How can I combine multiple nested Substitute functions in Excel?

Question

I am trying to set up a function to reformat a string that will later be concatenated. An example string would look like this:

Standard_H2_W1_Launch_123x456_         


        

Answer 1

To simply combine them you can place them all together like this:

=SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"_AB","_"),"_CD","_"),"_EF","_"),"_40K",""),"_60K",""),"_S_","_"),"_","-")

(note that this may pass the older Excel limit of 7 nested statements. I'm testing in Excel 2010

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Another way to do it is by utilizing Left and Right functions.

This assumes that the changing data on the end is always present and is 8 characters long

=SUBSTITUTE(LEFT(A2,LEN(A2)-8),"_","-")

This will achieve the same resulting string

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If the string doesn't always end with 8 characters that you want to strip off you can search for the "_S" and get the current location. Try this:

=SUBSTITUTE(LEFT(A2,FIND("_S",A2,1)),"_","-")