USING IGNORE BLANKS IN FORMULA

[Guest]

Hi,
I want to use the following formula at the bottom of a column of inputs:

=IF((D14+D15)>1,((D14+D15)/-2),"")+IF((D16+D17)>1,((D16+D17)/-2),"") etc.
etc.

This formula makes sure that if various cell entries in a column are at
least 2 items in that cell, they will be counted as two per package plus a
fraction (thus the divisor /-2). As long as a) the sum of the cells is at
least two and b) there are no blank cells, the formula works. If however, one
of the cells is blank and the total is less than 2 an error message occurs
#value! . I have tried using IGNORE BLANKS in data validation but it does
not affect the error message occuring.

Anyone know if IGNORE BLANKS should work with this? I assume you select all
the cells in the column including the summation cell, true? Also, is the
option ANY VALUE the correct criteria or should I reset it to whole numbers?

Thanks to anyone watching.

Rogerh
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Biff]

Hi!

The #VALUE! error return has nothing to do with data
validation. Either:

Change your current formula to:

=IF((D14+D15)>1,((D14+D15)/-2),0)+IF((D16+D17)>1,
((D16+D17)/-2),0)

Or, maybe use this instead:

=SUM((D14+D15>1)*((D14+D15)/-2),(D16+D17>1)*((D16+D17)/-2))

Biff

 

[Harald Staff]

Hi Roger

Your IFs return "", which is an emtry string, not a number, not an emtru
cell. You can not to math with those things.
So learn to live with a zero once in a while:
=IF((D14+D15)>1,((D14+D15)/-2),0)+IF((D16+D17)>1,((D16+D17)/-2),0)

HTH. Best wishes Harald

 

[Guest]

THANKS FOR THE TIPS, SOLVED MY PROBLEM!
ROGER

 

[Guest]

Hi Biff,
Tip worked fine with zero. Thank you!

Hi!

The #VALUE! error return has nothing to do with data
validation. Either:

Change your current formula to:

=IF((D14+D15)>1,((D14+D15)/-2),0)+IF((D16+D17)>1,
((D16+D17)/-2),0)

Or, maybe use this instead:

=SUM((D14+D15>1)*((D14+D15)/-2),(D16+D17>1)*((D16+D17)/-2))

Biff

 

[Guest]

Harold,
Good information for the future. Zero works fine. Thank you.
Roger H