COUNTIF criteria question

[Joedy]

I have a worksheet column composed of the letters “B”, “BM”, “BW”, or “X”.

The goal is to total all the “B”, “BM”, and “BW” entries. I can to this with the following:

=COUNTIF(E2:E17,"B")+COUNTIF(E2:E17,"BM")+COUNTIF(E2:E17,"BW")

Is there a way to combine the above calculation with “IF” or “OR” functions and the criteria “B”, “BM”, “BW” into just one
COUNTIF (E2:E17, ………………) statement?

 

[Mark W.]

=COUNTIF(E2:E17,"B*")

 

[Joedy]

Wow! That was simple. Thanks.