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Michael
 
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Default The SEARCH function and parsing data

Hey guys. I have a question regarding the SEARCH function.

I am trying to parse through data in an excel spreadsheet in order to look
for certain characters. Unfortunately, I have to use excel functions and not
a Visual Basic script :-( ).

I need to check separately if it has letters, dashes, slashes, etc. and mark
it appropriately. So I have one column that is the data, then separate
columns for alpha characters, dashes, slashes, and miscellaneous. I can check
for slashes and dashes easily since it is only a few chars... and I can check
for alpha chars... but the entry would be ridiculously long...

=IF(OR(ISERROR(SEARCH("a",C15)),ISERROR(SEARCH("b" ,C15)),
ISERROR(SEARCH("c",C15)),ISERROR(SEARCH("d",C15)), .......),"no","YES")

Is there a way to put a range of values in the SEARCH function?

Or does anyone know a simplier way to do this? other than writing a script
in VB?

I really appreciate any assistance you could offer! Thanks!

-Michael