Excel Formula for Using External Data to Fill in a Custom Lifespan

Overview

This document outlines how to create an Excel formula that utilizes external data to fill in a custom lifespan. The scenario assumes you have a dataset that specifies lifespans for various categories (e.g., pets, plants, products) and you need to apply this information to a new dataset.

Requirements

1. An external data source (could be another worksheet, a database, or an external file) containing the lifespan information.
2. A primary dataset where you will populate or calculate the lifespan based on the external data.

Assumptions

• External data is stored in a table format with two columns: Category and Lifespan.
• The primary dataset includes a column for Category, for which the corresponding Lifespan needs to be filled in.

Formula Construction

Use of VLOOKUP

The most efficient way to retrieve the lifespan based on the category from an external data source in Excel is to use the VLOOKUP function. The syntax for VLOOKUP is as follows:

VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, [range_lookup])

• lookup_value: The value to search for.
• table_array: The range of cells that contains the data.
• col_index_num: The column number in table_array from which to retrieve the value.
• range_lookup: FALSE for an exact match.

Example Formula

Assuming:

• Your primary dataset category is in cell A2.
• The external lifespan data is in a range named LifespanData, where column 1 contains categories, and column 2 contains the corresponding lifespan.

The formula would be:

=VLOOKUP(A2, LifespanData, 2, FALSE)

Explanation

• A2: This is the cell in your primary dataset containing the category for which you want to find the lifespan.
• LifespanData: This is the named range of your external data set where the first column is the category names and the second column contains the lifespans.
• 2: This number indicates that you want to return values from the second column of the LifespanData range.
• FALSE: This ensures that the function looks for an exact match of the category name.

Practical Illustration

Example Data

Lifespan Data (External Source)

Primary Dataset

Implementation

1. In cell B2 of the primary dataset, enter the formula:

   =VLOOKUP(A2, LifespanData, 2, FALSE)

2. Drag the fill handle down from cell B2 to fill in the subsequent rows (B3, B4, etc.).

Outcome

Following the above steps, your primary dataset will be populated as follows:

Considerations

• Ensure that the values in the Category column of both datasets match exactly, including case sensitivity and whitespace.
• If a category does not exist in the external data, VLOOKUP will return #N/A. You can wrap the formula with IFERROR to handle these cases gracefully.

=IFERROR(VLOOKUP(A2, LifespanData, 2, FALSE), "Not Found")

Conclusion

The above instructions provide a structured method to leverage external data using Excel's VLOOKUP function to fill in lifespans based on categories effectively. For further training in Excel functionalities, consider exploring resources available at the Enterprise DNA Platform.