Managing Data with Microsoft® Excel

Using MATCH with Other Functions

You probably won't have much use for the MATCH function all by itself. Think back: How often have you wondered where to find the number 5 in the range C10:C100 by means of a worksheet function? But when you use MATCH as an argument to another function, such as INDEX or OFFSET, you begin to appreciate how valuable it is.

Combining MATCH and INDEX

That aspect of MATCH--being able to find the largest value less than or equal to the value you're looking for--is useful when you have to deal with grouped values as seen in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6. Consider using MATCH whenever several values (such as 11 through 15) are associated with one value (such as 4.6%).

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In Figure 2.6, the user is looking ...