IntermediateText Functions
Pull the year out of an order code with MID
Extract characters from the middle of a text value.
MID
7 min25 points
MID
Returns characters from the middle of a text value, given a start point.
Syntax
MID(text, start_num, num_chars)
Text Functions.
Practise MID2 interactive exercises, free, no account needed
A worked example
=MID(A2,5,4)
Returns 2026
Takes four characters starting at position 5 — the year inside ORD-2026-1041.
Where it goes wrong
Counting from zero. MID starts at 1, and it counts separators too, so the hyphen occupies a position.
What the exercises catch
Each of these is a wrong turn the practice exercises recognise and name. They are the misconceptions, not the answers.
- Starting at position 4 gives you "-202" — the hyphen is character 4, so the year begins at 5. Count the characters including separators.Pull the year out of an order code with MID
- Position 13 is right for this barcode and wrong for the third one, where the SKU is a character longer. Find the marker rather than assuming where it lands.Extract a lot number from a messy code
Practise MID
Knowing what a function does and being able to write it from memory are different skills. These close the gap.