Combine Cells with TEXTJOIN
Create readable keys or labels from multiple columns.
What this solves
Build a PO + material comparison key. This pattern is useful when the business question is clear but a generic tutorial is too abstract.
The rule
=TEXTJOIN(delimiter,ignore_empty,text1,...)
=TEXTJOIN("|",TRUE,A2,B2,C2)Google Sheets: The core pattern is also usable in Google Sheets; exact function support and locale separators can differ.
Real-work checklist
- Define the business key and expected grain before writing the formula, query or markup.
- Test the pattern on a small known sample where you can verify the answer manually.
- Check missing values, duplicates and data types before trusting a large result.
- Scale to the real file or database only after the logic is proven.
Common mistake
Composite keys are useful, but avoid separators that can occur inside source values.