ACC: Sample Expressions to Extract Portion of Text String (115915)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Access 1.0
- Microsoft Access 1.1
- Microsoft Access 2.0
- Microsoft Access for Windows 95 7.0
- Microsoft Access 97
This article was previously published under Q115915
Moderate: Requires basic macro, coding, and interoperability skills.
SUMMARY
This article lists sample expressions that you can use to extract a portion
of a text string. These expressions are commonly used in the Update To line
of an update query to place a portion of a larger field into a new field.
You can adapt these expressions for use with other common formats. For
example, the expression you would use to extract "Doe" from "Doe, John" you can also use to extract "Seattle" from "Seattle, WA."
MORE INFORMATION
The following expressions are sample expressions that you can use to
extract a portion of a text string.
NOTE: In the following sample expressions, an underscore (_) at the end of a line is used as a line-continuation character. Remove the underscore from the end of the line when re-creating the expression.
First Name
Original Entry in [Names]: "John Doe"
Returned by Expression: John
Expression: Expr: Left([Names],InStr(1,[Names]," ")-1)
First Name
Orignial Entry in [Names]: "Doe, John"
Returned by Expression: John
Expression: Expr: Right(Trim([Names]),Len(Trim([Names]))-InStr(1, _
[Names]," "))
First Name
Original Entry in [Names]: "John P. Doe"
Returned by Expression: John
Expression: Expr: Left([Names],InStr(1,[Names]," ")-1)
Last Name
Original Entry in [Names]: = "John Doe"
Returned by Expression: Doe
Expression:Expr: Right(Trim([Names]),Len(Trim([Names]))-InStr(1, _
[Names]," ")) Last Name
Original Entry in [Names]: "Doe, John"
Returned by Expression: Doe
Expression: Expr: Left([Names],InStr(1,[Names],",")-1)
Last Name
Original Entry in [Names]: "John P. Doe"
Returned by Expression: Doe
Expression: Expr: Right(Trim([Names]),Len(Trim([Names]))-InStr(InStr _
(1, [Names]," ")+1,[Names]," "))
Last Name
Original Entry in [Names]: "John Doe" or "John P. Doe"
Returned by Expression: Doe
Expression: Expr: IIf(InStr(InStr([Names]," ")+1,[Names]," ") _
<>0, Right([names],Len([names])-InStr(InStr([Names]," ")+1, _
[Names]," ")),Right([Names],Len([Names])-InStr([Names]," ")))
Middle Initial
Original Entry in [Names]: "John P. Doe"
Returned by Expression: P.
Expression Expr: Trim(Mid([Names],InStr(1,[Names]," ")+1,InStr(InStr _
(1, [Names], " ")+1,[Names]," ")-InStr(1,[Names]," ")))
Middle Initial
Original Entry in [Names]: "Doe, John P."
Returned by Expression: P.
Expression: Expr: Right(Trim([Names]),Len(Trim([Names]))-InStr _
(InStr(1, [Names]," ")+1,[Names]," "))
Zip Code
Original Entry in [ZipCode]: "98052-6399"
Returned by Expression: 98052
Expression: Expr: Left([ZipCode],5)
Area Code
Original Entry in [Phone]: (425) 635-7050
Returned by Expression: 425
Expression: Expr: Mid([Phone], 2, 3)
Phone Number
Original Entry in [Phone]: (425) 635-7050
Returned by Expression: 635-7050
Expression: Expr: Right(Trim([Phone]),8)
For more sample expressions, see the Neatcode.mdb sample databases. For
details on how to obtain these databases, please see the following
articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
148287 ACC2: Neatcod2.mdb Available in Download Center
148402 ACC95: Neatcode.mdb Available in Download Center
177972 ACC97: Neatcd97.mdb Available in Download Center
| Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 5/6/2003 |
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| Keywords: | kbhowto kbusage KB115915 |
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