What does the 1E100 do

That's a very very large number, 1 followed by 100 zeros.

It's used to ensure that the number in the string will be extracted. The way
LOOKUP works is if all the numbers in the lookup_vector are smaller than
the lookup_value then the result is the *last* number in the lookup_vector.
Using a gigantic number like 1E100 pretty much guarantees that all numbers
in the lookup_vector will be less than the lookup_value.

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"RobN" wrote in message
...
Wow! I'm impressed and I hope the OP is too!

What does the 1E100 do (which changes to IE + 100 when I paste the
formula)?

Rob

"T. Valko" wrote in message
...
A1 = 12z

B1:

=LOOKUP(1E100,--MID(A1,MIN(FIND({0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9},A1&"01234567 89")),ROW(INDIRECT("1:255"))))

C1:

=SUBSTITUTE(A1,B1,"")


--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"RobN" wrote in message
...
Biff,

I think the person asking for a solution wants to have a formula that
will extract both 12 and Z from 12z, etc. Can that be done?

Rob

"T. Valko" wrote in message
...
A1 = 12z
B1 = 12
C1 formula:

=SUBSTITUTE(A1,B1,"")

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"mmmbl" wrote in message
...
I have a column (named size) that has contains both numeric and unit of
measure. I have extracted the numbers into a field but how can i
extract the
unit of measure into another column? Example
ColA Col B Col C
12z = 12 z
12pk= 12 pk
1ct = 1 ct

Thank you!