Compare Question
 

I have two list. One was generated from an old DOS program using the
print to file option the other is a regular list in Excel. The problem
is the list that was generated using the print to file option
truncated the NAME field to 19 characters. The other list has full
name. The question is is it possible to compare the values of cells
using the first 10 characters or is there a way to truncate the full
name file to 19 characters then compare the two?

Any help would be appriciated.

Assuming you are comparing to find duplicates or unique records;

Compare using first 10/19/etc. characters, with A1:A100 containing the
currently 10 character long strings and B1 containing the full string.
=COUNTIF(A$1:A$100,LEFT(B1,10))

copied down column B.

"nick" wrote in message
...
I have two list. One was generated from an old DOS program using the
print to file option the other is a regular list in Excel. The problem
is the list that was generated using the print to file option
truncated the NAME field to 19 characters. The other list has full
name. The question is is it possible to compare the values of cells
using the first 10 characters or is there a way to truncate the full
name file to 19 characters then compare the two?

Any help would be appriciated.