Vlookup question

[Cathryn Arco]

Hi

Can someone please explain this formula in more detail for me. I understand the basic VLookup formula but don't know whey there is a NS and a FALSE in this one.


=VLOOKUP(H216,NS,2,FALSE)

thanks
Cathryn

 

[doofusboy]

Your formula attempts to lookup the value in cell H216 in the area defined as 'NS' and, if found, returns the value from the 1st column to the right of the value it looked up.

'NS' is most likely a range name that defines a specific set of rows and columns.

FALSE is an optional value and here is Microsoft's help on its usage:

• range_lookup Optional. A logical value that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match:
  • If range_lookup is either TRUE or is omitted, an exact or approximate match is returned. If an exact match is not found, the next largest value that is less than lookup_value is returned.

Important If range_lookup is either TRUE or is omitted, the values in the first column of table_array must be placed in ascending sort order; otherwise, VLOOKUP might not return the correct value.
For more information, see Sort data in a range or table.
If range_lookup is FALSE, the values in the first column of table_array do not need to be sorted.

• If the range_lookup argument is FALSE, VLOOKUP will find only an exact match. If there are two or more values in the first column of table_array that match the lookup_value, the first value found is used. If an exact match is not found, the error value #N/A is returned.