Compare MATCH modes and maintained groups
Your goal: Inspect exact, nearest-lower and nearest-upper positions from differently ordered sources, then read the selected category from its actual row.
Full task requirements
Fill K2:Q7 for the numeric queries J2:J7. K returns the first exact position inside unsorted A2:A7, or No exact. L returns the position of the largest key at or below the query in ascending D2:D7, or No lower. M returns the position of the smallest key at or above the query in descending G2:G7, or No upper. N and O return the maintained text group from E and H at the corresponding approximate position; P returns the exact group from B. Q independently returns the nearest-lower group with VLOOKUP on the ascending D2:E7 policy and must agree with N. Positions are 1-based within the selected six-cell range, not spreadsheet row numbers or matched key values. Use explicit MATCH modes 0,1,-1, INDEX for N:P groups, and explicit approximate VLOOKUP for Q. Exact keys may be unsorted or duplicated and select the first occurrence. Lower keys must be strictly increasing and upper keys strictly decreasing; these two policies are editable independently. Keys and queries are finite stored numbers within ±1,000,000. Group labels are nonempty ASCII text up to 40 characters, including a possible text 0 label. Copy within each output column only.
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Choose the exact match for J2
Rules for this step
Use the first equal key in the unsorted exact source. Return its position inside A2:A7, not its worksheet row or key value.
- Numeric query · J2
- -1
Your selected source cells will appear here.
- Position inside the lookup array
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- Exact group
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