For a formula

=LEFT(B2,FIND(":",B2)-1)

Could also use SEARCH instead of FIND. See Help for the differences (which
aren't relevant here).

On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 14:35:49 -0600, Alan wrote:

I have a text file report that is not customizable. I import that into
Excel. There is a field where relevant data ends after the colon
character ":". Can someone help me with a formula I can put in column C
that evaluates the corresponding cell in column B and brings back all
text to the left of the colon mark?


Examples:
Column B

freddy: 45345 sldf
jeff: 45422 fdflh
sam: bfd4454

In this case I want to return the characters to the left of the colon:
freddy
jeff
sam

Thanks in Advance!
Alan