If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Comparing Two Text Based Lists
"Paul Talkington" wrote in message ... Hello All I have been struggling with a VLOOKUP trying to compare two different customer lists. Problem is that when comparing text if there are slightly different spellings eg. ABC and ABC Ltd. (even if they are the same), I either get #N/A with FALSE or get the next closest match with TRUE Am I "barking up the wrong tree" ? is there a way of comparing within a text string soas to to get a closer - but not exact match ? Thanks in Advance. Paul There is a Soundex algorithm that takes care of minor spelling differences - so Smith, Smyth, Smythe etc all come out the same. It's quite well known. I doubt that anything standard will take care of Ltd / plc etc. In your position, I would proceed as follows: Copy both lists of names. Do a Search and replace for Ltd, Limited, The, plc, etc - replacing with nothing. (You might want to make a list of all the keywords and variations. You might as well record this as a macro, in case you need to do it again some time.) Similarly strip out hyphens, spaces, full stops, commas. Apply Soundex to both lists and use the results of that for your comparisons. Good luck! I fear you may need it! Geoff |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Comparing Two Text Based Lists
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|