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MVLOOKUP

Category: EGTools-only function

Runs VLOOKUP for many keys at once, returning one or more columns.

Syntax

=MVLOOKUP(lookup_value, lookup_array, return_column, [match_mode], [if_not_found])

Arguments

Argument Required Description
lookup_value Required key column (or single value)
lookup_array Required data table; keys in first column
return_column Required column number(s) to return, e.g. 2 or {2,3}
match_mode Optional FALSE exact (default), TRUE approximate (largest ≤ key)
if_not_found Optional value when no match (default "")

Returns

Returns a spilled array of lookup-elements (row-major) x return-columns; rows without a match get if_not_found (default ""). Returns #VALUE! when a required argument is missing, lookup_array is not an array, or a return column number is invalid.

Examples

Formula Result Description
=MVLOOKUP({"a";"c"},{"a",1;"b",2},2) {1;""} Exact match for many keys
=MVLOOKUP("b",{"a",1,"x";"b",2,"y"},{2,3}) {2,"y"} Return several columns at once
=MVLOOKUP(15,{10,"low";20,"high"},2,TRUE) low Approximate match (largest key <= value)

Notes

  • Exact match is hash-based; with duplicate keys the first row wins.
  • Approximate match sorts internally and uses binary search, so the data need not be pre-sorted.
  • Key comparison is case-insensitive.
  • lookup_value also accepts a horizontal (1×N) or 2-D array; values are read in row-major order and results are returned vertically.
  • Supported: Excel 2010+. Always registered as MVLOOKUP on every Excel version.