Page 427 - Excel 2013 All-in-One For Dummies

Chapter 6: Lookup, Information, and Text Formulas
In This Chapter
✓ Looking up data in a table and adding it to a list
✓ Transposing vertical cell ranges to horizontal and vice versa ✓ Getting information about a cell’s contents
✓ Evaluating a cell’s type with the IS information functions
✓ Using text functions to manipulate text entries
✓ Creating formulas that combine text entries
This chapter covers three categories of Excel functions: the lookup and reference functions that return values and cell addresses from the spreadsheet, the information functions that return particular types of infor- mation about cells in the spreadsheet, and the text functions that enable you to manipulate strings of text in the spreadsheet.
In these three different categories of Excel functions, perhaps none are as handy as the lookup functions that enable you to have Excel look up cer- tain data in a table and then return other related data from that same table based on the results of that lookup.
Lookup and Reference
The lookup functions are located on the Lookup & Reference command but- ton’s drop-down menu (Alt+MO) on the Ribbon’s Formulas tab. Excel makes it easy to perform table lookups that either return information about entries in the table or actually return related data to other data lists in the spread- sheet. By using Lookup tables to input information into a data list, you not only reduce the amount of data input that you have to do, but also eliminate the possibility of data entry errors. Using Lookup tables also makes it a snap to update your data lists: All you have to do is make the edits to the entries in the original Lookup table or schedule to have all their data entries in the list updated as well.
The reference functions in Excel enable you to return specific information about particular cells or parts of the worksheet; create hyperlinks to differ- ent documents on your computer, network, or the Internet; and transpose ranges of vertical cells so that they run horizontally and vice versa.