To use this function, choose Calc > Calculator.

Identifies the starting position of a string of text within a different string of text. Find is similar to Search, except Find is case-sensitive; for example, it distinguishes between b and B.

Syntax

FIND(find_text,within_text,[start_num])

For find_text, specify the text string you want to find. For within_text, specify the column of text to search. By default, Minitab searches from the first position of each text entry. You can also specify a different starting position (the location in the string from where to start the search) by inserting a number for start_num, the optional third argument of the function.

You can use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard character that represents a string of one or more characters. The question mark (?) is also a wildcard character, but it represents only one character instead of a string of characters. To reference the "*" or "?" character within a text string, use the tilde (~) before the symbol.

Examples

Column Calculator expression Result
C1 contains "234B75" FIND("B7",C1) 4 (because B7 starts at the 4th position in the text)
C1 contains "depreciate" FIND "c*t",C1) 6
C1 contains "Item# C-222-T" FIND("C*T",C1) 7
C1 contains "defective" FIND("c*t",C1) 5
C1 contains "814*231*2682" FIND("~*",C1) 4