This works to a certain extent. As long as the "dates" don't extend beyond
the current year. For example:

tom Dec 15-Jan 15

That would cause a problem. It could be "dealt" with but the formula is
already a "mess".

D2 = date to look for (entered as a true Excel DATE) = 1/12/2007

Try this formula entered as an array using the key combination of
CTRL,SHIFT,ENTER (not just ENTER):

=INDEX(A2:A5,MATCH(1,(DATEVALUE(LEFT(B2:B5,FIND("-",B2:B5)-1))<=D2)*(DATEVALUE(IF(LEN(MID(B2:B5,FIND("-",B2:B5)+1,20))2,MID(B2:B5,FIND("-",B2:B5)+1,20),LEFT(B2:B5,3)&MID(B2:B5,FIND("-",B2:B5)+1,20)))=D2),0))

If you were to use 2 cells for the date range this would soooooooooo much
easier and year crossovers would not be an issue!

Biff

"Unknowledgable Geek" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a spreadsheet with date ranges within a single cell is there a
way to search for a date within that range?

i.e.

seth Jan 1-16
fred Jan 17-31
steve Feb 1-15
tom Feb 16-28

Can I find who worked Jan 12. Running a search?

Can anyone help me.