Download example file:

Sergio.xls

I need array formula if there space empty row in the part of rows 2 until 15, say row 5 and row 10 . so the formula generate exactly the same as your Example.

Please help me on this.

That´s a question I don´t have an answer to. It seems overly complicated to create a 2dimensional sorted array when you can use MATCH function to lookup values in an unsorted array.

=INDEX(array, MATCH(lookup_value, array, 0))

I need to perform an approximate match upon an unsorted table and then lookup an associated value. Because the unsorted table is dynamic and will gain many new rows over time, I need the solution to be formula-based, with no intermediate tables.

Is there a way to build upon this tip to have the sorted arrays in memory? My current strategy would be to use LOOKUP vector function upon the two like-sorted arrays. A MrExcel/ExcelIsFun video demonstrates a related solution (see link below), but the table values are numeric and are sorted directly using SMALL() which won't work upon text data.

Many Thanks!

Mr Excel & excelisfun Trick 36: VLOOKUP w Approximate Match & Unsorted Table
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxhL72gvM5E

COUNTIF(Descr, "<"&Descr) compares values in an array and ranks them on their order if they were sorted.

COUNTIF({"FF";"BB";"GG";"EE";"AA";"GG";"FF";"BB";"EE";"BB";"HH";"EE";"AA";"GG"}, "<"&{"FF";"BB";"GG";"EE";"AA";"GG";"FF";"BB";"EE";"BB";"HH";"EE";"AA";"GG"})

COUNTIF({"FF"; "BB"; "GG"; "EE"; "AA"; "GG"; "FF"; "BB"; "EE"; "BB"; "HH"; "EE"; "AA"; "GG"}, {; "<"&"BB"; "<"&"GG"; "<"&"EE"; "<"&"AA"; "<"&"GG"; "<"&"FF"; "<"&"BB"; "<"&"EE"; "<"&"BB"; "<"&"HH"; "<"&"EE"; "<"&"AA"; "<"&"GG"})

FF, first value in array becomes:

{"FF"&"<"&"FF"; "BB"&"<"&"FF"; "GG"&"<"&"FF"; "EE"&"<"&"FF"; "AA"&"<"&"FF"; "GG"&"<"&"FF"; "FF"&"<"&"FF"; "BB"&"<"&"FF"; "EE"&"<"&"FF"; "BB"&"<"&"FF"; "HH"&"<"&"FF"; "EE"&"<"&"FF"; "AA"&"<"&"FF"; "GG"&"<"&"FF"}

becomes

{0;1;0;1;1;0;0;1;1;1;0;1;1;0} and the total is 8.

COUNTIF(Descr, "<"&Descr) returns {8;2;10;5;0;10;8;2;5;2;13;5;0;10}

Is there an article I can read somewhere?

read this post: Sort values in parallel in excel, part 2

Joel, AA, 7
Mark, FF, 31
Nick, AA, 7

with the possibility of matching sort criteria (columns 2 & 3), how would I display the corresponding data after the sort (sorting only columns 2 & 3) without repeats; that is,

Joel, AA, 7
Nick, AA, 7
Mark, FF, 31

Instead of:

Joel, AA, 7
Joel, AA, 7
Mark, FF, 31

?

Sorry for the late answer.

What is the purpose or logic for divide 1 by the countif (Qty,....)?

The purpose is to sort and find the right "Qty" value for each "Description" value. I know this is a short answer but use "Evaluate Formula" to see each step in formula calculation.

what is the reason for the +1 par of the same formula?

COUNTIF(Qty, ">"&Qty) returns an array containing a zero. 1/0 returns an error. So I had to add 1 to the whole array.