Extracting digits from a cell with varying char length - excel

Question

I have a group of cells, the first of the string never changes, it is and always will (until the coder changes it) 20 characters (inc spaces).
I then want to extract the 3 numbers (and in some cases 2) from the remaining sequence.
The monthly cost is 2 silver, 1 copper and 40 iron.
The monthly cost is 1 silver, 94 copper and 40 iron.
The monthly cost is 1 silver and 75 copper.
The monthly cost is 8 silver and 40 copper.
The monthly cost is 1 silver.
The monthly cost is 99 silver, 99 copper and 99 iron.
The monthly cost is 1 gold.
In the sample above you can see that there is no set value after the first 20 chars.
1 or 99 silver
1 or 99 copper
0, 1 or 99 iron
I can't get a sequence that gets all the cells correct, I've tried the following:
=IF(J7<>1,(MID(TRIM(J7),FIND(" iron",TRIM(J7))-2,FIND(" iron",TRIM(J7))-FIND(" iron",TRIM(J7))+3)),"")
results in: #VALUE! (when no iron)
=TRIM(MID(J6,FIND(" silver",J6)-2,LEN(J6)-FIND(" silver",J6)-26))&TRIM(MID(J6,FIND(" copper",J6)-2,LEN(J6)-FIND(" copper",J6)-16))&TRIM(MID(J6,FIND(" iron",J6)-2,LEN(J6)-FIND(" iron",J6)-3))
results in: 1 s9440
=MID(J7,31,2-ISERR(MID(J7,21,1)+0))
results in: nd
If I & the cells as part of the calculation, they then don't calculate in the next mathematical step as I've had to allow for spaces in my code, in the case that there may be 2 digit numbers, not single.
=MID(J5,SEARCH(" silver",J5,1)-2,2)&MID(J5,SEARCH(" copper",J5,1)-2,2)&MID(J5,SEARCH(" iron",J5,1)-2,2)
results: 2 140
not: 2140
What I need to end up with is:
2140
19440
175
840
1
999999
Many thanks in advance.

Answer 1

This formula worked for me with your data, assuming text string in cell A1
=IFERROR(MID(A1,SEARCH("silver",A1)-3,2)+0,"")&IFERROR(MID(A1,SEARCH("copper",A1)-3,2)+0,"")&IFERROR(MID(A1,SEARCH("iron",A1)-3,2)+0,"")
I assume you don't want the value for "Gold"?

Answer 2

When it comes to pattern matching in strings, RegEx if often the way to go.
In Excel, this requires a VBA solution, using a reference to "Microsoft VBScript Regular Expresions 5.5" (you can go late bound if you prefer)
Here's a starter for your case, as a UDF
Use it as a formula like =GetValues(A1) assuming 1st raw data is in A1. Copy down for as many rows as required
This will extract up to 3 values from a string.
Function GetValues(r As Range) As Variant
Dim re As RegExp
Dim m As MatchCollection
Dim v As Variant
Dim i As Long
Set re = New RegExp
re.Pattern = "(\d+)\D+(\d+)\D+(\d+)"
If re.test(r.Value) Then
Set m = re.Execute(r.Value)
Else
re.Pattern = "(\d+)\D+(\d+)"
If re.test(r.Value) Then
Set m = re.Execute(r.Value)
Else
re.Pattern = "(\d+)"
If re.test(r.Value) Then
Set m = re.Execute(r.Value)
End If
End If
End If
If m Is Nothing Then
GetValues = vbNullString
Else
For i = 0 To m.Item(0).SubMatches.Count - 1
v = v & m.Item(0).SubMatches(i)
Next
GetValues = v
End If
End Function

Answer 3

Since you are just stripping digits you can use a short one-shot RegExp if you wanted the VBA route:
Function GetDigits(strIn As String) As String
Dim objRegex As Object
Set objRegex = CreateObject("vbscript.regexp")
With objRegex
.Pattern = "[^\d]+"
.Global = True
GetDigits = .Replace(strIn, vbNullString)
End With
End Function

Answer 4

Here's another method, using worksheet formulas, for returning all of the digits in a string. Harlan Grove put it out there many years ago.
First define a Name (with Workbook scope):
Seq
Refers to: =ROW(INDEX($1:$65536,1,1):INDEX($1:$65536,255,1))
Then, assuming your string is in A1, use the following array-entered formula. (Formula is entered by holding down ctrl+shift while hitting Enter. (If you do this correctly, Excel will place braces {...} around the formula.
=SUM(IF(ISNUMBER(1/(MID(A1,Seq,1)+1)),MID(A1,Seq,1)*10^MMULT(-(Seq<TRANSPOSE(Seq)),-ISNUMBER(1/(MID(A1,Seq,1)+1)))))