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I already know the lookup workaround, but I was wondering if there was a function that can look up a letter's position in the alphabet, so that A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc.? I need it to work in all versions since XP. In the past, I have found that vlookup commands can bog down the running time, so I try to avoid them, although it has been so long (10+ years) since I started avoiding lookups that the problem may have gone away with faster computers.
Brad
Excel XP - 2010
Windows XP 32 bit - 7 64 bit
3 GHz P4 w/1 GB - 2.8 Ghz Core i7 w/ 8 GB
A family of Microsoft spreadsheet software with tools for analyzing, charting, and communicating data.
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Answer accepted by question author
... so that A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc. ...
With A, B or C in A1, try,
=CODE(A1)-64
... or possibly,
=CODE(UPPER(A1))-64
... since the ASCII code for a is different from A.