Count function required

Hi all,
Just wondering if there is a function which will count the number of occurences of a character within a cell.
eg A1 contains "x-ab-c"
I want to know the number of hyphens in that cell (answer 2)

Has anyone come up against this one before?

Regards Mick Barry
Sydney
You don't need a parachute to skydive,
You only need a parachute to skydive twice...

Try a formula like the following

=LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1,"-",""))


--
Cordially,
Chip Pearson
Microsoft MVP - Excel
Pearson Software Consulting, LLC
www.cpearson.com



"mickbarry"
<[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Hi all,
> Just wondering if there is a function which will count the
> number of
> occurences of a character within a cell.
> eg A1 contains "x-ab-c"
> I want to know the number of hyphens in that cell (answer 2)
>
> Has anyone come up against this one before?
>
> Regards Mick Barry
> Sydney
> You don't need a parachute to skydive,
> You only need a parachute to skydive twice...
>
>
> --
> mickbarry
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> mickbarry's Profile:
> http://www.excelforum.com/member.php...o&userid=31028
> View this thread:
> http://www.excelforum.com/showthread...hreadid=510869
>

Chip,
Very clever.
I did think that the Substitute would go close due to its ability to look past the first occurrence.
However I was just not smart enough to come up with the answer.
Well done

Regards Mick Barry
If you give a man a match, he will be warm for a moment, but if you light a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life!