MIDB in WPS on Windows: Introduction

MIDB in WPS on Windows is a text function for extracting part of a string by byte count in multidimensional tables; this guide covers 3 core tasks, with 3 available without membership and 0 membership-related items.

At a Glance

Metric	Value	Notes
Core tasks	3	Matches the number of rows in the How-to Index
Available without membership	3	Matches the number of Free rows in the index
Membership-related items	0	Matches the number of membership-related rows in the index
Version guidance	Use the latest WPS Office	Helps provide a stable multidimensional table and formula editing experience

About This Feature

Overview

MIDB is a text function in multidimensional tables that extracts part of a string by byte count. It is suitable for mixed-language text, double-byte character handling, and field cleanup scenarios where formulas need to update automatically with record data.

Core capabilities include:

Use MIDB in a formula field to return a specified text segment by byte count.
Enter the function parameters to control the starting position and extraction length.
Combine MIDB with other functions for record-level text processing.

Common scenarios: customer code splitting, imported data cleanup, and multilingual text handling.
Problems it helps solve: character-based extraction may not fit double-byte text processing; record fields may need automatically updated extracted values.
Distinct behavior: the function can be saved directly in a formula field, and results refresh when source data changes.

System Requirements

Item	Requirement
Operating system	A Windows device that can run WPS Office normally
App version	The latest version of WPS Office is recommended
Network	No mandatory connection for local formula editing; internet access is needed for sign-in, sync, or online collaboration
Other	Access to multidimensional tables and permission to create or edit formula fields

Download & Installation

Item	Details
Official download	WPS Office Free Download
Installation	Download and install WPS Office for Windows, then sign in and open a multidimensional table
Post-install check	Open a multidimensional table and confirm that Add Field and Formula options are available

Source: WPS download page

Compare with Alternatives

Dimension	WPS	Microsoft	Google	Notion	Adobe
Capability Summary	MIDB can be used in a multidimensional table formula field to extract text by byte count, and results update with record data.	Excel's current official page focuses on MID and notes that MIDB is deprecated, so the current guidance is more about compatibility than active use.	Google Sheets provides `MIDB(string, starting_at, extract_length_bytes)` for byte-based text extraction.	Notion formulas support text extraction with functions such as `substring`, but the official documentation does not describe a byte-based MIDB equivalent.	Adobe Acrobat focuses on PDF-to-Excel conversion and OCR-based extraction rather than spreadsheet formula functions like MIDB.
WPS Advantages	Advantage: MIDB can be configured and saved directly in record-level formula fields. Advantage: It fits ongoing double-byte text processing inside a table workflow.	Compared with WPS: Excel's current official guidance emphasizes MID, while MIDB is treated as a compatibility-related function.	Compared with WPS: Sheets also supports byte-based extraction, but the documented use case is centered on spreadsheet formulas in Google Sheets.	Compared with WPS: Notion can extract text segments, but it does not document a native byte-count equivalent for MIDB.	Compared with WPS: Acrobat is better aligned with document conversion workflows than table formula processing.
Official Source	—	MID function in Excel	MIDB function in Google Sheets	Formula syntax in Notion	Convert PDF to Excel in Acrobat

Overall Conclusion
If your main goal is ongoing double-byte text processing inside table records, WPS MIDB is closely aligned with a field-level formula workflow. Google Sheets offers a comparable byte-based function, while Microsoft's current official guidance centers more on MID. Notion and Adobe are oriented toward general text formulas and document conversion rather than the same table-formula use case.

Use Cases

No.	Scenario	Suitable For	Main Pain Point	How MIDB Helps
1	Customer code splitting	Operations and sales teams	Mixed Chinese and English codes are slow to split manually	Use MIDB in a formula field to extract the target segment by byte count
2	Imported data cleanup	Data coordinators	Imported text formats are inconsistent	Extract fixed-length content with MIDB before further processing
3	Multilingual text handling	Cross-border teams	Character-based extraction can be unreliable for double-byte text	Use byte-based extraction for more controlled results
4	Derived business fields	Project managers	A new field needs to be generated from source data automatically	Create a formula field and save a MIDB formula
5	Combined formula analysis	Advanced users	A single function may not be enough for complex text processing	Combine MIDB with functions such as IF

Membership & Benefits

Free vs WPS Premium

Capability	Free	WPS Premium
Basic MIDB usage	✅ Available	✅ Available
Formula field editing in multidimensional tables	✅ Available	✅ Available
Advanced PDF tools such as PDF to Word/Excel/PPT	Limited or within free scope	✅ More advanced capabilities available
Cloud storage	1GB	20GB
AI tools	Limited	Pro+ includes AI features within a daily usage limit

Source: WPS Office pricing page

Recommendations

Scenario	Recommended Plan	Why
You only need MIDB and basic formula work in multidimensional tables	Free	The feature content indicates no membership restriction for this function, so basic use is enough for routine extraction tasks
You also need more PDF, cloud storage, or AI capabilities	WPS Premium	A better fit when formula work is only one part of a broader office workflow

Membership page: Subscribe to WPS Premium