Try this...

=LEFT(A1,FIND(" ",A1)-1)

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Nadine" wrote in message
...
I have a column of cells that contain an id and description in one column.
I
need a formula that will give me only the id. The id can be either 4 or 5
numbers. Some can be followed by a letter and some can be followed by a
dash
and then a number. What they all have in common is that the id is
followed
by a space and then the description.

So, the =LEFT formula will not work. I need on that can give me all
characters before the space regardless of whether that's after the first 5
characters or after 7 or 8 or however many there are before the space.
Anyone know of such a formula for Excel 2003? Thanks so much.