Thanks.
I sometimes wish Excel had a more complete set of functions. It's typically
possible to manipulate existing functions to do what's needed, but it's
sometimes more difficult or convoluted than necessary. Whenever I see a
formula where the same value appears twice (like A1 in LEFT(A1, LEN(A1) - 5)
), it seems somehow un-aesthetic or at least un-economical. It's not so bad
if the duplicated text is short, like A1, but I often find myself repeating
lengthy sub-formulas because the function I really want is missing.
For example, what's needed here is a function such as LOPOFFRIGHT(A1,5),
which lops off the rightmost 5 characters. Obviously a similar LOPOFFLEFT
function.
Someday I'll teach myself VBA so I can write these formulas myself.
Anyway, thanks for your help.