Formula to make a "Po Box...." into a "P.O. Box..."

[Quinn.Farley]

Hi. I've used the =Proper function for a mailing table, but it doesn't fix PO Box titles (and it's bugging me). I know it's a newbie question, but please, how can I make this change? I'm not familiar with finding and then changing selective words in a longer text string...

[newdoverman]

Use Find and Select, Replace.

Enter Po Box into the Find what field

Enter P.O. Box into the Replace with field and click replace all to replace all instances. Click OK.

[Quinn.Farley]

Of course. I thought I'd have to use a formula. Find/Replace works better. One catch, what if there is part of someone's address in the table like this: 321 Polo Way. Will it change that, too?

[newdoverman]

If Po Box isn't a part of the address segment that you show, that segment will not be changed as the Find and Select, Replace looks for the exact content of the Find what and replaces, it when found, with the contents of the Replace with field. So, your example shouldn't be affected at all.

[Quinn.Farley]

Thank you very much. SO glad i joined this forum!

[newdoverman]

You're welcome. You can make mistakes but the UNDO will return the data to its original if you do this immediately. If the value to be replaced is distinct and stands out, like your example, you shouldn't have any trouble.

[FDibbins]

If you need to use F/R and there is a chance that it will "catch" something that doesnt really match (the example you quoted), the longer/bigger the "find" part, the less chance of false replaces.

So for instance, you could use...Find PO Box, replace P.O. Box etc