Numbers equivalent to Excel DMAX?

Question

Hiya folks!
Is there a Numbers equivalent to Excel's DMAX function (as described here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/dcount-HP005209049.aspx)?  I'm looking to create a price book and would like essentially two tables.  The first table will record my items, their price, store, and date.  The second table I would like to show the lowest price and location for each item in the first table.  So, for example, if my first table has the following:
Item
Price
Date
Store
Apple
1.00
1/2/13
Walmart
Orange
2.00
1/2/13
Walmart
Apple
1.50
1/3/13
Smiths
Orange
1.75
1/3/13
Smiths
Then I'd like my second table to display:
Item
Price
Date
Store
Apple
1.00
1/2/13
Walmart
Orange
1.75
1/3/13
Smiths
Alternatively, if anyone has some suggestions on how I can accomplish this, that'd be great!
Thanks!
Jess

Answer 1

If you add an index column to your data table (here named 'Table 1') then you can do something like this, using INDEX MATCH, with MATCH set to find the smallest value.
Table 1
Item
Price
Date
Store
Index
Apple
1.00
1/2/13
Walmart
Apple|001.00
Orange
2.00
1/2/13
Walmart
Orange|002.00
Apple
1.50
1/3/13
Smiths
Apple|001.50
Apple
0.99
1/3/13
Mars
Apple|000.99
Orange
1.75
1/3/13
Smiths
Orange|001.75
Lowest
Item
Price
Date
Store
Apple
0.99
1/3/13
Mars
Orange
1.75
1/3/13
Smiths
The formula in E2 of 'Table 1':
    =A2&"|"&RIGHT("0000000"&B2,6)
This simply concatenates the item name and price, padding the price with leading zeros.
The formula in B2 of 'Lowest', copied right and down, is:
    =INDEX(Table 1::B,MATCH($A2,Table 1::$E,-1))
The -1 argument in MATCH means 'find smallest value'.
Here is a screenshot of the formula that may or may not display here:
Once MATCH figures out the row number in 'Table 1' the INDEX function retrieves the values there.
In column A of 'Lowest' you need to manually enter a list of distinct "fruits" with spelling that matches the names in 'Table 1'. If you have many names and need a way to automate that step there is an Automator Service that makes it easy to extract distinct values from a column.  Post if you need that.
SG