how do i automatically format a cell to only recognize the first w
 

I have a column that has a list of first names. I want to format the cells so
that it will take out the middle initial if there is any. How can I do an
auto-format to have it take out the middle initial?
Thank
Brian

I don't think you'll find any formatting that'll help you.

But if your names are entered like:

Monee T. Man
(with a single character followed by a period)

Then you could use a formula like:
=IF(ISERROR(FIND(".",A1,1)),A1,TRIM(REPLACE(A1,FIN D(".",A1,1)-1,2,"")))

Put this in a nearby cell and copy down the length of your list.

If this doesn't help, you should share what your data looks like (not a
workbook--just some typical entries).

BMoneeTheMoneeMan wrote:

I have a column that has a list of first names. I want to format the cells so
that it will take out the middle initial if there is any. How can I do an
auto-format to have it take out the middle initial?
Thank
Brian

--

Dave Peterson

Thanks for your help.
I did a sort by that column and told it to split anything that had a space
between them.
So if it saw "Ronald L" it split Ronald from L and put the L in a different
column. That cleaned up my first names so that I could import them into my
DB with no prob.
Thanks again
BMonee


"Dave Peterson" wrote:

I don't think you'll find any formatting that'll help you.

But if your names are entered like:

Monee T. Man
(with a single character followed by a period)

Then you could use a formula like:
=IF(ISERROR(FIND(".",A1,1)),A1,TRIM(REPLACE(A1,FIN D(".",A1,1)-1,2,"")))

Put this in a nearby cell and copy down the length of your list.

If this doesn't help, you should share what your data looks like (not a
workbook--just some typical entries).

BMoneeTheMoneeMan wrote:

I have a column that has a list of first names. I want to format the cells so
that it will take out the middle initial if there is any. How can I do an
auto-format to have it take out the middle initial?
Thank
Brian

--

Dave Peterson