I would like to use INDEX/MATCH to look up values based on the combination of characters in a cell, but LEFT/RIGHT will not work because the length/order of characters is not consistent. Specifically:
I have a set of scores for a competition which consist of up to 3 characters:
A number (1-5), a modifier (+/-), and a category (A/B)
For example:
5+A
3-B
2-A
The number is always present, but the modifier and/or category are often omitted..
5A (no + or - in between)
2+ (no category A/B)
3 (no modifier or category)
Note that there is NOT a blank space in place of omitted characters. A score of 5 is simply 5 (not 5[space][space]). (I tried using a placeholder for omitted characters but this resulted in a LOT of data entry errors when entering many scores rapidly).
I would like to use INDEX/MATCH to look up values based on these scores in a table similar to the one below. Since the modifier and/or category may be omitted in any combination, I can't do a simple LEFT / RIGHT.
Any suggestions for how to make this happen? I'm imagine there's an obvious solution right under my nose and I'm just overthinking...
Thank you.
Score Mod Cat Data1 Data2 Data3
5 + A 44 45 57
5 + B 54 35 67
5 + 35 67 48
5 A 54 58 67
5 B 36 67 49
5 54 68 67
5 - A 87 75 100
5 - B 56 64 69
5 - 35 25 48
4 + A 27 56 40
4 + B 48 27 61
4 + 68 59 81
4 A 67 68 80
Etc...
(This is dummy data for clarity. The actual data is different and has 3 categories: A, B, C)
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