Returns the position of the character that begins the first occurrence of one string within another string.

Syntax

InStr ( [ begin , ] string1 , string2 )

or

InStr ( [ begin , ] string1 , string2 [, compMethod ] )

Elements

begin

Optional. A numeric expression with a positive integer value. begin specifies the character position in string1 where InStr should begin searching for string2. If you omit begin, it defaults to 1. If you specify compMethod, you must specify begin as well.

The string that InStr searches for the occurrence of string2.

The string for which InStr searches to see if it occurs in string1.

A number designating the comparison method:

Number	Comparison method
0	case-sensitive, pitch-sensitive
1	case-insensitive, pitch-sensitive
4	case-sensitive, pitch-insensitive
5	case-insensitive, pitch-insensitive

If you specify compMethod, you must specify begin as well.

If you omit compMethod, the default comparison mode is the mode set by the Option Compare statement for this module. If there is no statement for the module, the default is case-sensitive and pitch-sensitive.

InStr returns the character position of the first occurrence of string2 within string1. The following table shows how the function responds to various conditions.

Condition	Return value
string1 is the empty string ("")	0
string2 is not found after begin in string1	0
begin is larger than the length of string1	0
string2 is the empty string ("")	The value of begin. If you omit begin, InStr returns the value 1.
string1 is NULL	NULL
string2 is NULL	NULL
begin or compMethod is NULL	Error

Usage

If you want to work with bytes, use the InStrB function.

Language cross-reference

@Middle function in formula language

Example
See Also

LotusScript Language Reference: I through L
InStrB function
InStrBP function
InStrC function
Option Compare statement
StrCompare function

Glossary