Find and Replace based on rules/conditions

[jgall]

I have 1000 excel records where one column contains a chat transcript. The chat transcript contains multiple questions and responses in text with date stamps with in a single cell. I want to be able to strip all numbers in the text contact except those that are in a date. Example (in a single cell):

3/5/2011 4:53:10 PM JohnDoe msg how many miles is it to New York?
3/5/2011 4:53:45 PM JaneDoe msg 1,215 miles

How can I peform a find and replace such that only the numbers that are NOT in a date and time format get changed to ## so the result is the following:

3/5/2011 4:53:10 PM JohnDoe msg how many miles is it to New York?
3/5/2011 4:53:45 PM JaneDoe msg #,### miles

Additional Information:
The individual cells each contain mutiple lines of text with several date stamps through out the text in the cell.

Thank you for any assistance provided.
J

 

[amerifax]

Is the word Miles always in place where a condition must be meet? When I know the answer to the question I have some ideas.

Also if you search on Amerifax, member, you will find some great ideas on this subject form other members.


Bob

 

[jgall]

Unfortunately, no. There is no unique identifier as I want to replace any number in the text except for the date/time stamps. The numbers could be age, a phone number, an address, miles, counts, volumes, etc.

Thanks for the help.
J

 

[amerifax]

Oh Boy. I was hoping to help. all my experience is with text. Seems yours is numeric.

But this might be off beat:
Finding all numeric >=1 might be a start.

 

[pgc01]

Hi jgall
Welcome to the board

Assuming the date and time with a format like in the date stamps that you posted, try this udf:

Function MaskNumbers(ByVal s As String) As String
Dim rexMatches As Object, rexMatch As Object
 
With CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
    .Pattern = "\d+/\d+/\d+|\d+:\d+:\d+|(\d+)"
    .Global = True
    Set rexMatches = .Execute(s)
    For Each rexMatch In rexMatches
        With rexMatch
            If .submatches(0) <> "" Then _
                Mid(s, .firstindex + 1, .Length) = String(.Length, "#")
        End With
    Next rexMatch 
End With
MaskNumbers = s
End Function

Ex.:

In B1: =MaskNumber(A1)

Copy down.


<TABLE style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #cccccc; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 2px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #cccccc; BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse; FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Arial; BACKGROUND: #fff; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 2px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 2px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #cccccc; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #cccccc; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 2px" border=1 cellPadding=1><TBODY><TR><TH style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px"></TH><TH style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px">A</TH><TH style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px">B</TH><TH style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: center; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px" width=30>C</TH></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #000000; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">1</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">3/5/2011 4:53:10 PM JohnDoe msg how many miles is it to New York?
3/5/2011 4:53:45 PM JaneDoe msg 1,215 miles
</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">3/5/2011 4:53:10 PM JohnDoe msg how many miles is it to New York?
3/5/2011 4:53:45 PM JaneDoe msg #,### miles
</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #000000; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">2</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">John Dow moved to 10, Baker street, Los Angeles, CA 12345 on 1/1/2011</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">John Dow moved to ##, Baker street, Los Angeles, CA ##### on 1/1/2011</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #000000; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">3</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">Windows 7 was launched on 10/22/2009</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">Windows # was launched on 10/22/2009</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #000000; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">4</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">10:12:34 25 12 1/1/2011 1:11:11 999 1,234.56 3/5/2011 55 4 3456 3/5/2011 4:53:10 </TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: left; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">10:12:34 ## ## 1/1/2011 1:11:11 ### #,###.## 3/5/2011 ## # #### 3/5/2011 4:53:10 </TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #000000; TEXT-ALIGN: center; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #000000; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BACKGROUND: #9cf; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #000000; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em">5</TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM-COLOR: #888888; TEXT-ALIGN: right; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.25em; BORDER-RIGHT-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-TOP-COLOR: #888888; PADDING-LEFT: 0.5em; PADDING-RIGHT: 0.5em; BORDER-TOP-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-BOTTOM-WIDTH: 1px; BORDER-RIGHT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-COLOR: #888888; BORDER-LEFT-WIDTH: 1px; PADDING-TOP: 0.4em"></TD></TR><TR><TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 1em; BACKGROUND: #9cf" colSpan=4>[Book1.xls]Sheet2</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

[jgall]

Thank you PGC!! This works perfectly!