Split Uppercase words in Excel
Having acknowledged Excellll's remarkable formula, the most efficient code solution would be RegExp
based. This avoids long loops.
Function SplitCaps(strIn As String) As StringDim objRegex As ObjectSet objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")With objRegex .Global = True .Pattern = "([a-z])([A-Z])" SplitCaps = .Replace(strIn, "$1 $2")End WithEnd Function
Here's a worksheet function solution. It ain't pretty, but if you're totally averse to using VBA, then I think you're stuck with ugly options only. For text in A1
, paste the following into B1
and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter the formula as an array formula:
=IFERROR(INDEX(IF(CODE(MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A2:A"&LEN(D1))),1))<=90,IF(CODE(MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A2:A"&LEN(D1))),1))>=65,IF(MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&LEN(D1)-1)),1)<>" ",REPLACE(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A2:A"&LEN(D1))),1," "&MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A2:A"&LEN(D1))),1)),D1),D1),D1),MIN(IF(CODE(MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A2:A"&LEN(D1))),1))<=90,IF(CODE(MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A2:A"&LEN(D1))),1))>=65,IF(MID(D1,ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&LEN(D1)-1)),1)<>" ",ROW(INDIRECT("A1:A"&LEN(D1)-1)),2000000),2000000),2000000))),D1)
I told you it was ugly!
And for all that effort, that will only split the first and second name. For more splits, fill the formula over to the right. So for example, if you have a list of names in A1:A10
, and you think the most words in any name is four, you could enter the formula in B1
(as an array formula!), fill down to B10
, then fill right to E10
. Your list of split names will be in E1:E10
.
If you're inclined to jump down the rabbit hole, here's a brief explanation of what the formula does:
- Check each character to see if it is in the ASCII range for capital letters and not preceded by a space. The first character of the name is skipped.
- An array equal in size to the length of the string (minus 1) is populated as follows: If a match is found, the string is stored with the matching character replaced by a space preceding itself. If no match is found, the original string is stored.
- The first element from this array that corresponds to a match is returned. If no match is found, the original string is returned.
Since you say you would not like to use a VBA macro, but the problem requires VBA, I think a UDF will be a nice solution for you. This is a UDF (User defined Function) that you can use. Put this code in a general module of the same file that you have the data in.
Function splitbycaps(inputstr As String) As StringDim i As LongDim temp As StringIf inputstr = vbNullString Then splitbycaps = temp Exit FunctionElse temp = inputstr For i = 1 To Len(temp) If Mid(temp, i, 1) = UCase(Mid(temp, i, 1)) Then If i <> 1 Then temp = Left(temp, i - 1) + " " + Right(temp, Len(temp) - i + 1) i = i + 1 End If End If Next i splitbycaps = tempEnd IfEnd Function
You can now use the function directly in a cell. Suppose you have data in A1 -> "MikeJones"And you want answer in cell A2. So in A2, you enter
=splitbycaps(A1)
And you will get your output. HTH.