BeginnerText Functions
Check code length with LEN
Use LEN to validate that product codes are the right length.
LEN
3 min10 points
LEN
Counts the characters in a text value, spaces included.
Syntax
LEN(text)
Text Functions.
Practise LEN1 interactive exercise, free, no account needed
A worked example
=LEN(A2)
Returns 9
Counts the characters in the product code, spaces included.
Where it goes wrong
A length one higher than expected is usually an invisible trailing space — which is also why the lookup on that column is failing.
What the exercises catch
Each of these is a wrong turn the practice exercises recognise and name. They are the misconceptions, not the answers.
- Counting by eye is exactly what this column exists to avoid — the malformed rows are the ones you cannot spot at a glance.Check code length with LEN
Practise LEN
Knowing what a function does and being able to write it from memory are different skills. These close the gap.