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Remove middle initial from "first name middle initial"
Hello Excel Gurus,
I've been searching the site for an answer to this question but as yet no luck. If I missed a previous post on this topic I apologize, please direct me to it. I have 1 column with a series of people's first names. Many have a middle initial, some don't. About half of the cells are of two people's names joined by an "&". Sample data below: Frank & Debbie J Marshall & Teresa Timothy R Jeffrey D & Eileen N Pamela J James R & Rachel Brooke S Myung S Martin F & Susan A Kathleen I need remove the middle initial and preserve the first names and the "&" with a single space between the names and the "&". Can anyone provide me with a way to do this? Many thanks in advance, Justin F. |
One way to try ..
Assuming the data is n A2 down, Put in B2, and copy down: =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("&",A2)),NOT(ISNUMBER(SEARC H(" ",A2)))),A2,LEFT(A2,SEARCH(" ",A2)-1)) -- Rgds Max xl 97 --- GMT+8, 1° 22' N 103° 45' E xdemechanik <atyahoo<dotcom ---- "Justin F." <Justin wrote in message ... Hello Excel Gurus, I've been searching the site for an answer to this question but as yet no luck. If I missed a previous post on this topic I apologize, please direct me to it. I have 1 column with a series of people's first names. Many have a middle initial, some don't. About half of the cells are of two people's names joined by an "&". Sample data below: Frank & Debbie J Marshall & Teresa Timothy R Jeffrey D & Eileen N Pamela J James R & Rachel Brooke S Myung S Martin F & Susan A Kathleen I need remove the middle initial and preserve the first names and the "&" with a single space between the names and the "&". Can anyone provide me with a way to do this? Many thanks in advance, Justin F. |
Or, maybe better to wrap TRIM() around the source data in col A,
Put in B2, and copy down: =IF(OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("&",TRIM(A2))),NOT(ISNUMBER (SEARCH(" ",TRIM(A2))))),TRIM(A2),LEFT(TRIM(A2),SEARCH(" ",TRIM(A2))-1)) [same formula as before, but with "TRIM(A2)" replacing "A2"] -- Rgds Max xl 97 --- GMT+8, 1° 22' N 103° 45' E xdemechanik <atyahoo<dotcom ---- |
On Thu, 23 Jun 2005 18:02:02 -0700, Justin F. <Justin
wrote: Hello Excel Gurus, I've been searching the site for an answer to this question but as yet no luck. If I missed a previous post on this topic I apologize, please direct me to it. I have 1 column with a series of people's first names. Many have a middle initial, some don't. About half of the cells are of two people's names joined by an "&". Sample data below: Frank & Debbie J Marshall & Teresa Timothy R Jeffrey D & Eileen N Pamela J James R & Rachel Brooke S Myung S Martin F & Susan A Kathleen I need remove the middle initial and preserve the first names and the "&" with a single space between the names and the "&". Can anyone provide me with a way to do this? Many thanks in advance, Justin F. Assuming your formats are exactly as you show, with only a single space around the "&" and before and/or after the Initials, then the following formula will do what you describe on your data set: =IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ? &",IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?",RIGHT(A2,2))), A2,LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-2)))),IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?",RIGHT(A2,2))),A2, LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-2)),REPLACE(IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?",RIGHT(A2,2))), A2,LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-2)),SEARCH(" ? &",IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?", RIGHT(A2,2))),A2,LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-2))),3," ")) It returns the following: Frank & Debbie Marshall & Teresa Timothy Jeffrey & Eileen Pamela James & Rachel Brooke Myung Martin & Susan Kathleen If there is a concern for extra spaces creeping in, then substitute TRIM(A2) for the A2's: =IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ? &",IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?",RIGHT(TRIM(A2),2))), TRIM(A2),LEFT(TRIM(A2),LEN(TRIM(A2))-2)))),IF(ISERROR(SEARCH( " ?",RIGHT(TRIM(A2),2))),TRIM(A2),LEFT(TRIM(A2),LEN( TRIM(A2))-2)), REPLACE(IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?",RIGHT(TRIM(A2),2))),TRIM(A2),LEFT( TRIM(A2),LEN(TRIM(A2))-2)),SEARCH(" ? &",IF(ISERROR(SEARCH(" ?",RIGHT( TRIM(A2),2))),TRIM(A2),LEFT(TRIM(A2),LEN(TRIM(A2))-2))),3," ")) --ron |
Superb one, Ron !
My flawed attempt was due to an oversimplified interp <g on the spec's part of preserving the data if there's an "&" inside .. -- Rgds Max xl 97 --- GMT+8, 1° 22' N 103° 45' E xdemechanik <atyahoo<dotcom ---- |
ugh .. pl trash all earlier suggestions here
(mis-read the specs) See Ron's offering .. -- Rgds Max xl 97 --- GMT+8, 1° 22' N 103° 45' E xdemechanik <atyahoo<dotcom ---- |
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:19:13 +0800, "Max" wrote:
Superb one, Ron ! My flawed attempt was due to an oversimplified interp <g on the spec's part of preserving the data if there's an "&" inside .. I tried yours first, and when it didn't return what I thought the OP wanted, I decided to work on it. But I've posted many non-solutions due to misinterpretations of the specifications, also <sigh --ron |
Ron, This is awesome. Thank you so much for your help! Max, thanks also for
the attempt. Its very much appreciated. Justin F. "Ron Rosenfeld" wrote: On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:19:13 +0800, "Max" wrote: Superb one, Ron ! My flawed attempt was due to an oversimplified interp <g on the spec's part of preserving the data if there's an "&" inside .. I tried yours first, and when it didn't return what I thought the OP wanted, I decided to work on it. But I've posted many non-solutions due to misinterpretations of the specifications, also <sigh --ron |
On Fri, 24 Jun 2005 10:25:05 -0700, Justin F.
wrote: Ron, This is awesome. Thank you so much for your help! Max, thanks also for the attempt. Its very much appreciated. You're welcome. Thanks for the feedback. Post back if you run into problems with it. --ron |
You're welcome, Justin !
Thanks for the feedback .. -- Rgds Max xl 97 --- GMT+8, 1° 22' N 103° 45' E xdemechanik <atyahoo<dotcom ---- "Justin F." wrote in message ... Ron, This is awesome. Thank you so much for your help! Max, thanks also for the attempt. Its very much appreciated. Justin F. |
I need a similar effect to the one above, but my list contains names in the form LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME MI. and I want to remove the middle initials. Not all of them have a middle initial in them. Thanks! -- JFALK ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JFALK's Profile: http://www.excelforum.com/member.php...o&userid=24728 View this thread: http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...hreadid=381827 |
On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:25:51 -0500, JFALK
wrote: I need a similar effect to the one above, but my list contains names in the form LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME MI. and I want to remove the middle initials. Not all of them have a middle initial in them. Thanks! Try this: =IF((LEN(TRIM(A1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(A1)," ","")))<2, TRIM(A1),LEFT(TRIM(A1),FIND(CHAR(1),SUBSTITUTE( TRIM(A1)," ",CHAR(1),2))-1)) --ron |
Ron Rosenfeld Wrote: On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 15:25:51 -0500, JFALK wrote: I need a similar effect to the one above, but my list contains names in the form LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME MI. and I want to remove the middle initials. Not all of them have a middle initial in them. Thanks! Try this: =IF((LEN(TRIM(A1))-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(A1)," ","")))<2, TRIM(A1),LEFT(TRIM(A1),FIND(CHAR(1),SUBSTITUTE( TRIM(A1)," ",CHAR(1),2))-1)) --ron THANK YOU! It worked perfectly! -- JFALK ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JFALK's Profile: http://www.excelforum.com/member.php...o&userid=24728 View this thread: http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...hreadid=381827 |
On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 08:57:46 -0500, JFALK
wrote: THANK YOU! It worked perfectly! You're welcome. Glad to help. --ron |
I have a list of names that includes at leats one first name.
I need to reduce the first name to its initial so that my list which is William Smith Joseph Bloggs etc becomes W Smith J Bloggs etc... Thanks Dave Glynn |
Maybe you could use a formula:
=LEFT(A1,1)&MID(A1,SEARCH(" ",A1),255) dave glynn wrote: I have a list of names that includes at leats one first name. I need to reduce the first name to its initial so that my list which is William Smith Joseph Bloggs etc becomes W Smith J Bloggs etc... Thanks Dave Glynn -- Dave Peterson |
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