I dunno if it's an advantage or not, but one difference is...
if A1= 1.234567, the formula =LEFT(A1,MIN(4,LEN(A1))) returns 1.234567
while the formula =Left(A1,4) returns 1.23

But for most cases, there don't seem to be much difference.....

Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3



"RagDyeR" wrote:

OK, I give up!

What's the advantage over plain 'ol:
=Left(a1,40)
--

Regards,

RD
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Please keep all correspondence within the Group, so all may benefit !
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"CLR" wrote in message
...
If you want to automatically trim the length ....
=LEFT(A1,MIN(40,LEN(A1)))

Most cool, Roger......most cool.

Vaya con Dios,
Chuck, CABGx3



"Roger Govier" wrote:

Hi Eddie

Try
=LEN(A1) to give you the number of characters in a cell

If you want to automatically trim the length of your entries, then in
another column use
=LEFT(A1,MIN(40,LEN(A1)))
and copy down

--
Regards

Roger Govier


"EddieDial800" wrote in message
...
I have several hundreds of line items that need to be entered to a web
application that restricts the length of each line to 40 characters.
Is there
a way to count the number of characters on a cell so I can automate
the
review process for each cell of my spreadsheet with one formula or
function
that indicates for each cell the number of characters (with spaces)
that it
contains?

I appreciate very much any input