How to search strings larger than lookup strings?

[Fractalis]

Hi all,

I have a list of strings in column A and I want to search strings that are smaller and larger than the list in column A.

To search smaller strings I could use wildcard within VLOOKUP(), but how to search larger strings?

For example, if I compare the string ABCDEFGHIJKLM in D5 with the strings in Col A, the strings that are more similar with string in D5
are ABCDEFG and ABCDEFGHIW, but the selected should be ABCDEFGHIW since it has 9 characters in common and only has 7 characters
in common with string ABCDEFG. So, the Letter related is Y, that would be the correct answer.

ABCDEFGHIJKLM
ABCDEFGHIW --> 9 characters in common in same order from left to right

ABCDEFGHIJKLM
ABCDEFG --> 7 characters in common in same order from left to right

File1.xlsx
	A	B	C	D	E
1	STRING	LETTER		STRING SMALLER THAN COL A STRINGS	LETTER
2	ABCJKPOR	Q		ABCDE	H
3	ABCDEFG	H
4	ABCKKHSPLLZ	T		STRING LARGER THAN COL A STRINGS	LETTER
5	ABCDEFGHIW	Y		ABCDEFGHIJKLM	Y
Sheet1

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
E2	E2	=VLOOKUP(D2&"*",A1:B5,2,FALSE)

 

[JonRowland]

There's probably a much better wayt but maybe try TRUE in place of FALSE. TRUE returns an approximate match whereas FALSE is an exact match.

 

[Fractalis]

There's probably a much better wayt but maybe try TRUE in place of FALSE. TRUE returns an approximate match whereas FALSE is an exact match.

Uhhh, no. Doesn't work. VLOOKUP() alone only works for exact matches in my case