I don't know how generalized the technique needs to be, but for the specific
construct you show:

Demo'd from the immediate window
sStr = "2'-8"""
? sStr
2'-8"
varr = split(sStr,"-")
? val(varr(0))*12 + val(varr(1))
32

Assumes xl2000 or later
--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy

"Mike" wrote in message
m...
I'm trying to convert 2'-8" to 32 in Excel. Any ideas? Thanks a TON
to anyone that can help.
-m