Substring search in a lookup on a Pivot

[TheBigEgg]

Hi,
Currently have this formula that works to a point:
=IFERROR(GETPIVOTDATA("Var1",Data!$K$1,"Var2",$AD18222,"Var3",I$2,"Var4",$AB18222),0)

I need to be able to substring Var4 so it finds for example "VF11" VF12" etc when the cell it refers to ($AB18222 for example) has "VF1" in it.

Anyone able to help?

Much appreciated,
Scott

 

[RoryA]

Welcome to the forum.

You can't use wildcards in GETPIVOTDATA I'm afraid. Could there be more than one match and if so, should the result be the sum of them or something else?

 

[TheBigEgg]

Hi Rory,

yes, the result should be a sum. I was just trying to see if I could get away without adding in the extra breakdowns in to the lookup as the spreadsheet is already very large but if it can't be worked around I can go down that route.
As a somewhat basic Excel user I thought it would be best to ask before going down that route!

Thanks for the help!

 

[RoryA]

If there's a limit to the possible options, you could use an array formula with INDIRECT to create all possible number combinations like this:

=SUM(IFERROR(GETPIVOTDATA("Var1",Data!$K$1,"Var2",$AD18222,"Var3",I$2,"Var4",$AB18222&TEXT(ROW(INDIRECT("1:1000"))-1,"0;;;")),0))

which will essentially try and sum the values for VF1, VF11, VF12, VF13 and so on up to VF1999. Would that work for you?