MATCH AND MERGE DATA BY TEXT SIMILARITY

Introduction to Match and Merge

FLOOKUP has four different lookup function modes. These functions find and return desired matches based on their respective percentage similarities to other text entries in comparison.

FLOOKUP

1. 1. Head to Extensions > Flookup Data Wrangler > Match and Merge Functions > FLOOKUP in your spreadsheet menu.

   2. Select the mode you want this function to run from the drop-down menu [See Explanation Below].

   3. Primary range: Select a single column of data and click "Grab selected range".

   4. Secondary range: Select a separate range of one or more columns and click "Grab selected range".

   5. Lookup_Column: Enter the index of the column of values in "Secondary range" that you want to compare with values in "Primary range".

   6. Return_column: Enter the index of the column of values in "Secondary range" from which you want values to be returned.

   7. Threshold: Enter the minimum percentage similarity between the "Primary range" and "Secondary range" values, below which matches should not be returned. The default value is 1, meaning that only exact matches will be returned.

   8. Click an empty cell where you would like your results to be displayed. This cell should be in any sheet inside that same workbook.

   9. Click the "Get fuzzy matches" button to finish.

FLOOKUP Modes Explained

1. 1. Return best match only: This returns the best match for every lookup value.

   2. Return best match and similarity: This returns the best match for every lookup value, paired with its respective similarity.

   3. Return best match and row index: This returns the best match for every lookup value, paired with the row index in which it is located.

   4. Return all matches for each item: This returns all possible matches for each lookup value in a comma separated format.

   5. Merge data from rows with matches: This will return all the selected data from each row in which a match is found, as opposed to returning data from rows in a single column e.g. Assuming you selected range B2:E1000 and, while searching for matches in column C, a match for cell A2 is found in cell C50. In such a scenario, data from row B50:E50 will be returned.

   6. Compare sentences and phrases: This is suited for longer text entries, and it returns the best match for every lookup value, paired with its respective similarity.

SOUNDMATCH

1. 1. Head to Extensions > Flookup Data Wrangler > Match and Merge Functions > SOUNDMATCH in your spreadsheet menu.

   2. Primary range: Select a single column of data and click "Grab selected range".

   3. Secondary range: Select a separate range of one or more columns and then click "Grab selected range".

   4. Lookup_column: Enter the index of the column of values in "Secondary range" that you want to compare with values in "Primary range".

   5. Return_column: Enter the index of the column of key values in "Secondary range" from which you want values to be returned.

   6. Click an empty cell where you would like your results to be displayed, inside that same workbook.

   7. Click the "Get fuzzy matches" button to finish.

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