--- title: "Use the CONTAINS Function to Identify Substrings in Text" slug: "contains-function" description: "Learn to use the CONTAINS function to check if one text string exists within another in Pigment. Ideal for data validation and filtering." updated: 2025-05-30T09:42:23Z published: 2025-08-22T10:57:28Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.pigment.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # CONTAINS function ## ​​Description Determines if a Text is included within another Text. ## Syntax `CONTAINS(Text to Find, Text to Search [, Starting Position to Search] [, Is Case Sensitive])` ## Arguments | Argument | Type | Dimensions | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | *Text to Find* (required) | Text | Any Dimensions | Text to find in the searched Text. | | *Text to Search* (required) | Text | No Dimension or Dimensions of *Text to Find* | Text to search in. | | *Starting Position to Search* (optional) | Integer | No Dimension or Dimensions of *Text to Find* | Position of the character to start the search in, in *Text to Search* | | *Is Case Sensitive* (optional) | Boolean | No Dimension or Dimensions of *Text to Find* | Whether the search is done with case sensitivity. By default, the search is not case sensitive. | ## Returns | Type | Dimensions | | --- | --- | | Boolean | Dimensions of *Text to Find* | `TRUE` if *Text to Find* is in *Text to Search*. `FALSE` if *Text to Find* is not present in *Text to Search*. `BLANK` if *Starting Position to Search* is a negative value or 0. ## Examples | Formula | Result | Description | | --- | --- | --- | | `CONTAINS(“a”, “abc”)` | `TRUE` | The Text “a” is present in “abc”. | | `CONTAINS(“c”, “abc”)` | `TRUE` | The Text “c” is present in “abc”. | | `CONTAINS(“A”, “abc”)` | `TRUE` | The search is not case sensitive by default. Finding the Text “A” is equivalent to finding the Text “a”. | | `CONTAINS(“A”, “abc", 1, TRUE)` | `FALSE` | The search is case sensitive. “A” is not present in “abc”. | | `CONTAINS(“a”, “abc”, 2)` | `FALSE` | The *Starting Position to Search* is set to 2. The searches the Text “a” from the Text “bc”. | | `CONTAINS(“a”, “abc”, 0)` | `BLANK` | The *Starting Position to Search*, 0, is invalid. | | `CONTAINS(“a”, “abc”, -1)` | `BLANK` | The *Starting Position to Search*, -1, is invalid. | ## See also Related articles: [FIND](/v1/docs/find-function) > [!TIP] > More of a hands-on learner? > > Talk to your Customer Success Manager about downloading the Functions and Modifiers in Pigment Application into your workspace. It includes examples of every formula and modifier in Pigment!