I'm seeking an alternitive to the Vlookup function to populate cells.
I currently have a working 2 colume vlookup formula that populates the cell with the name in column 2 that matches the corresponding number given in column 1.
e.g. in cell D16 I have a formula that looks like this =VLOOKUP(5,spotname,2) .

( 5 being the number typed into the left most column, spotname being the named range, and 2 indicating the corresponding column containing the name I'd like to display in cell D16.)

The problem I have with the VLOOKUP function is that it requires the leftmost column to be pre-sorted in ascending order.
Unfortunaly, the information in col 1 is being changed constantly,and upon sorting, changes the order of the names in col 2. Making it hard to repeat the process over and over again when the numbers in col 1 change.
The end users of this worksheet will have very limited Excel experiance, and I'm trying to make this as painless as I can for them.

Is there a formula that can do something similar with out the sorting being needed?

A way to tell excel to find this number and display the text in the cell imediatly to the right?

I'd be grateful for any ideas/suggestions.

Thanks for your time,
-=Grant=-

You could use the DGET function. It doesn't require
your list to be sorted.

a sample of the list currently laid out :
[Col A]_[Col B]
[Group#][Name]

[3]_____[chuck]
[2]_____[Fred]
[10]____[susy]
[65]____[Greg]
[8]_____[Tom]
-------------------

I'd like to set it up so that a cell (in another part of the workbook) will look for
10 (in Col A) and display Susy (from Col B).

Then when the information gets Changed..
(Susy is now assigned the number 8, and Greg is assisgned the number 10) The the same cell will then display Greg as the result.

I took a look at the DGET function but it seems the criteria is looking for the Column name for position then checks only the cell imediatly below that column name for the number.

I may be way off on this, as I've never used DGET before and I'm using the examples in MShelp to guid me along.

Anyway, I'll keep tinkering with it.
I thank you for your help and very fast response, Chase!

-=Grant=-

From: MS Tip #24

Secret #24: Using the VLOOKUP Function with Unsorted Data
In versions of Microsoft Excel earlier than version 5.0, you must sort data in ascending order for the VLOOKUP function to work correctly. In Excel 5.0 and later, VLOOKUP does work when you use it with unsorted data. However, you must add an additional argument to the formula. This argument, which is the fourth argument (Range_Lookup), is assumed to be TRUE if you do not specify a value. This behavior makes the function compatible with earlier versions of Excel.

To make VLOOKUP work correctly with unsorted data, change the Range_Lookup argument to FALSE. The following is a sample function that looks up the age of Stan in the data table you created for Secret #21:

=VLOOKUP("Stan",$A$2:$C$5,3,FALSE)

Bryan

WooHoo! That is EXACTLY what I needed.
Tested it out and the trick seems to work perfectly.
Thank you, Bryan!

-=Grant=-

You are welcome.

Bryan