Searching out Phrases in What-If Scenarios

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tylernicoll Posts 2 Registration date Thursday June 9, 2016 Status Member Last seen June 9, 2016 - Jun 9, 2016 at 07:07 PM
 Blocked Profile - Jun 10, 2016 at 10:07 PM
Hello,
I am having a hard time figuring out this What-If formula. I have my employees make notes in Cell A. So A1 might read "The customer came into the store wearing a red hoody" and cell A2 might read "The customer came in with a backpack." I am trying to have the spreadsheet "flag" the cell that contains the word "hoody" or "Backpack." My problem is this.. when I do =if(A1="hoody", "Yes", "no") the result always comes back as no because there are more words in the cell. Has anyone found a work around that would filter out the word "hoody" within that cell?

2 responses

Blocked Profile
Jun 9, 2016 at 07:19 PM
Try the FIND function?

I think SEARCH will do it!
It's kind of fun to do the impossible! -Walter Elias Disney
tylernicoll Posts 2 Registration date Thursday June 9, 2016 Status Member Last seen June 9, 2016
Jun 9, 2016 at 07:41 PM
I have never used that function before.... I will search it out and see how I can use it. I am trying to search out 4 different words within my spreadsheet. The words appear in different cells, so I will need to create a lengthy what-if statement. This should be interesting.

Ex: A1 will say "Guy in red hat"
A2 will say "Normal guy"
A3 will say "Guy in hoody shirt"

I want to create a what-if scenario that will identify "hat" or "hoody" within those cells in Cell B1-B3. I want to search though a lot of data identifying that information. Thanks for the tip.
Blocked Profile
Jun 9, 2016 at 08:12 PM
Me neither! But at least there is a lead! We don't do turn key solutions! Post some code when you are stuck, there are some PRETTY SMART programmers around here, that are willing to help when you are stuck!
vcoolio Posts 1411 Registration date Thursday July 24, 2014 Status Moderator Last seen September 6, 2024 262
Jun 10, 2016 at 01:58 AM
Hello Tylernicoll,

Have a look at the following link:-

https://www.dropbox.com/s/wfbrnz5jjpp3uha/EST.xlsx?dl=0

I'm sure its pretty close to what you would like. The original Poster was searching for two particular words (sentences in Column J) returning the result in Column A where the formula has been dragged down. You probably get the drift of the formula so just change the words and cell references to suit yourself and add a couple of more arguments for the additional two words you wish to find.

I hope that this helps.
Cheerio,
vcoolio.
Blocked Profile
Jun 10, 2016 at 10:07 PM
Thank you vcoolio!