Would anyone be able to explain why a formula doesn’t work when I use a concatenate but works when I don’t.

[Carty]

Hi

This should be simple but I am finding it baffling

The formula that works:

=Match(B4,'\\network address\folder\[file.xlsx]sheet'!$E:$E,)

I get the result 12. My understanding is that this is the row which the value of B4 on the current sheet is found in column E on the specified (different) sheet.

However I would like to use a cell reference on the current sheet to determine the sheet on which to look by using

=Match(B4,Concatenate("'\\network address\folder\[file.xlsx]",D4&" Text","'!",”$E:$E”),)

It gives me a #VALUE error and I don’t know why.

Stripping out the Concatenate part of the formula it gives me, I believe, the correct format i.e.

=Concatenate("'\\network address\folder\[file.xlsx]",D4&" Text","'!",”$E:$E”),)

Gives me '\\network address\folder\[file.xlsx]D4 Text'!$E:$E where "D4 Text" is the sheet name, which matches the format in the formula above.

Any enlightenment gratefully received

Thanks

Paul

 

[Eric W]

Because when you explicitly defined the workbook path and name, it was an address, and Excel was able to resolve it. When you use CONCATENATE, you are creating a text string, not an address. It looks like an address, but it's not. In order to convert a text to an address, you can surround it with the INDIRECT function. However, more bad news, INDIRECT does not work on closed workbooks. In order to do what you want, you may need to use VBA in some form.

 

[Carty]

Thank you, Eric W, for enlightening me. Not so much for creating more problems