Using multiple cells as search pattern.

B

Bo Rasmussen

Hi,

I'm using excel for an analysis of a communications protocol, and I would
like to search for a pattern where two (or more) adjacent cells match some
pattern. Say I want to look for the pattern 10|11 (i.e. 10 in cell1, 11 in
the next cell in the column) - can that be done ?

Regards
Bo Rasmussen
 
E

Earl Kiosterud

Bo,

If your packets/blocks/whatever have been put into rows, and you're looking
down two columns for this pattern, use Data - Advanced Filter.

Or if you're using VLOOKUP, looking with multiple-field criteria can't be
done directly. BUt you can "build" criteria by concatenating them, both in
your vlookup, and in your table:

=VLOOKUP( 10 & " " & 11, etc...)

The space between the two is necessary for the possibility of finding
something like 101|1 in the data.

Then you need to build a helper column for the VLOOKUP to look in:

=A2 & " " & B2

and copy down. Use that for the leftmost (search) column of the VLOOKUP.

If instead of a table of packets/whatever, you have a continuous stream of
data, and you're looking for this pattern anywhere along it, you'll need to
tell us how the information is arranged in the worksheet. Give some
examples.
 
B

Bo Rasmussen

Hi,

And thanks for your replies. Actually I'm only looking in one row containing
the characters transmitted on a serial line. If say 324 characters has been
transmitted, then there's 324 rows for that column. Now I'm looking for a
sequence of characters e.g. A B in the column. How is that done ?

Regards and thanks in advance
Bo Rasmussen
 
E

Earl Kiosterud

Bo,

OK. Now the question is - how do you want the results?

If you want indications in situ for multiple occurrences, you could put a
formula in an adjacent column. This would flag each occurence.

=IF(AND(A2=10,A3=11),"*","")

Copy down with fill handle or copy/paste. This will mark each occurrence
with an asterisk.
 
B

Bo Rasmussen

Thanks :eek:)I would offcourse like to have something like find / find next,
but that can now easily be done by searching for the generated asteriss

Bo
 
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