trying to match text in 2 worksheets

[simpsonehh]

Hi,
I have text data on sheet1 (UserSort) in columns A and B - random order
cannot be changed
column B does not have text data in every cell, some are blank.
sheet two (Temp-A) column A has the same data as sheet1 column A. i need to
populate sheet2 column B with the data


sheet1 sheet2
A B A B
Hodge pc-hodge ralph ? (need to populate pc-hodge here)
ralph pc-ralph lacy (should be blank or #na if not data in sheet1 column B)
jones jones
lacy smith
smith pc-lacy hodge

I have searched and adjusted these but with no luck:
IF(A9="",,"This is
true",INDEX(sheet1!$A$1:$A$1000,MATCH(TRUE,ISNUMBER(SEARCH(A9,$B$1:$B$1000)),0)))

=INDEX(UserSort!$A$2:$A$1000,MATCH('Temp-A'!A1,$B$1:$B$1000,1))

=VLOOKUP(B4,UserSort!$B$2:$B$1000,1,TRUE)

Thanks for the help.

 

[JLatham]

Ok, Let me make sure I have the 'rules' right:
Matching column is A on both sheets, it is column B on the second sheet
(Temp-A) that you need to populate with related information from the first
sheet (UserSort).

I'll start at row 2 on the Temp-A sheet. This formula in column B (i.e.,
first entry at B2) should work for you:

=VLOOKUP(A2,UserSort!$A$2:$B$1000,2,FALSE)
To explain;
You are trying to match the data in column A, so A2, passes the information
in column A on the current row on the current sheet as the search/to-match
information.
UserSort!$A$2:B$!1000, says to compare our A2 value to all values in column
A from row 2 to row 1000 on UserSort sheet and then return the value from the
second column ( ,2, ) of the table we've identified from the first match
made. Finally, the ,FALSE portion says that the information on UserSort
sheet may not be in order.

The VLOOKUP compares the search/to-match information to that in the 1st
column of the lookup table referenced, so it's always going to look in column
A in this setup.

Hope this helps.