Excel Data Copying

Question

I have two columns like the list below in a worksheet.

What I'd like to do is pull the value from the second column but only if the corresponding 1st column value matches one that I specify. This I could do with a Vlookup however I'd also like to be able to specify the row number from the array that the 1st column matches.

For example, if I set the value to '2' and the row number to '2' it would give me the value 14 since it's matched the first value in column 1 and created an array then given me the second row of that array which is 14.

Any ideas?

1   10
1   11
1   12
2   13
2   14
2   15
3   16
3   17
3   18

Answer 1

If your data is sorted as you have it in the example, ie. by first column ascending, then second column ascending. Then you can use a combination of OFFSET(), INDEX() and MATCH().

=OFFSET(INDEX(second_column,MATCH(lookup_a,first_column,0)),entry_row-1,0)

This first acquires the cell address with INDEX(..., MATCH()) of the first cell matching your lookup value, then the OFFSET() function knocks that down by how many rows you want within that group. Of course this entirely depends on the sorting being as described.

If you wanted the kth-smallest entry in an unsorted second column (but still grouped on the first column), then you could use:

=SMALL(OFFSET(second_column,MATCH(lookup_a,first_column,0)-1,0,MATCH(lookup_a,first_column,1)-MATCH(lookup_a,first_column,0)+1,1),entry_row)

This has the advantage of returning #N/A if you move out of bounds on your selection. Surrounding it with IFERROR(...., "").

Alternatively, using the first method for unsorted second column data and just checking the offset to see if it retains the lookup value, you can use:

=IF(OFFSET(OFFSET(INDEX(second_column,MATCH(lookup_a,first_column,0)),entry_row-1,0),0,-1)=lookup_a,OFFSET(INDEX(second_column,MATCH(lookup_a,first_column,0)),entry_row-1,0),"")

Answer 2

Answer Selecting the second result of a “Find” with VBA can be extended to your case, using as input the number of occurrence you are looking for.

And this is an adaptation of Excel Lookup nth Occurrence/Instance:

Function FindNth(Table As Range, Val1 As Variant, Val1Occrnce As Integer, ResultCol As Integer)
'Finds the Nth value in the first Column of a table that has a stated value on the same row in another Column.
  Dim i As Integer
  Dim iCount As Integer
  Dim rCol As Range

  iCount = 0
  For i = 1 To Table.Rows.Count
    If (Table.Cells(i, 1) = Val1) Then
      iCount = iCount + 1
    End If

    If iCount = Val1Occrnce Then
      FindNth = Table.Cells(i, ResultCol)
      Exit For
    End If
  Next i
End Function

Here's the result of using the user defined function (the formula bar shows the formula in cell G3):