How do I get Excel to return the column header of text that appears in an array?

PCnetMD

New Member
Joined
Oct 14, 2018
Messages
1
I need to determine which column a specific item is located.

[TABLE="width: 256"]
<colgroup><col width="64" span="4" style="width:48pt"> </colgroup><tbody>[TR]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]water[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]lettuce[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]chicken[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]ice cream[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]cola[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]tomato[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]beef[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]cake[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]juice[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]cucumber[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]pork[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]pie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]coffee[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]okra[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]lamb[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]brownie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]tea[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]carrot[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]shrimp[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]cookie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]milk[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]onion[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]fish[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]candy[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

How do I get Excel to return the column header of text that appears in the above array? Everything I have found only works for number(values).

Thank you,
 

Excel Facts

Does the VLOOKUP table have to be sorted?
No! when you are using an exact match, the VLOOKUP table can be in any order. Best-selling items at the top is actually the best.
I need to determine which column a specific item is located.

[TABLE="width: 256"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]1[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]2[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]3[/TD]
[TD="class: xl66, width: 64"]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]water[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]lettuce[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]chicken[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]ice cream[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]cola[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]tomato[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]beef[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]cake[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]juice[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]cucumber[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]pork[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]pie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]coffee[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]okra[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]lamb[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]brownie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]tea[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]carrot[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]shrimp[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]cookie[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: xl67"]milk[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]onion[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]fish[/TD]
[TD="class: xl67"]candy[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

How do I get Excel to return the column header of text that appears in the above array? Everything I have found only works for number(values).

Thank you,

=INDEX(A1:D1,MAX((A2:D7="pork")*COLUMN(A:D)))
Ctrl shift enter for the array formula.
 
Upvote 0
Assume your data is arranged as follows:

Data Range
[TABLE="class: grid"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
A
[/TD]
[TD]
B
[/TD]
[TD]
C
[/TD]
[TD]
D
[/TD]
[TD]
E
[/TD]
[TD]
F
[/TD]
[TD]
G
[/TD]
[TD]
H
[/TD]
[TD]
I
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
1
[/TD]
[TD]
water​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
1​
[/TD]
[TD]
2​
[/TD]
[TD]
3​
[/TD]
[TD]
4​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
2
[/TD]
[TD]
cola​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
water​
[/TD]
[TD]
lettuce​
[/TD]
[TD]
chicken​
[/TD]
[TD]
ice cream​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
3
[/TD]
[TD]
juice​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
cola​
[/TD]
[TD]
tomato​
[/TD]
[TD]
beef​
[/TD]
[TD]
cake​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
4
[/TD]
[TD]
coffee​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
juice​
[/TD]
[TD]
cucumber​
[/TD]
[TD]
pork​
[/TD]
[TD]
pie​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
5
[/TD]
[TD]
tea​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
coffee​
[/TD]
[TD]
okra​
[/TD]
[TD]
lamb​
[/TD]
[TD]
brownie​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
6
[/TD]
[TD]
milk​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
tea​
[/TD]
[TD]
carrot​
[/TD]
[TD]
shrimp​
[/TD]
[TD]
cookie​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
7
[/TD]
[TD]
lettuce​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]
milk​
[/TD]
[TD]
onion​
[/TD]
[TD]
fish​
[/TD]
[TD]
candy​
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
8
[/TD]
[TD]
tomato​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
9
[/TD]
[TD]
cucumber​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
10
[/TD]
[TD]
okra​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
11
[/TD]
[TD]
carrot​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
12
[/TD]
[TD]
onion​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
13
[/TD]
[TD]
chicken​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
14
[/TD]
[TD]
beef​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
15
[/TD]
[TD]
pork​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
16
[/TD]
[TD]
lamb​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
17
[/TD]
[TD]
shrimp​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
18
[/TD]
[TD]
fish​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
19
[/TD]
[TD]
ice cream​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
20
[/TD]
[TD]
cake​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
21
[/TD]
[TD]
pie​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
22
[/TD]
[TD]
brownie​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
23
[/TD]
[TD]
cookie​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
24
[/TD]
[TD]
candy​
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

then the following VBA will do what you need

Code:
Option Explicit


Sub foo()
    Dim i As Long, c As Range
    Dim rng As Range, x As Long
    Set rng = Range("F2:I7")
    Dim lr As Long
    lr = Range("A" & Rows.Count).End(xlUp).Row
    For i = 1 To lr
        For Each c In rng
            If Range("A" & i) = c Then
                x = c.Column
                Range("B" & i) = Cells(1, x)
            End If
        Next c
    Next i
End Sub
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
Use this formula

=SUMPRODUCT((a1:d6="tea")*(COLUMN(a1:d6)))

you will get answer as 1
 
Upvote 0
Does a value like okra repeat? If it does, do you need all of the corresponding headers? By the way, is the set of 1, 2, 3, and 4 the header set?
 
Upvote 0

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