Problem with ISTEXT()

[Schizoid Man]

Why does the following formula return TRUE?

=ISTEXT(LEFT(A1,1))

where cell A1 contains the text "10Y".

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

Because LEFT is a text function, this will work

=ISTEXT(--LEFT(A1,1))

--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

Note that if the leftmost character is not a number the formula will be
incorrect so it's better to use ISNUMBER instead


=ISNUMBER(--(LEFT(A1,1)))


will return TRUE for 10Y and FALSE for YYY

--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[Bob Ryan]

This will also work:
=ISNUMBER(VALUE(LEFT(A1,1)))