title: How to match a string wildcard pattern in an excel macro
body: <p>I have a test like</p>
  
  <pre><code>LEFT('F13',2)='F1'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I want to change it from a left-side match to a test that supports wildcards</p>
  
  <pre><code>'F13'='F?3'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Excel doesn't support regex except in VBA code but i'd prefer this was done in a macro. I should point out that the actual test isn't a simple string, but cell references (this may be important, I'm not sure):</p>
  
  <pre><code>IF(LEFT($DATA.$A$2:$A$1501,LEN($B$3))=$B$3,...
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The range actually evaluates to a single cell based on where the macro is called from. $B$3 is the pattern input by the user.</p>