Excel Validation to Prevent Entry of Two Specific Characters
I'd like to place some validation against a cell in Excel that allows all characters except a "-" (hyphen) and any white space. I've attempted the following but this doesn't seem to work.
=ISERROR((OR(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("-",C14)),ISNUMBER(SEARCH(" ",C14)))))
If someone could point me in the right direction I'd really appreciate it.
EDIT: USE =LEN(B3)=LEN(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(B3,"-","")," ","")) or =AND(ISERROR(FIND(" ",B3)),ISERROR(FIND("-",B3)))
@chris neilsen-Thank you
I think the right direction is around here. If the formatting is a bit 'off' Just follow the link above.
To expand the usefulness of my answer, I added some information for people who may have similar questions.
Excel Data Validation Examples Custom Criteria
Prevent Duplicates With Data Validation
You can use Excel Data Validation to prevent duplicate entries in a range on the worksheet. In this example, Employee Numbers will be entered in cells B3:B10, and you can prevent the same number from being entered twice..
Select cells B3:B10
Choose Data|Data Validation
Choose Allow: Custom
For the formula in this example, we use the COUNTIF function to count the occurrences of the value in cell B3, in the range $B$3:$B$10. The formula's result must be 1 or 0:
=COUNTIF($B$3:$B$10,B3) <= 1
Limit the Total
Prevent the entry of a value that will cause a range to exceed a set total. In this example, the total budget cannot exceed $3500. The budget amounts are in cells C3:C7, and the formula checks the total in those cells
Select cells C3:C7
Choose Data|Data Validation
Choose Allow: Custom
For the formula, use SUM to total the values in the range $C$3:$C$7. The result must be less than or equal to $3500:
=SUM($C$3:$C$7) <= 3500
No Leading or Trailing Spaces
You can prevent users from adding spaces before or after the text in the entry. The TRIM function removes spaces before and after the text, and any extra spaces within the text.
The formula in this example checks that the entry in cell B2 is equal to the trimmed entry in that cell.
Select cell B2
Choose Data|Data Validation
Choose Allow: Custom
For the formula, enter:
=B2 = TRIM(B2)
No Spaces in Text
Thanks to Jerry Latham for this example.
You can prevent users from adding ANY spaces in a text string. The SUBSTITUTE function replaces each space character " " with an empty string ""
The formula in this example checks that the entry in cell B3 is equal to the entry without spaces.
Select cell B3
On the Ribbon, click the Data tab, then click Data Validation
Choose Allow: Custom
For the formula, enter:
=B3=SUBSTITUTE(B3," ","") >
No Spaces in Cell
You can prevent users from adding ANY spaces in the cell -- whether the entry is text, numbers, or a combination of both. Here are two formulas that check for spaces.
Example 1
Thanks to Jerry Latham for this example.
The LEN function counts the number of characters entered in cell B3, and compares that to the number of characters after SUBSTITUTE removes the space characters.
Select cell B3
On the Ribbon, click the Data tab, then click Data Validation
Choose Allow: Custom
For the formula, enter:
=LEN(B3)=LEN(SUBSTITUTE(B3," ",""))
Example 2
The FIND function looks for the space character " " and the ISERROR function result is TRUE, if the space character is not found.
The formula in this example checks that the entry in cell B3 is equal to the entry without spaces.
Select cell B3
On the Ribbon, click the Data tab, then click Data Validation
Choose Allow: Custom
For the formula, enter:
=ISERROR(FIND(" ",B3))
