Trying to compare a value to multiple, multiple dimension arrays - arrays

Question

I have a spreadsheet of data in multiple columns. In VBA, I am trying to set a value in each row depending on the data in any one of three of the other columns. It will always be an OR comparison between those data and will need to return one of five values.
So I have created five arrays (they are multidimensional due to reading them in as ranges, however, they could be one dimensional if needed, I suppose), and I was going to compare the three columns to those arrays using a bunch of IF-THEN statements to return the necessary value.
Creating the arrays was easy enough, but I have no idea how to create the IF-THEN process correctly. An example of the process would be something like:
IF A1 is in ArrayA THEN
D1="Dog"
ELSEIF A1 is in ArrayB THEN
D1="Cat"
ELSEIF B1 is in ArrayC THEN
D1="Bird"
ELSEIF B1 is in ArrayD THEN
D1="Monkey"
ELSEIF C1 is in ArrayE THEN
D1="Blue"
ELSE
D1="Other"
I am not sure if this is the most efficient way to accomplish what I am trying to do, so I am definitely open to suggestions for a different approach. Thank you.

Answer 1

Ok, here is how I got it working. Most of this came from another person, but they deleted their comment so I can't thank them.
arrCols = Array(arrA, arrB, arrC, arrD, arrE)
arrVals = Array("Dog", "Cat", "Bird", "Monkey", "Blue")
For i = 2 To rCnt
pID = Cells(i, 2).Value
pName = Cells(i, 3).Value
pGroup = Cells(i, 4).Value
ans = ""
For j = LBound(arrCols) To UBound(arrCols)
If Not IsError(Application.Match(pGroup, arrCols(j), 0)) Then
ans = arrVals(j)
Exit For
ElseIf Not IsError(Application.Match(pName, arrCols(j), 0)) Then
ans = arrVals(j)
Exit For
ElseIf Not IsError(Application.Match(pID, arrCols(j), 0)) Then
ans = arrVals(j)
Exit For
End If
Next j
Cells(i, 5) = IIf(ans = "", "Other", ans)
Next i
I created an array of arrays to search through. The i loop cycles through all rows. The j loop cycles through the arrays within the main array. The three IF statements are needed for checking the three different columns. The returned value is defaulted to "Other" unless it is found in one of the arrays.
The only thing I was able to add to this code was the stuff needed to check three different columns in the row.

Answer 2

Here is an example of how to do it without looping
If Len("," & Join(ArrayA, ",") & ",") <> Len("," & Replace(Join(ArrayA, ","), "," & Range("A1").Value & ",", "") & ",") Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Dog"
ElseIf Len("," & Join(ArrayB, ",") & ",") <> Len("," & Replace(Join(ArrayB, ","), "," & Range("A1").Value & ",", "") & ",") Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Cat"
ElseIf Len("," & Join(ArrayC, ",") & ",") <> Len("," & Replace(Join(ArrayC, ","), "," & Range("A1").Value & ",", "") & ",") Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Bird"
ElseIf Len("," & Join(ArrayD, ",") & ",") <> Len("," & Replace(Join(ArrayD, ","), "," & Range("A1").Value & ",", "") & ",") Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Monkey"
ElseIf Len("," & Join(ArrayE, ",") & ",") <> Len("," & Replace(Join(ArrayE, ","), "," & Range("A1").Value & ",", "") & ",") Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Blue"
Else
Range("D1").Formula = "Other"
End If
Join the array to a string then check the len against the len of the string with the keyword (Range("A1")) replaced with nothing. Put a comma on either side to make sure it is the full word (Don't want something like Catfish to return as a Cat)
And the same thing using InStr instead:
If InStr(1, "," & Join(ArrayA, ",") & ",", Range("A1").Value) > 0 Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Dog"
ElseIf InStr(1, "," & Join(ArrayB, ",") & ",", Range("A1").Value) > 0 Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Cat"
ElseIf InStr(1, "," & Join(ArrayC, ",") & ",", Range("A1").Value) > 0 Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Bird"
ElseIf InStr(1, "," & Join(ArrayD, ",") & ",", Range("A1").Value) > 0 Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Monkey"
ElseIf InStr(1, "," & Join(ArrayE, ",") & ",", Range("A1").Value) > 0 Then
Range("D1").Formula = "Blue"
Else
Range("D1").Formula = "Other"
End If