How to: Find first empty cell in column

[DW]

I believe there is a formula that has something about max(row, etc), but
cannot recall it.

Col A would contain a list of numbers.
I'm trying to find the first empty (blank) cell in col A.
Even tho I could write a macro to do this, I'm needing the cell formula.

Your help is greatly appreciated!!

Don

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

=MATCH(TRUE,A1:A10="",0)

entered with ctrl + shift & enter will find the first and return the index
number so using A1:A10
and the first empty is in A4 it will return 4


--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[DW]

Thanks Peo, but, (and I probably didn't make myself clear, sorry),

let's say, A4 is first empty, how would I get the cell value of A3?

Hope this clears it up. Again, sorry.

Don

 

[Guest]

=INDEX(A1:A10,MATCH(TRUE,A1:A10="",1)-1,0)
Don't forget to use the ctrl-shift enter combination to enter this formula
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Regards,

Michael Arch.

 

[Guest]

My bad, =INDEX(A1:A10,MATCH(TRUE,A1:A10="",0)-1,0)
Note that in the match formula the last parameter must be zero.

Sorry about that


--
If this posting was helpful, please click on the Yes button.
Regards,

Michael Arch.

 

[JW]

Ctrl+Shift+Enter
=INDEX(A1:A10,MATCH(TRUE,A1:A10="",0)-1,0)

 

[Pete_UK]

And you don't need to use CSE to commit it.

Pete

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

You do need to enter it with ctrl + shift & enter


--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[DW]

Thanks everyone....

Now, this might be a dumb question, but why the ctrl+shift + enter combo to
commit the formula?


Don

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

It's this part

A1:A10=""

it's what is called an array formula, you can lookup array formula in help

http://www.cpearson.com/excel/ArrayFormulas.aspx


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Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[Pete_UK]

Well, Peo, there seems to be something strange here. I copied the
formula from the ng straight into a blank workbook in C1, and it
returned 0. Then I started to enter numbers in A1 onwards - 1, 2, 3,
4, 5 etc and it seemed to work. Then I deleted the 3 and it returned
2, as expected. That's why I posted to say that you didn't need the
CSE.

Following your post, I edited C1 and committed with CSE - it made no
difference, but when I edited it again and just used Enter it returned
#N/A. I then copied the formula again into C1, C3 and C7 to compare
them with & without CSE. The main difference seems to be if A1 is
blank - the CSE formula returns 0 in all cases, whereas the non-CSE
form returns the row number that the formula is on. Editting the
formula and using Enter to commit also returns #N/A.

I'll have to investigate a bit more ...

Pete

 

[DW]

Ok, thanks........will this also work on a list that is not in any sort
order or does it have to be sorted?

Don

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

Sorting is not necessary


--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[DW]

Ok, did what you suggested.......but am getting a 0 value....below is my
current list (it of course grows every day), starting in A1. Now, with A19
being blank, the formula should return 8.50, but it's returning 0.

6.00
13.83
22.33
22.33
0.00
8.50
17.00
17.00
0.00
8.50
17.00
25.50
33.50
42.00
42.00
0.00
8.50


Don

 

[David Biddulph]

You've snipped so much of the context that we can't see what formula you are
trying to use.

 

[DW]

ok.........sorry you weren't able to follow......here's the whole
thing..............

I'm trying to find the first blank cell in a column and then go up one cell
to capture that cell value....I am then using that value in a simple
subtraction. My calculation is thus:

cell B1: =70-C1 cell C1:
=INDEX(A1:A30,MATCH(TRUE,A1:A30="",0)-1,0)

using separate cells just so I can see the formula results

My list is:

6.00
13.83
22.33
22.33
0.00
8.50
17.00
17.00
0.00
8.50
17.00
25.50
33.50
42.00
42.00
0.00
8.50

The list, of course, grows daily.


Don

 

[David Biddulph]

You said previously "the formula should return 8.50, but it's returning 0",
but with those data values & those formulae (remembering that the C1 formula
needs to be array-entered), C1 returns 8.5 for me, so I don't know how
you've got zero.

 

[Pete_UK]

If the list grows daily then make sure the range covers it, otherwise
you'll soon use up the 30 cells covered by the formula.

As it is an array formula, you will need to commit it with CSE.

Hope this helps.

Pete

ok.........sorry you weren't able to follow......here's the whole
thing..............

I'm trying to find the first blank cell in a column and then go up one cell
to capture that cell value....I am then using that value in a simple
subtraction. My calculation is thus:

cell B1: =70-C1 cell C1:
=INDEX(A1:A30,MATCH(TRUE,A1:A30="",0)-1,0)

using separate cells just so I can see the formula results

My list is:

6.00
13.83
22.33
22.33
0.00
8.50
17.00
17.00
0.00
8.50
17.00
25.50
33.50
42.00
42.00
0.00
8.50

The list, of course, grows daily.

Don

"David Biddulph" <groups [at] biddulph.org.uk> wrote in message

You've snipped so much of the context that we can't see what formula you
are trying to use.

- Show quoted text -

 

[DW]

Well, I understand that the index formula should have returned 8.50, but
I've reentered the formula and committed it (with CSE) and the value
continues to be 0.

Don

p.s., how here is a thought, could the index formula be returning 0 because
not all cells in the "array" are filled yet? If only, say, 25 cells have
values, that should not cause the result to be 0, should it?