sb:
this was what i came up with.....
Function TrimZip(OrigVal As Variant) As String
' check for blank entry
If Len(OrigVal) + 1 = 1 Then
' if empty, leave empty
TrimZip = OrigVal
Else
' check for zip code in which dash was
intended, but forgotten
If Len(OrigVal) = 9 And Not InStr(OrigVal, "-
") Then
' trim zip code to 5 digits
TrimZip = Left(OrigVal, 5)
' for all other zip code formats
Else
' trim zip code to 5 digits if a dash
exists
TrimZip = Split(OrigVal, "-")(0)
End If
End If
End Function