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

PCnetMD

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Joined
Oct 14, 2018
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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,
 

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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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