Use start_num to skip a specified number of characters. For example, suppose you are working with the text string "AYF0093.YoungMensApparel". To find the number of the first "Y" in the descriptive part of the text string, set start_num equal to 8 so that the serial-number portion of the text is not searched. FIND begins with character 8, finds find_text at the next character, and returns the number 9. FIND always returns the number of characters from the start of within_text, counting the characters you skip if start_num is greater than 1.
Remarks
- If find_text is "" (empty text), FIND matches the first character in the search string (that is, the character numbered start_num or 1).
- Find_text cannot contain any wildcard characters.
- If find_text does not appear in within_text, FIND returns the #VALUE! error value.
- If start_num is not greater than zero, FIND returns the #VALUE! error value.
- If start_num is greater than the length of within_text, FIND returns the #VALUE! error value.
Example 1
| Formula | Description (Result) |
|---|---|
| =FIND("M","Miriam McGovern") | Position of the first "M" in the string (1) |
| =FIND("m","Miriam McGovern") | Position of the first "m" in the string (6) |
| =FIND("M","Miriam McGovern",3) | Position of the first "M" in the string, starting with the third character (8) |
Example 2
| Col1 | Formula | Description (Result) |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramic Insulators #124-TD45-87 | =MID([Col1],1,FIND(" #",[Col1],1)-1) | Extracts text from position 1 to the position of " #" in the string (Ceramic Insulators) |
| Copper Coils #12-671-6772 | =MID([Col1],1,FIND(" #",[Col1],1)-1) | Extracts text from position 1 to the position of " #" in the string (Copper Coils) |
| Variable Resistors #116010 | =MID([Col1],1,FIND(" #",[Col1],1)-1) | Extracts text from position 1 to the position of " #" in the string (Variable Resistors) |