Wildcard Numbers in Position function

[TerenceM]

Here's a simple custom function that allows you to search for strings of wildcards (and only wildcards) in a block of text. It replaces all numbers with "#", and all major punctuation with "/". I wrote it in response to a question for a way to see if a block of text contains a social security number, which you can search for as "/###/##/####/". It may need to be tweaked for specific purposes, but I imagine some other people might find it handy. The basics of the function are also written in a calculation field, for those of you without Developer and can't read the custom function. Enjoy!

-Terence

PositionWildcards.zip

[wolfe]

I've tested this thing every way possible to get a SSN into the text field and can't do it. I think this is fantastic! Very Clever! Tnx