Function InStr with Japanese Windows: strange return value

Dear all,

I have found a strange behavior of VBA InStr function in Japanese language in Japanese Windows.

(WinXP Pro SP2, Office 2003 Pro)

InStr function: InStr([start, ]string1,string2[,compare])

While a Japanese Katakana character with "tenten" or "maru" appears in a string1, InStr(string1, string2) returns a wrong result:

sTest="ヘルプabc"

InStr(sTest, "a") = 5 (should be 4)

(while: Len(sTest) = 6; Mid(sTest, 4) = "abc"; LenB(sTest) = 12 )

However, if I use it with vbBinaryCompare, it returns a right value:

InStr(1, sTest, "a", vbBinaryCompare) = 4.

Furthermore, it does not happen with Windows XP English version.

Do you have any idea? Is this a bug?

Thank you.

[864 byte] By [gcsman] at [2008-1-10]