LOOKUP Function

Returns a zero-based index that indicates the location of the substring key in a list, or returns -1 if the target string contains the delimiter.

Syntax

LOOKUP("key","list"[,"delimiter"])

Parameters

Name

Required/Optional

Data Type

Description

key

Required

String

The string that you want to look up.

list

Required

String

The list in which you want to search.

delimiter

Optional

String

The string to use as a delimiter within list. A delimiter string can be more than one character in length and may include multibyte characters. The default is a semicolon.

Return Value

Numeric

Remarks

The LOOKUP function uses a case-insensitive search. If the list begins or ends with a delimiter, a null string is assumed to exist before or after the list. Consecutive delimiters imply a null string in between.

All the arguments must be strings or expressions that can be converted to strings. If they are not, an empty string is substituted for the offending argument.

Example 1

LOOKUP("rat","cat;rat;;goat")

Returns 1.

Example 2

LOOKUP("",";cat;rat;;goat")

Returns 0.

Example 3

LOOKUP("t","cat;rat;;goat","a")

Returns 3.