Search cell for text and copy text to another cell in VBA? - vba

Question

I've got a column which contains rows that have parameters in them. For example
W2 = [PROD][FO][2.0][Customer]
W3 = [PROD][GD][1.0][P3]
W4 = Issues in production for customer
I have a function that is copying other columns into another sheet, however for this column, I need to do the following
Search the cell and look for [P*]
The asterisk represents a number between 1 and 5
If it finds [P*] then copy P* to the sheet "Calculations" in column 4
Basically, remove everything from the cell except where there is a square bracket, followed by P, a number and a square bracket
Does anyone know how I can do this? Alternatively, it might be easier to copy the column across and then remove everything that doesn't meet the above criteria.

Answer 1

Second Edit:
I edited here to use a regular expression instead of a loop. This may be the most efficient method to achieve your goal. See below and let us know if it works for you:
Function MatchWithRegex(sInput As String) As String
Dim oReg As Object
Dim sOutput As String
Set oReg = CreateObject("VBScript.RegExp")
With oReg
.Pattern = "[[](P[1-5])[]]"
End With
If oReg.test(sInput) Then
sOutput = oReg.Execute(sInput)(0).Submatches(0)
Else
sOutput = ""
End If
MatchWithRegex = sOutput
End Function
Sub test2()
Dim a As String
a = MatchWithRegex(Range("A1").Value)
If a = vbNullString Then
MsgBox "None"
Else
MsgBox MatchWithRegex(Range("A1").Value)
End If
End Sub
First EDIT:
My solution would be something as follows. I'd write a function that first tests if the Pattern exists in the string, then if it does, I'd split it based on brackets, and choose the bracket that matches the pattern. Let me know if that works for you.
Function ExtractPNumber(sInput As String) As String
Dim aValues
Dim sOutput As String
sOutput = ""
If sInput Like "*[[]P[1-5][]]*" Then
aValues = Split(sInput, "[")
For Each aVal In aValues
If aVal Like "P[1-5][]]*" Then
sOutput = aVal
End If
Next aVal
End If
ExtractPNumber = Left(sOutput, 2)
End Function
Sub TestFunction()
Dim sPValue As String
sPValue = ExtractPNumber(Range("A2").Value)
If sPValue = vbNullString Then
'Do nothing or input whatever business logic you want
Else
Sheet2.Range("A1").Value = sPValue
End If
End Sub
OLD POST:
In VBA, you can use the Like Operator with a Pattern to represent an Open Bracket, the letter P, any number from 1-5, then a Closed Bracket using the below syntax:
Range("A1").Value LIke "*[[]P[1-5][]]*"

Answer 2

EDIT: Fixed faulty solution
If you're ok with blanks and don't care if *>5, I would do this and copy down column 4:
=IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("[P?]",FirstSheet!$W2)), FirstSheet!$W2, "")
Important things to note:
? is the wildcard symbol for a single character; you can use * if you're ok with multiple characters at that location
will display cell's original value if found, leave blank otherwise
Afterwards, you can highlight the column and remove blanks if needed. Alternatively, you can replace the blank with a placeholder string.
If * must be 1-5, use two columns, E and D, respectively:
=MID(FirstSheet!$W2,SEARCH("[P",FirstSheet!$W2)+2,1)
=IF(AND(ISNUMBER($E2),$E2>0,$E2<=5,MID($W2,SEARCH("[P",FirstSheet!$W2)+3,1))), FirstSheet!$W2, "")
where FirstSheet is the name of your initial sheet.