How to extract part of a cell and remove the rest

Hello

I have a very long column with various texts in every cell containing for example 'Data change request from John Smith', every cell contains different types of requests and I want to extract to another column only the text before the word 'request '. Could you please help me how to do this? Thank you so much!

Best Answer

  • Nick Korna
    Nick Korna ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Hi@Christiana Gkini,

    If the format of the entries is consistent then you can use a formula similar to this:

    =LEFT([Column to check]@row, (FIND("request", [Column to check]@row) - 2))

    Example:

    image.png

    Obviously you will probably need to change the "Column to check" in the formula, but this should be straightforward enough.

    Hope this helps; any questions or issues then just post!

Answers

  • Nick Korna
    Nick Korna ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Answer ✓

    Hi@Christiana Gkini,

    If the format of the entries is consistent then you can use a formula similar to this:

    =LEFT([Column to check]@row, (FIND("request", [Column to check]@row) - 2))

    Example:

    image.png

    Obviously you will probably need to change the "Column to check" in the formula, but this should be straightforward enough.

    Hope this helps; any questions or issues then just post!

  • Thank you very much Nick! That worked!

    Also if I could ask for your help with a countif formula in smartsheet when you have over 100 different values, how could I use that to count how many times the values appear in my list?

    Looking forward for your response .

    Thank you!

  • Nick Korna
    Nick Korna ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    I'd probably use one of the solutions similar to here to get the list of unique values in a new sheet:

    Get a list of Distinct / Unique values — Smartsheet Community

    Then do a COUNTIF using the data with the criterion being the unique value @ row.

    This is down to the large number of values - if I've misunderstood and you don't have 100 unique ones, then using the COUNTIF in the summary and a sheet summary report would be an alternative.

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<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":322,"name":"Formulas and Functions","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/formulas-and-functions","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[{"tagID":254,"urlcode":"Formulas","name":"Formulas"}]},{"discussionID":108205,"type":"question","name":"Either checkbox column to contribute to % complete","excerpt":"I am looking for a formula that will reference two checkbox columns to calculate a % complete if either is checked. I'd also like this formula to calculate an average % complete based on the % complete of the child tasks. This was working correctly when I was using only one checkbox column, but I am struggling to…","snippet":"I am looking for a formula that will reference two checkbox columns to calculate a % complete if either is checked. I'd also like this formula to calculate an average % complete…","categoryID":322,"dateInserted":"2023-07-27T17:53:55+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-07-27T19:21:53+00:00","insertUserID":164195,"insertUser":{"userID":164195,"name":"Rachel Kelly","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Rachel%20Kelly","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/defaultavatar\/nWRMFRX6I99I6.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-27T19:00:06+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":45516,"lastUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-28T04:02:46+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":3,"countViews":37,"score":null,"hot":3380967948,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108205\/either-checkbox-column-to-contribute-to-complete","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108205\/either-checkbox-column-to-contribute-to-complete","format":"Rich","lastPost":{"discussionID":108205,"commentID":387648,"name":"Re: Either checkbox column to contribute to % complete","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/387648#Comment_387648","dateInserted":"2023-07-27T19:21:53+00:00","insertUserID":45516,"insertUser":{"userID":45516,"name":"Paul Newcome","title":"","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/Paul%20Newcome","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/userpics\/082\/nQPUTVFKKWDJ2.jpg","dateLastActive":"2023-07-28T04:02:46+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭✭✭✭✭✭"}},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/"},{"name":"Get Help","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/get-help"},{"name":"Formulas and Functions","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/formulas-and-functions"}],"groupID":null,"statusID":3,"image":{"url":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031209\/uploads\/V4HP6H7XE3I9\/image.png","urlSrcSet":{"10":"","300":"","800":"","1200":"","1600":""},"alt":"image.png"},"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-07-27T19:01:16+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-07-27T18:58:57+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":387623,"body":"

Try this:<\/p>

=IF(COUNT(CHILDREN()) = 0, IF(OR(Done@row = 1, [N\/A]@row = 1), 1, 0), AVG(CHILDREN()))<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":322,"name":"Formulas and Functions","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/formulas-and-functions","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[]},{"discussionID":108195,"type":"question","name":"COUNTIF Function Not Working Correctly","excerpt":"Hello, I have a COUNTIF function I am using to count all cells that are 'Blank' in a column. We should have one result, but the formula is showing as zero. Any thoughts on this one? =COUNTIF([Account Dashboard]:[Account Dashboard], \" \")","snippet":"Hello, I have a COUNTIF function I am using to count all cells that are 'Blank' in a column. We should have one result, but the formula is showing as zero. Any thoughts on this…","categoryID":322,"dateInserted":"2023-07-27T16:41:32+00:00","dateUpdated":null,"dateLastComment":"2023-07-27T19:11:08+00:00","insertUserID":164192,"insertUser":{"userID":164192,"name":"ewitt19205","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/ewitt19205","photoUrl":"https:\/\/aws.smartsheet.com\/storageProxy\/image\/images\/u!1!mo_vH-5dWnI!5OcveUI6Zjo!UtWovaSRry_","dateLastActive":"2023-07-27T19:07:23+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"},"updateUserID":null,"lastUserID":164192,"lastUser":{"userID":164192,"name":"ewitt19205","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/ewitt19205","photoUrl":"https:\/\/aws.smartsheet.com\/storageProxy\/image\/images\/u!1!mo_vH-5dWnI!5OcveUI6Zjo!UtWovaSRry_","dateLastActive":"2023-07-27T19:07:23+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"},"pinned":false,"pinLocation":null,"closed":false,"sink":false,"countComments":2,"countViews":40,"score":null,"hot":3380962360,"url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108195\/countif-function-not-working-correctly","canonicalUrl":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/108195\/countif-function-not-working-correctly","format":"Rich","lastPost":{"discussionID":108195,"commentID":387638,"name":"Re: COUNTIF Function Not Working Correctly","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/discussion\/comment\/387638#Comment_387638","dateInserted":"2023-07-27T19:11:08+00:00","insertUserID":164192,"insertUser":{"userID":164192,"name":"ewitt19205","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/profile\/ewitt19205","photoUrl":"https:\/\/aws.smartsheet.com\/storageProxy\/image\/images\/u!1!mo_vH-5dWnI!5OcveUI6Zjo!UtWovaSRry_","dateLastActive":"2023-07-27T19:07:23+00:00","banned":0,"punished":0,"private":false,"label":"✭"}},"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/"},{"name":"Get Help","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/get-help"},{"name":"Formulas and Functions","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/formulas-and-functions"}],"groupID":null,"statusID":3,"attributes":{"question":{"status":"accepted","dateAccepted":"2023-07-27T19:10:56+00:00","dateAnswered":"2023-07-27T16:47:29+00:00","acceptedAnswers":[{"commentID":387588,"body":"

Hi @ewitt19205<\/a> <\/p>

Try removing the space between the quotes. You are counting all cells with 1 space in the cell. Blanks are counted with the quotes together.<\/p>

When counting blanks though, its also good to use a COUNTIFS and compare the blank off another column that always has a value. Like Countifs when the Project name is not blank (<>\"//www.santa-greenland.com/community/discussion/106939/\") and the Account Dashboard is blank (\"//www.santa-greenland.com/community/discussion/106939/\").<\/p>

I hope that helps.<\/p>

Thanks,<\/p>

Matt<\/p>"}]}},"status":{"statusID":3,"name":"Accepted","state":"closed","recordType":"discussion","recordSubType":"question"},"bookmarked":false,"unread":false,"category":{"categoryID":322,"name":"Formulas and Functions","url":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/categories\/formulas-and-functions","allowedDiscussionTypes":[]},"reactions":[{"tagID":3,"urlcode":"Promote","name":"Promote","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":5,"count":0},{"tagID":5,"urlcode":"Insightful","name":"Insightful","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":11,"urlcode":"Up","name":"Vote Up","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0},{"tagID":13,"urlcode":"Awesome","name":"Awesome","class":"Positive","hasReacted":false,"reactionValue":1,"count":0}],"tags":[]}],"initialPaging":{"nextURL":"https:\/\/community.smartsheet.com\/api\/v2\/discussions?page=2&categoryID=322&includeChildCategories=1&type%5B0%5D=Question&excludeHiddenCategories=1&sort=-hot&limit=3&expand%5B0%5D=all&expand%5B1%5D=-body&expand%5B2%5D=insertUser&expand%5B3%5D=lastUser&status=accepted","prevURL":null,"currentPage":1,"total":10000,"limit":3},"title":"Trending in Formulas and Functions ","subtitle":null,"description":null,"noCheckboxes":true,"containerOptions":[],"discussionOptions":[]}">

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