Text functions

Contains

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The Contains function searches for a specified substring in a text value. If the substring is found, the function returns True, otherwise it returns False.

Syntax

Contains(string, substring...)

Function arguments:

string

A text value or column of text values to search.

  • Individual text value input (not column input) must be enclosed in double quotes. For example, "My name is Bob".
  • Can only reference a column that contains text data.
substring…

One or more substrings or columns of substrings to search for in the text value.

  • Individual substring input (not column input) must be enclosed in double quotes. For example, "is Bob".
  • Multiple substrings must be input as separate arguments. For example, "name", "is Bob" or [ColumnA], [ColumnB].

Notes

  • Arguments are case sensitive. To bypass case sensitivity, use the Lower function to convert the arguments to lowercase as needed. See Example 2.
  • When the multiple substring arguments are included, the function returns True if at least one substring is found.

Examples

Example 1

Contains("Welcome to Sigma", "to sig")

Returns False because “to sig” (with a lowercase ‘s’) isn’t a substring in “Welcome to Sigma.”

Example 2

Contains(Lower("Welcome to Sigma"), "to sig")

Converts the string argument to all lowercase characters and returns True because “to sig” is found as a substring in “welcome to sigma.”

Example 3

Contains([Station], [City])

Returns True when the city name (text value in the City column) is found as a substring in the station name (text value in the Station column). Otherwise, the function returns False.

Example 4

Contains([Product Name], "Digital Camera", "DSLR")

Returns True when either “Digital Camera” or “DSLR” is found as a substring in the product name (text value in the Product Name column). Otherwise, the function returns False.