LEN

Returns the length of a text string.

Syntax:

LEN(text)

returns the number of characters in the text text, including spaces.

Example:

LEN("red car")

returns 7.

LEN(123.4)

returns 5 (numbers are converted to text).

Application:

Inventory Management at a Bookstore

A bookstore manager, Sarah, wants to ensure that all book titles in her inventory database are formatted consistently. Specifically, she wants to find any titles that might be excessively long, as this could indicate an error or lead to display issues on the store's website. She uses the LEN function to count the number of characters in each book title.

Inventory Table:

	Book ID	Title	Author	Price
	A	B	C	D
1	001	The Whispers of a Forgotten Star	Elara Vance	$15.99
2	002	Echoes in the Lumina Forest	Kaelen Darke	$9.99
3	003	The Last Chrononaut's Riddle	Zephyr Grey	$7.50
4	004	A Glimmer of Yesterday's Dawn	Anya Sharma	$8.99
5	005	The Song of the Silent City	Lysandra Fae	$12.99

Applying the LEN Function:

Sarah creates a new column called "Title Length" and applies the LEN function to the "Title" column for each book. This function counts all characters, including letters, spaces, and punctuation.

Inventory Table with LEN Function Results:

	Book ID	Title	Author	Price	Title Length
	A	B	C	D	E
1	001	The Whispers of a Forgotten Star	Elara Vance	$15.99	32
2	002	Echoes in the Lumina Forest	Kaelen Darke	$9.99	27
3	003	The Last Chrononaut's Riddle	Zephyr Grey	$7.50	28
4	004	A Glimmer of Yesterday's Dawn	Anya Sharma	$8.99	29
5	005	The Song of the Silent City	Lysandra Fae	$12.99	27