CSE 2337
Chapter 5
Retrieving Data with Lookups
1
Objectives
• VLOOKUP
• HLOOKUP
• LOOKUP
• INDEX
2
Lookup Tables in Excel
• Lookup Table – A data list that
categorizes values that are needed
elsewhere
• Better than nested ifs – extensibility
• Better than hard coding -
redundancy
3
Vertical Lookups
4
Example Vertical Lookup Tables
Unit Pricing
Qty
$/each
0 $ 2.45
60 $ 2.27
120 $ 2.12
240 $ 2.00
Goal: Given a
quantity, what is the
unit price??
Shipping Costs
Method
$/each
Truck
$
0.25
Rail
$
0.20
Ship
$
0.15
Customer $
-
Goal: Given a
method, what is the
cost per unit??
5
VLOOKUP
• VLOOKUP function
– Most effective and flexible way to
retrieve data organized in columns
– Searches specified part of worksheet for
data, starting with the first column
– =VLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,
col_index_num,range_lookup)
– Must specify col_index_num
6
VLOOKUP Arguments
7
VLOOKUP Algorithm
8
Exact Match
• If using lookup type of FALSE,
VLOOKUP only looks for an exact
match
• Sorted ascending not required
• VLOOKUP function displays #N/A in
cell if exact match is not found
9
Exact Match
10
Horizontal Lookups
11
Horizontal Lookup
Shipping Discount
Total Price:
0
Shipping Discount 1
0%
Shipping Discount 2
0%
300
15%
10%
1000
25%
15%
12
HLOOKUP
• HLOOKUP function
– Looks up a value by testing for a criterion
across a row
– HLOOKUP(lookup_value,table_array,
row_index_num,range_lookup)
– Must specify row_index_num
• Similar to VLOOKUP function, except that
values are tested across the row
• First row of lookup table must be sorted in
ascending order
13
14
HLOOKUP
15
Other Worksheets
• Use VLOOKUP and HLOOK for
accessing data on other worksheets
– Data may be placed on separate sheet
when it is a long table
16
Separate Sheets
17
LOOKUP
• Use LOOKUP function
– Looks up the greatest value that does not
exceed a specified value anywhere in a table or
range
– Can retrieve data from a lookup table with a
vertical or horizontal orientation
– Uses only a TRUE lookup type; column or row
containing lookup values must be in ascending
order
– LOOKUP(lookup_value,lookup_vector,
result_vector)
18
19
20
Index Function
• Use INDEX function with two- or threedimensional tables
– Returns the value in a table based on row and
column numbers that you specify
– =INDEX(reference,row_num,column_num,
area_num)
– Has several guidelines – See p 305 of text…
21
22
Index
23