If the "like" comparison isnt enough,
Here is a link to a page that has a VB function to calculate the similarity
between two strings. This is a way to determine how closely matched any two
strings are. It works be determining the number of incremental edits
required to transform the first string into the second string.

http://www.merriampark.com/ld.htm

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Regards,
John


"dave in Toronto" wrote:

I'd like to compare two cells (or more possibly) for similarity vs. exact.
e.g. a cell with the i.d. of 'johnsmith' is not exactly equal to 'johnsmith2'.

Is there a way in excel to compare two cells and see if they are similar?
Maybe even some kind of confidence level flag? (or is this a fantasy?)

thanks,
dave