Microsoft KB Archive/100789

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

Excel: Text Fields with Digits Not Matched to Criteria
Last reviewed: September 12, 1996

Article ID: Q100789

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 2.x, 3.0, 4.0, 4.0a
 * Microsoft Excel for OS/2, versions 2.2, 3.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 2.2, 3.0 ,4.0

SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Excel, if a database contains records with text entries that include numbers, such as a1x, you may not be able to use comparison criteria to match those records.

If you are using Microsoft Excel version 4.0 or later
To use comparison criteria to extract text values that contain numbers, enable the Alternate Expression Evaluation option and precede the criteria with a single apostrophe, such as '7*. To enable this option, choose Calculation from the Options menu and select the Alternate Expression Evaluation check box.

If you are using Microsoft Excel version 3.0 or earlier
Use computed criteria to extract records based on this criteria. For example, use =key="7" (including the quotation marks).

For more information about how to use computed criteria, see pages 374-375 of the version 3.0 "User's Guide."

This behavior is by product design.