Using replace to replace ONLY the first instance

[cloud2828]

I'm trying to use this formula:
REPLACE("S";1;1;"O")
To remove the first instance of S only. An example of what the column would look like:

[TABLE="width: 25"]
<tbody>[TR]
[TD]T[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]O[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]O[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]P[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]P[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]T[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]S[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]S[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]P[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]O[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]T[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]O[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]O
[/TD]
[/TR]
</tbody>[/TABLE]

Sadly, It is necessary that I drag the formula I have down thus resulting in all the "S" being replaced by "O".

 

[theBardd]

Why not just write some VBA that reads your definition table and creates a column with said number of each letter. Add a random number in the adjacent column, sort by that column, then delete it.