VLookup when I know there are multiple matches (and I need them all)

[TheRedCardinal]

I have a sheet (Sheet 1) with a column that contains numerical employee IDs. Each employee has a single row.

I have another sheet (Sheet 2) that lists those IDs and contains project supervisors. Some employees have more than one supervisor. Where this is the case, the employee is listed in multiple (successive) rows, with the same ID, but the name of the supervisor varying.

I need to create 4 columns (that is the maximum number of supervisors) in Sheet 1, and lookup the names of all possible supervisors, sometimes 1, sometimes as many as 4.

I have some success with this by doing the following:

1. Creating a "helper column" in sheet 2 that uses a simple rolling COUNTIF formula to add an appending -1, -2, -3 or -4 to the employee ID
2. Calling my column headers Supervisor 1, Supervisor 2 etc in Sheet 1
3. Using Vlookup to lookup [ EmployeeID & "-" & Right(ColumnHeader,1)] in Sheet 2

This is working find except that for presentation purposes, I need the primary supervisor, who is always listed first, in Supervisor 1 column, and unfortunately the way the COUNTIF cheat is working means that for mulitple supervisors, they are ranked in reverse order.

I have written VBA code to do this but the user is not keen on it and would prefer a formula for future use.

Can this be done?

 

[TheRedCardinal]

Sorry I think I've worked it out now.

I selected G2:N2, put in the formula and then did the array enter - and it now looks ok (but I'm testing).

Then I dragged down to the bottom.

Looks good!

But is there a way to get rid of n/a when it doesn't match?

I tried this:

=IFERROR(TOROW(FILTER(Data!$AA$2:$AB$2597,Data!$K$2:$K$2597=Students!A958)),"")

But I still get "n/a" when I enter it

 

[Fluff]

I selected G2:N2, put in the formula and then did the array enter

Do not do that, just normally enter it into G2 & it will spill across.

 

[TheRedCardinal]

Amazing thanks Fluff.

This looks like something I'll need to learn as it looks incredible.

 

[Fluff]

You're welcome & thanks for the feedback.