we wanted to avoid editing the formula when the data length changes, then we could let full column references of A:A go through the entire construction(and lose speed/efficiency) with the last data row in colA calculated via ROWS(A:A):

Re-edit:

{=INDEX($A:$D, MATCH($H$3,$A:$A, 0)+MATCH($H$4, INDEX($A:$A, MATCH($H$3,$A:$A, 0)):INDEX($A:$A, SMALL(IFERROR(MATCH($H$3,$A:$A, 0)+POWER(SQRT(IF(LEN($A:$A)>1, ROW($A:$A), 0)-MATCH($H$3,$A:$A, 0)), 2)-1, ROWS($A:$A)), 2)), 0)-1, MATCH($H$5,1:1, 0))}

It really depends on the setup...

Edit again for version which takes blanks as separators for names

If you want to use blanks as the separator for names, where no blanks are in the data results, but blanks appear in columns B to D where there is a name, then a tiny change in the above formulae will result in this:

=INDEX($A$1:$D$17, MATCH($H$3,$A$1:$A$17, 0)+MATCH($H$4, INDEX($A:$A, MATCH($H$3,$A:$A, 0)):INDEX($A:$A, SMALL(IFERROR(MATCH($H$3,$A:$A, 0)+POWER(SQRT(IF($B$1:$B$17="", ROW($A$1:$A$17), 0)-MATCH($H$3,$A$1:$A$17, 0)), 2)-1, ROWS($A$1:$A$17)), 2)), 0)-1, MATCH($H$5, $A$1:$D$1, 0))

This means that the names and letters do not have to be any specified length, but just one proviso is that blanks appear in the row with the name.

A small amendment to the condition to find the end range to search for the letter by replacing this: SQRT(IF(LEN($A$1:$A$17)>1, with this:

SQRT(IF($B$1:$B$17="",