Retrieval Functions:
There are three Retrieval Functions you will need to know for this exam
o VLookup
o HLookup
o Index
First, it is important to remember if the question ask you to use a LOOKUP function it has to be a
v or h lookup, if you use an index it will be marked wrong even if you return the right answer
(this is just to make sure you know all the functions, in the real world you can use whatever you
like the best)
What’s the difference between the three?
o Index is very different from either lookup function in the sense that in the index function
you give it the row and column index number inside of an array and it goes down that
many rows in the array and over that many columns in the array and returns the value in
that cell. I like to think of the game battle ship when thinking about an index function,
you give coordinates and excel will look at what is in those coordinates and return the
value
o VLookup vs HLookup
The difference between these two is dependent on what you are trying to
lookup if your lookup value is stored in the LEFT most column of your table array
than you can use a vlookup. If your lookup value is stored in the TOP Row then
you use an Hlookup. Then you just have to tell it how many columns to go over if
you are in a vlookup or how many rows to go down if you are in an hlookup
Don’t forget the MATCH function
o This function will always return a numeric value that corresponds to the position of the
value you tell it to look up
o This is used inside of vlookups, hlookups, and indexes to get your row and column index
numbers so your retrieval functions know where to actually look up the data. This allows
it to be dynamic and lets you fill down to lookup multiple things with one function.
Text functions:
All the functions you need to know
o Lef
o Right
o Mid
o Len
o Find
o Concatenate
For the exam just remember these patterns:
o If the name in cell A1 is stored: First Last
To get the First name do this: Lef(A1, Find(“ “,A1)-1) - this will look in the cell
with the name in it, find the position of the space and the find function will
return that number, which we take 1 away from so that we can get just the
number of characters in the first name
There are three Retrieval Functions you will need to know for this exam
o VLookup
o HLookup
o Index
First, it is important to remember if the question ask you to use a LOOKUP function it has to be a
v or h lookup, if you use an index it will be marked wrong even if you return the right answer
(this is just to make sure you know all the functions, in the real world you can use whatever you
like the best)
What’s the difference between the three?
o Index is very different from either lookup function in the sense that in the index function
you give it the row and column index number inside of an array and it goes down that
many rows in the array and over that many columns in the array and returns the value in
that cell. I like to think of the game battle ship when thinking about an index function,
you give coordinates and excel will look at what is in those coordinates and return the
value
o VLookup vs HLookup
The difference between these two is dependent on what you are trying to
lookup if your lookup value is stored in the LEFT most column of your table array
than you can use a vlookup. If your lookup value is stored in the TOP Row then
you use an Hlookup. Then you just have to tell it how many columns to go over if
you are in a vlookup or how many rows to go down if you are in an hlookup
Don’t forget the MATCH function
o This function will always return a numeric value that corresponds to the position of the
value you tell it to look up
o This is used inside of vlookups, hlookups, and indexes to get your row and column index
numbers so your retrieval functions know where to actually look up the data. This allows
it to be dynamic and lets you fill down to lookup multiple things with one function.
Text functions:
All the functions you need to know
o Lef
o Right
o Mid
o Len
o Find
o Concatenate
For the exam just remember these patterns:
o If the name in cell A1 is stored: First Last
To get the First name do this: Lef(A1, Find(“ “,A1)-1) - this will look in the cell
with the name in it, find the position of the space and the find function will
return that number, which we take 1 away from so that we can get just the
number of characters in the first name
