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Re: Extract Initials for Given Names

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David_Grove
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

I have two fields in a table for a sheet music library: Last Name and Given Names.

Is there a formula expression that will produce the initials for the given names?

For example, If the Given Names field is just “Johann”, I would like to produce the string “J.”. If the Given Names field is “Johann Sebastion”, I would like to produce the string, "J. S. ". If the Given Names field is “Carl Philipp Emanuel”, I would like to produce the string, "C. P. E. ". Etc.

Thank you for any comments.

DG

13 Replies 13

@Justin_Barrett Thank’s for testing out my demo.

Yes, your long test name didn’t parse the initials beyond the first three. In my comments in my original post, I explicitly stated that this particular formula only worked for three names, along with other limitations of formulas.

As for not sharing the formula (and thus not sharing the base), I am still working on balancing giving away formulas for free, versus my need for income.

Oops! I think I glossed over those comments before testing. Sorry about that.

I completely understand. I was just confused when you said “Here is a base with the formula,” which gave me the impression that you were sharing the formula along with the base.

David_Grove
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

Thank you all, for your helpful responses.

Initially, before posting, I had considered Rebecca_Elam’s idea. However, I didn’t know how to deal with an unknown number of names (and I am just a private user creating my own personal sheet music library with the free version [hence no blocks]).

There are composers with more than three given names. The longest of which I am currently aware has 30 names. (Named after each member of his father’s orchestra.) Admittedly, that is absolutely off-the-charts, most unusual case. But, it illustrates the point that I didn’t want to have a built-in limit.

But, since I don’t have scripting (I’m thinking I need blocks for that, am I incorrect?), I decided to go with a maximum of two initials (I’m just leaving Bach’s son, and others with more than two given names “in the dust” and only including the first two initials) by having three fields: first name, middle names, and last name, and using the first initial of the first name and middle names fields.

I’ll use that until I find (from actual experience) that it is a showstopper!

Thank you again.

Now, on to figure out how to make a user interface (like a form) to permit entry by user of search parameters (that is values to use in a filter [i.e. WHERE clause]) for a dynamic query. However, the more I look at Airtable, the more I think it’s database capabilities (I read that as SQL) are fairly limited.

Anyway, that’s a topic for another thread, which I will likely post, later.

DG

Scripting block is free for all users until March 2021. (Originally you would need a pro subscription after this month, but free use has been extended.)

Sounds like a great, simple solution! Thanks for reporting back.