We all know that VLOOKUP (and its cousins MATCH, HLOOKUP and LOOKUP) are great for finding information you want. But they are helpless when you want to do a case-sensitive lookup.
So how do we write case sensitive VLOOKUP formulas?
Simple. We can use EXACT formula.
What exactly is the EXACT formula?
EXACT formula checks if 2 cells have exactly the same value. And it is very SenSITive.
For example, =EXACT("this","THIS") will be false , where as =”this”=”THIS” will be true.
Using EXACT formula to do case sensitive lookups
Let’s say the value you are looking up is in cell F4, the lookup range is B5:C11 (column B has lookup value and column C has value you want).
You can use EXACT formula along with INDEX + MATCH or SUMPRODUCT to do case sensitive lookup. Let’s look at each of these variations:
Using EXACT & INDEX + MATCH formulas to do case sensitive lookups:
Formula: {=INDEX($C$5:$C$11,MATCH(TRUE,EXACT($F$4,$B$5:$B$11),0))}
How it works?
Let’s go from inside out.
EXACT(F4, B5:B11) portion: This will return an array of TRUE & FALSE values. Something like this:
{FALSE;FALSE;TRUE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE;FALSE}
MATCH(TRUE, EXACT(...), 0) portion: Now we look for TRUE in all the values EXACT has returned. This will be 3 (since 3rd value in the array is true).
INDEX(C5:C11, MATCH(...)) portion: This will simply return the 3rd value in the column C, ie an exact match.
{INDEX(...)}: Because this is an array formula, you must press CTRL+Shift+Enter after typing it. The {} indicates this.
Related: Learn about INDEX+MATCH combination.
Using EXACT + SUMPRODUCT formula:
If the lookup result is a number (or date) and there is only matching value, you can use SUMPRODUCT to do case sensitive lookups.
Related: Introduction Excel SUMPRODUCT formula.
Formula:=SUMPRODUCT(EXACT($F$4,$B$5:$B$11) * ($C$5:$C$11))
How it works?
The EXACT(F4, B5:B11) portion returns a bunch of TRUE & FALSE values.
When you multiply these TRUE & FALSE values with column C (which contains numbers), the end result will be the value you are looking for.
This is possible because in Excel, TRUE is 1 and FALSE is 0. So when you multiply a list of logical values (true / false) with a list of numbers, everything that corresponds to false becomes 0.
So we get,
{0;0;30;0;0;0;0}
SUMPRODUCT simply adds up these numbers and returns 30 as result.
Note: This formula won’t work if you have text values in column C or more than one TRUE in EXACT result (ie multiple values match the lookup criteria).
For advanced users: SUMPRODUCT – Advanced scenarios
Download case sensitive lookup – example workbook
Please click here to download case sensitive lookup example workbook. Examine the formulas to learn more about this technique.
More ways to lookup:
- 2 Way lookups – lookup in top row & left column and find matching value.
- Wild lookups – lookup a value that starts with Som & ends with ne.
- Range lookup – find a value inside the lower & upper boundary
- Last lookup – find the last value in a list of multiple matches.
- Multi-condition lookups – lookup based on multiple conditions
- Take our VLOOKUP Quiz – how well do you know VLOOKUP?
Get The VLOOKUP Book: If you are always looking for help about VLOOKUP, look no further. Get my book, it’s going to make you awesome in VLOOKUP, INDEX+MATCH, multi-condition lookups, 2 way lookups and more. Click here to order your copy.
How do you write case sensitive lookups?
Let me be honest. I haven’t had a single case sensitive lookup scenario in last year. But email from a reader prompted me to research this problem.
What about you? Do you often deal with case-sensitive data? How do you write case sensitive lookups? Please share your tips & formulas in comments section.
25 Responses to “Display Alerts in Dashboards to Grab User Attention [Quick Tip]”
I prefer the red,grey,light grey,black icon set. I've also used in-cell pie charts from Fabrice's Sparklines for Excel as an alert which could also provide another piece of information.
I prefer the red,grey,light grey,black icon set. I've also used in-cell pie charts from Fabrice's Sparklines for Excel as an alert which can also provide another piece of information.
For Excel 2007, your formula should do the same as the Excel 2003 version, so that non-alert rows are blank - if they are 0, the unnecessary green icon will show
Hi Chandoo,
Nice Post !! just to add something for EXL 2003, we can also 4 Ifs and link to the alert data
For Ex: If we have alert data in Cell A2 and want to split in 4 orders namely <25%, 25-50%, 50-75% and 75%< then we can following formula and put fonts as you have suggested :
=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153),IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155),IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))
And then using Conditional Formating we can dashboard reflected on different COLOURS as per their respective alert.
Best Regards
Rohit1409
Hi Chandoo,
Nice Post !!! just to add something for EXL 2003, we can also 4 Ifs and link to the alert data
For Ex: If we have alert data in Cell A2 and want to split in 4 orders namely <25%, 25-50%, 50-75% and 75%< then we can following formula and put fonts as you have suggested :
=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153),IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155),IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))
And then using Conditional Formating we can dashboard reflected on different COLOURS as per their respective alert.
Best Regards
Rohit1409
The Complete formula [Don't Know how it got cut ]
=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153),IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155),IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))
PS : Use in single line [I have split it to avoid cuts 😉 ]
Hi Chandoo..
why it is not displaying the complete formula..
anyways here is the balance
"=IF(A2<0.25,CHAR(153), IF(A2<=0.5,CHAR(155), IF(A2=0.76,CHAR(152)))))"
@Rohit... your formulas are fine. Just that the width of comment area is fixed and hence my website is cropping it at 640pixels. I just edited your formula and added few white spaces so that it wraps nicely.
Very good idea btw.. kudos!
Hi,
Maybe just go for 'bold' ; 'underline' or 'italic' to draw the users attention? Those methods (if those can be called methods) are used cross media type (books, journals, blogs, billboards, ...) to guide the readers eye to valuable information.
Just a basic thought
@Tom.. good idea..
[...] has a very nice writeup on how to add such alerts to dashboard sheets. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Divide your data set into workbooksHow to enforce [...]
Hi Chandoo,
You certainly grabbed my attention! although I wasn't sure what my brother (Suresh) and cousin (Shyam) were doing right, and I was doing wrong? 😉
I love your blog btw - Many thanks for all your hard work in unravelling the secrets and mysteries of Excel!
Best regards
Ramesh
I thought I saw an advertisment for a book about learning excel called excel himalaya or something. It cost about 35.00 us money but seemed to have the things I need to have my admin assistant to start to use. I was hoping to start with this book and then send her to school if she shows some interest and aptitude. Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks
Great web site and information!!!!
@Jeff... checkout http://chandoo.org/wp/2010/08/25/excel-everest-review/
thanks, your website is awesome!
[...] Alerts to highlight focus areas [...]
[...] There are lots of numbers in this dashboard. I would suggest adding few more visualizations like showing indicators or applying conditional formatting or replacing a table with a chart. This would reduce the [...]
[...] is the same technique as alert icons in dashboard. Just that I also showed green [...]
[...] is the same technique as alert icons in dashboard. Just that I also showed green [...]
Hi Chandoo
Firstly thanks for all the cool tips on how to use Excel better.
I am new to the site and have a question which you may be able to assist with but dont know if these comment boxes are the best way of asking ?
I am looking at assets and trying to calculate the depreciation total by taking a year (say 2010) adding the expected life of the asset (say 10 years) then comparing that to a future date (say 2015) using an IF statement. The calculation in normal is - IF((year in col B (2010) plus 10years)>year 2015, add a years depreciation, otherwise leave blank). The converted date value does not appear able to add 10 years in order to compare it to 2015. Am I missing something ?
I use the “IF” Statement in conjunction with Conditional Formatting in MS Excel to give verbiage to alert one of a required action, dependant on a review date. This makes a visual stimulus, plus it clues one as to what the conditional format is trying to warn you about and what follow-up actions are required.
Wow, I'm really impressed with dashboards. I had no idea this stuff was even possible with excel. I'd like to offer an interactive dashboard to my customers, showing analytics of their data. I have a .pdf file with the datapoints. I'd like them to enter the data on my website, and be able to see their data. Is something like that possible.
Hi Chandoo,
I've recently purchased the package for both templates.
In the portfolio dashboard,under the calculations worksheet, I'm attempting to change the date range in the gantt chart to show only the range of the project that starts in late 2013. How do I do this?
Thanks
Adam
[...] is the same technique as alert icons in dashboard. Just that I also showed green [...]
Hi Chandoo,
I'm new at Excel Dashboard and found your blog really useful and helpful! It's very nice of you that you dedicate your time to do this.
Could you please explain how can I use Alerts based on dates on a Dashboar?
For example, if a target date is coming closer to the actual date, the alert is yellow or red.
I'd really appreciate some help!
Thank you
Where can I download the file Excel of Averall Statistics ???
Thanks a lot.