Why my ArrayFormula is giving error? How do I correct it? (I'm not looking for another Arrayformula as solutions!)

Question

I wanted a ArrayFormula at C1 which gives the required result as shown.

Entry sheet:
(Column C is my required column)

Date Entered is the date when the Name is Assigned a group i.e. a, b, c, d, e, f

Criteria:

The value of count is purely on basis of Date Entered (if john is assigned a on lowest date(10-Jun) then count value is 1, if rose is assigned a on 2nd lowest date(17-Jun) then count value is 2).
The value of count does not change even when the data is sorted in any manner because Date Entered column values is always permanent & does not change.
New entry date could be any date not necessarily highest date (If a new entry with name Rydu is assigned a on 9-Jun then the it's count value will become 1, then john's (10-Jun) will become 2 and so on)

Example:

After I sort the data in any random order say like this:

Random ordered sheet:
(Count value remains permanent)

And when I do New entries in between (Row 4th & 14th) and after last row (Row 17th):

Random Ordered sheet:
(Doesn't matter where I do)

I already got a ArrayFormula which gives the required result:

={"AF Formula1"; ArrayFormula(IF(B2:B="", "", COUNTIFS(B$2:B, "="&B2:B, D$2:D, <"&D2:D)+1))}

I'm not looking for another Arrayformula as solutions. What I want is to know what is wrong in my ArrayFormula? and how do I correct it?

I tried to figure my own ArrayFormula but it's not working:

I got Formula for each cell:
=RANK($D2,FILTER($D$2:$D, $B$2:$B=$B2),1)
I figured out Filter doesn't work with ArrayFormula so I had to take a different approach.

I took help from my previous question answer (Arrayformula at H3) which was similar since in both cases each cell FILTER formula returns more than 1 value. (It was actually answered by player0)

Using the same technique I came up with this Formula which works absolutely fine :

=RANK($D2, ARRAYFORMULA(TRANSPOSE(SPLIT(VLOOKUP($B2, SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(SPLIT(FLATTEN(QUERY(QUERY({$B:$B&"×", $D:$D}, "SELECT MAX(Col2) WHERE Col2 IS NOT NULL GROUP BY Col2 PIVOT Col1", 1),, 9^9)), "×")), " ", ","), 2, 0), ","))), 1)

Now when I tried converting it to ArrayFormula: ($D2 to $D2:$D & $B2 to $B2:$B)

=ARRAYFORMULA(RANK($D2:$D,TRANSPOSE(SPLIT(VLOOKUP($B2:$B, SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(SPLIT(FLATTEN(QUERY(QUERY({$B:$B&"×", $D:$D}, "SELECT MAX(Col2) WHERE Col2 IS NOT NULL GROUP BY Col2 PIVOT Col1", 1),, 9^9)), "×")), " ", ","), 2, 0), ",")), 1))

It gives me an error "Did not find value '' in VLOOKUP evaluation", I figured out that the problem is only in VLOOKUP when I change $B2 to $B2:$B.

I'm sure VLOOKUP works with ArrayFormula, I fail to understand where my formula is going wrong! Please help me correct my ArrayFormula.

Here is the editable sheet link

I already mentioned the same formula in my question. I get you I'll make that more clear. Sorry for wasting your time! — Aashit Garodia
Which of my formula are you referring to (which you think doesn't work when the rows are resorted in any way) ? — Aashit Garodia

player0 player0 · Accepted Answer · 2021-06-15T00:00:50

if I understand correctly, you are trying to "rank" B column based on D column dates in such way that dates are in theoretical ascending order so if you randomize your dataset, the "rank" of each entry would stay same and not change based on the randomness you introduce.

therefore the correct formula would be:

={"fx"; INDEX(IFNA(VLOOKUP(B2:B&D2:D, 
 {INDEX(SORT({B2:B&D2:D, D2:D}, 2, 1),,1), 
 IFERROR(1/(1/COUNTIFS(
 INDEX(SORT(B2:D, 3, 1),,1), 
 INDEX(SORT(B2:D, 3, 1),,1), ROW(B2:B), "<="&ROW(B2:B))))}, 2, 0)))}

{"fx"; ...} array of 2 tables (header & actual table) under each other eg. ;

outer shorter INDEX or longer ARRAYFORMULA (doesnt matter which one) is needed coz we are processing an array

IFNA for removing possible #N/A errors from VLOOKUP function when VLOOKUP fails to find a match

we VLOOKUP joint B and D column B2:B&D2:D in our virtual table {} and returning second 2 column if there is an exact match 0

our virtual table {INDEX(SORT({B2:B&D2:D, D2:D}, 2, 1),,1), ...} we VLOOKUP from is constructed with 2 columns next to each other eg. ,

we are getting the first column by creating an array of 2 columns {B2:B&D2:D, D2:D} next to each other where we SORT this array by date/2nd column 2, in ascending order 1 but all we need after sorting is the 1st column so we use INDEX where we bring all rows ,, and the first column 1

now lets take a look on how we getting the 2nd column of our virtual table by using COUNTIFS which will mimic the "rank"

IFERROR(1/(1/ is used to remove all zero values from the output (all empty rows would have 0 in it as the "rank")

under COUNTIFS we put 2 pairs of arguments: "if column is qual to column" and "if row is larger or equal to next row increment it by 1" ROW(B2:B), "<="&ROW(B2:B))

for "if column is qual to column" we do this twice and use range B2:D and sort it by date/3rd column 3 in ascending order 1 and of this we again need only the 1st column so we INDEX it and return all rows ,, and first column 1

with this formula you can add, remove or randomize your dataset and you will always get the right value for each of your rows

as for why your formula doesnt work... to not get #N/A error for vlookup you would need to define the end row of the range but still, the result wont be as you would expect coz formula is not the right one for this job.

as mentioned there are functions that are not supported under AF like SUM,AND,OR and then there are also functions which work but in a different way like IFS or with some limitations like SPLIT,GOOGLEFINANCE,etc.

Why my ArrayFormula is giving error? How do I correct it? (I'm not looking for another Arrayformula as solutions!)

I already got a ArrayFormula which gives the required result:

I'm not looking for another Arrayformula as solutions. What I want is to know what is wrong in my ArrayFormula? and how do I correct it?

2 Answers