Problem extracting data from a cell populated from a formula

Question

I imported a txt document which creates 7 columns of data. One of the data points in the document is a MAC address, however, due to the format of the txt document (and there is no way around this), the MAC address is split up into 6 columns (BG), with all other pertinent data (non MAC addresses) existing in column B.

I am trying to write a formula to check a cell in column B, and if it contains "BSSID" then it will combine the text in the corresponding row from columns BG and enters the new value in column H (so it shows as a normal MAC address). If the cell does not contain "BSSID", then the value of that cell just needs to be moved to the corresponding row in column H.

MY PROBLEM IS given the formula below, if the cell contains "BSSID", the corresponding row in column H will only display the value of the cell in the first column, instead of all the columns.

I have tried taking the code, that combines cells in BG within the formula, and surrounding it in brackets and quotations, with no luck.
I also tried making this a multiple step solution by only running the formula to combine everything in column H, and then in column I, via a formula.
I tried to move the value returned in column H to column I, but I run into the same issue.
And I have tried swapping the return values, just to make sure, I didn't mix up the true return with the false return.

Original Code I would like to get to work:

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(“BSSID”,A2)),B2&":"&C2&":"&D2&":"&E2&":"&F2&":"&G2,B2)

This is what the code looked like, when I broke it into 2 parts:

Column H: =B2&":"&C2&":"&D2&":"&E2&":"&F2&":"&G2, B2

Column I: =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(“BSSID”,A2)),H2,B2)

Both codes only return the value in cell B2 if true, instead of what should look like a MAC address.

My expected results would be, in a single formula, if B2 contains the string "BSSID" that H2 would show the content of B2-G2 formatted to look like a MAC address; and if B2 does not contain the string "BSSID" then H2 will show the content of B2.

Actual result is that H2, when the formula returns true, only displays B2 and not B2-G2.

Answer 1

I would approach this problem as follows:

• Check the cell for BSSID using an IF statement =IF(SEARCH("BSSID",A2), <true>, <false>)
• This statement may result in an error though, if "BSSID" isn't found. Your code looks to be fine, but perhaps herein lies the issue. To be sure, we can insert a catch for the errors using IFERROR =IF(IFERROR(SEARCH("BSSID",A2), FALSE), <true>, <false>)
• Then, within the <true> section of the IF statement, I would use TEXTJOIN to combine my cells with a colon inbetween ...TEXTJOIN(":",TRUE,B2:G2)...

EDIT: I notice that you say in one location that you are checking cell A2 for "BSSID" and in another you say you are checking cell B2. Perhaps make sure you aren't checking the wrong cell?

=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH(“BSSID”,A2)),B2&":"&C2&":"&D2&":"&E2&":"&F2&":"&G2,B2)

...

My expected results would be, in a single formula, if B2 contains the string "BSSID" that H2 would ...