FreeSight’s patented “join” technology replaces spreadsheet VLOOKUP functions entirely. Creation and use of Reference Tables to connect, join and update data is simple and seamless in a FreeSight model. Easier to show you…

VLOOKUP is one answer to accessing Reference Table data – enabling a spreadsheet to access data that resides in one location for use in another. It’s an example of a powerful spreadsheet feature that is under-utilized by most users — likely because it requires the user to remember explicit rules and syntax to enter a formula into a spreadsheet cell. The formula would say something like “given the value in this cell, look to where I tell you and retrieve the related data”.

By contrast, FreeSight’s powerful Reference Table functions replace the need for VLOOKUP completely. Instead of looking for the data elsewhere, FreeSight simply and automatically joins your reference (“look up”) data to your working spreadsheet or data table, showing you exactly what the data is and where it comes from. It also highlights any missing data matches for you, and provides numerous other data cleansing functions. These functions alone save you hours of copying and pasting data or formulas.

On one side of this equation, there is often data already residing in your spreadsheet or table that is reference-able and would be helpful if it can be used elsewhere. With a few mouse-clicks FreeSight can automatically create Reference Tables from this data for you, extracting the related data elements and creating Reference Tables that you can easily check for data accuracy, clean if necessary, and maintain for application to any other table or set of data that you work with.

Click the play button to see what we mean: