> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.cascade.io/cascade/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.cascade.io/cascade/functions-and-expressions/functions/text/find.md).

# FIND

FIND( `string`, `substring` , `[start index]`)

Finds and returns the index of a `substring` within a `string`; returns 0 if`substring` is not found.

### Arguments

| Input           | Description                                                               |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `string`        | Text `string(s)` to search for `substring` within                         |
| `substring`     | `Substring` to search for within `string`                                 |
| `[start index]` | Optional, defaults to 0. Index to begin searching for the `substring` at. |

### Output

The index of a `substring` within a string; outputs 0 if the string is not found.

### Example

Let's assume we want to extract the state capital from the sentence column. One way to do that would be to utilize `FIND({Sentence}, ":")` to determine the index the colon is listed at, a unique character always preceding the state capital. Knowing this value for each state, we can now use something like [RIGHT() ](https://docs.cascade.io/cascade/functions/text/right)to help us extract the characters associated with the state capitals. 

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