MID

Microsoft Datasheet View

MID

MID returns a specific number of characters from a text string, starting at the position you specify, based on the number of characters you specify.

Syntax

MID(text,start_num,num_chars)

Text    is the text string containing the characters you want to extract.

Start_num    is the position of the first character you want to extract in text. The first character in text has start_num 1, and so on.

Num_chars    specifies the number of characters you want MID to return from text.

Remarks

  • If start_num is greater than the length of text, MID returns "" (empty text).
  • If start_num is less than the length of text, but start_num plus num_chars exceeds the length of text, MID returns the characters up to the end of text.
  • If start_num is less than 1, MID returns the #VALUE! error value.
  • If num_chars is negative, MID returns the #VALUE! error value.

Example

Formula Description (Result)
=MID("Fluid Flow",1,5) Five characters from the string, starting at the first character (Fluid)
=MID("Fluid Flow",7,20) Twenty characters from the string, starting at the seventh (Flow)
=MID("Fluid Flow",20,5) Because the starting point is greater than the length of the string, empty text is returned ()