Common Functions Used in Excel for CS 100

VLOOKUP

Most appropriate to use when you are using a search key to find an entry in a table.

Consists of 4 parameters: VLOOKUP(lookup_value, table_array, col_index_num, range_lookup)

• lookup_value is the value to be found in the first column of the table.
• table_array is the table of information in which data is searched in.
• col_index_num is the column number in table_array from which the matching value must be returned.
• range_lookup is a logical value that specifies whether you want VLOOKUP to find an exact match or an approximate match.

INDIRECT

The INDIRECT function takes one parameter (a label) and interprets that label as a cell address, cell range, name assigned to a cell, or to a cell range.

Consists of 2 parameters: INDIRECT(ref_text, a1)

• ref_text refers to a cell that contains A1-style reference.
• a1 is a logical value that specifies what type of reference is contained in the cell ref_text.