Greg,

Array enter (enter using Ctrl-Shift-Enter):

=SUM(MIN(IF(MID(A2,ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&LEN(A2))),1 )<MID(A3,ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&LEN(A2))),1),ROW(IND IRECT("A1:A"&LEN(A2))),LEN(A2))))

With those strings in cells A2 and A3.

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP


"Greg Lovern" wrote in message
...
I have two strings that start with the same characters, but at some
unknown and varying point they begin to differ. I want the position
number of the first non-matching character.

For example:
-- table and chair
-- table plus chair
-- position of first non-matching character is 7 (the "a" in
"and", and the "p" in "plus").

In the above example, both strings start out "table ", then start to
differ beginning with the 7th character. How can I return the position
of the first non-matching character, which in this example is 7?


Thanks,

Greg