What is the purpose of the SEARCH function in spreadsheet applications?

The SEARCH function in spreadsheet applications is designed to find the position of a substring within a larger string of text. When you use this function, it scans the text for the specified substring and returns the position at which the substring first appears. The output is a numerical value representing the character index of the substring, allowing users to know where in the text their desired substring is located.

This function is particularly useful in scenarios where you need to analyze text data, such as extracting certain information from a larger string, performing data validation, or combining it with other functions to manipulate or segment data effectively.

In contrast, other options do not align with the function's capabilities: for instance, replacing text, counting characters, or converting text to uppercase are distinct functions, each serving unique purposes within spreadsheet applications.