Hello everyone,
I have a cell with a user defined format:
Format: “ST-”#,
Input: 1,
Shows: ST-1
But when I try to input “1a”, it doesn’t work anymore. Could anyone show me how to do the user definition so that i end up with “ST-1a”, please?
Thank you in advance for any suggestions.
Cordially,
Marek
“1a” is a text (string). Number formats work with numbers, not with texts.
Be sure to understand, that the “1” as a part of a text isn’t a number, but a character.
If you actually need your “ST-1a” based on an input of “\d+a” where “\d+” is a placeholder for any positive number of decimal digits, you need to use a formula in a different cell.
Assuming your input goes to cell A1, the formula might read =REGEX(A1;"(\d+)"; "ST-$1"; 1).
To understand the formula you need to learn the basics about regular expressions.
That’s nothing to do with formatting as applicable to numbers.
That all makes sense… Thank you very much 
As an alternative, I can change my cell formatting to a text and then use the digits as strings. Which in my case, with small adjustments, actually works just the same.
Cordially,
Marek
"ST-"@ format string should work. Obviously you don’t need numbers, only strings, when use those ‘1’ and ‘1a’.