FIND function

Finds one text string (find_text) within another text string (within_text), and returns the number of the starting position of find_text, from the first character of within_text. You can also use SEARCH to find one text string within another, but unlike SEARCH, FIND is case sensitive and doesn't allow wildcard characters.

Syntax

FIND(find_text,within_text,start_num)

Find_text     is the text you want to find.

Within_text     is the text containing the text you want to find.

Start_num     specifies the character at which to start the search. The first character in within_text is character number 1. If you omit start_num, it is assumed to be 1.

You can also 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 set 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 set 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)