Return column header based on row header and cell value - excel

Question

I have the following grid of data:
---------Header 1 Header 2 Header 3 Header 4
Row 1 x x x
Row 2 x x
Row 3 x
Row 4 x x x x
I then have a second sheet that looks like this:
Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4
I would like the second sheet to end up looking like this:
Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4
Header 1 Header 2 Header 3 Header 1
Header 3 Header 3 Header 2
Header 4 Header 3
. Header 4
Ignore that last period, I just used it to format it properly.
I've been playing with MATCH and INDEX for a couple hours and while I can get pieces of it, I can't seem to get it to all work together.
EDIT:
I use 'Header 1' and 'Row 1' as examples only. The actual data is text in Column A and Row 1, respectively. Also, since the source data will be modified, I'd prefer to have something that would automatically update the second sheet.

Answer 1

Here is one way to do it with a VBA function:
In the Developer Tab(*) Click on Visual Basic, then click on the "Insert" menu there and choose "Module" to insert a new module. Then paste in the Following code:
Option Explicit
Public Function GetHeaderMatchingRow(RowText As String, _
SearchRange As Range, _
iHdrNo As Integer) As String
Dim rng As Range
Set rng = SearchRange
Dim cel As Range
'Get the Row to scan
Dim i As Long, rowOff As Long
For i = 2 To rng.Rows.Count
Set cel = rng.Cells(i, 1)
If cel.Value = RowText Then
rowOff = i
Exit For
End If
Next i
'Now, scan horizontally for the iHdrNo'th non-blank cell
Dim cnt As Integer
For i = 2 To rng.Columns.Count
Set cel = rng.Cells(rowOff, i)
If Not CStr(cel.Value) = "" Then
cnt = cnt + 1
If cnt = iHdrNo Then
GetHeaderMatchingRow = rng.Cells(1, i).Value
Exit Function
End If
End If
Next i
GetHeaderMatchingRow = ""
End Function
Click on the "Debug" menu and select "Compile VBAProject".
Now go back to Excel and in your first sheet define a Named Range to cover all of your data in the grid. The Row names should be the first column in this range and the Header text should be the first row in it.
Now go to your second sheet and enter a formula like this in every output cell:
=GetHeaderMatchingRow(A$1, RowHeaderRange, 1)
Where the First parameter is the Row text that it will try to match in the first column of the range. I have "A$1" here because the in my test, my second sheet's column headers are also the Row-names in my first sheet, just like yours.
The second argument is the range to search (in this case, the Named Range we defined earlier), and the third argument is the count of the match that it is looking for (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).
Note that the first and third parameters should change based on what column and row the output is for.

Answer 2

Does it have to use worksheet functions? It would be quite a bit simpler to create a macro to do it (I've made an example)
Edited the function to work with row headers in col a and column headers in row 1 and changed it to read from "Source" sheet and write the result to "Output" sheet
Public Sub Example()
Dim Output As Worksheet
Dim Sheet As Worksheet
Dim Row As Integer
Dim Column As Integer
Set Sheet = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Source")
Set Output = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Output")
Output.Cells.Clear ' Since were going to rebuild the whole thing, just nuke it.
For Row = Sheet.UsedRange.Rows(Sheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count).Row To 2 Step -1
Output.Cells(1, Row - 1).Value = Sheet.Cells(Row, 1).Value
For Column = Sheet.UsedRange.Columns(Sheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count).Column To 1 Step -1
If Not IsEmpty(Sheet.Cells(Row, Column)) Then
Sheet.Cells(1, Column).Copy
Output.Cells(2, Row - 1).Insert xlShiftDown
End If
Next Column
Next Row
End Sub
I had a look at doing it with worksheet functions and as others have said its going to be pretty tricky to do it without some vba mixed in there.
If you add this to a new module then you can access it as a workbook function. (not that this is the best way to do it, just fancied having a go)
'Return The Column Header of the Nth Non-Blank Cell on Specified Row
Public Function NonBlankByIndex(ByVal Row As Integer, ByVal Index As Integer) As Range
Dim Sheet As Worksheet
Dim Column As Integer
Dim Result As Range
Set Sheet = ThisWorkbook.Worksheets("Source") ' Change to your source sheet's name
Set Result = Nothing
Column = 2 ' Skip 1 as its the header
Do
If Column > Sheet.UsedRange.Columns(Sheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count).Column Then
Exit Do
End If
If Sheet.Cells(Row, Column) = "" Then
Column = Column + 1
Else
If Index = 1 Then
Set Result = Sheet.Cells(1, Column)
Exit Do
Else
Column = Column + 1
Index = Index - 1
End If
End If
Loop
Set NonBlankByIndex = Result
End Function

Answer 3

If you are happy with blanks in the listing try this in sheet2!A2:
=IF(INDEX(Sheet1!$B$2:$E$5,MATCH(A$1,Sheet1!$A$2:$A$5,0),ROW()-1)="x",INDEX(Sheet1!$B$1:$E$1,1,ROW()-1),"")
Just copy the formula over range A2:D5