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MS Office Forum / Excel / Worksheet Functions / June 2006What do { } brackets mean when they encompass a function?
What do { } brackets mean when they encompass a function? The following function, which works when the spreadsheet is opened, is in a spreadsheet I inherited. If you arrow onto the cell containing this function it shows up just as shown below: {=SUM(IF(H$8:H$27="+",$F$8:$F$27,0))} once the cell containing the function is doubleclicked the, the function then looks like: =SUM(IF(H$8:H$27="+",$F$8:$F$27,0)) and when 'enter' is pressed the cell reads: #VALUE! If the same cell is double-clicked to go into edit mode and the brackets are added at the front and rear of the function, just as shown above, after 'enter' is pressed the cell reads: =SUM(IF(H$8:H$27="-",$F$8:$F$27,0)) I've used various functions quite a bit, but have never seen this before. The brackets indicate an Array Formula. It changes how Excel handles the calculations. To enter an array formula, use the key combination CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER rather than just Enter. HTH, Elkar > What do { } brackets mean when they encompass a function? > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > I've used various functions quite a bit, but have never seen this before. Hello: It is an array formula, the brackets are added by Excel when you enter the formula by using <shift><cntrl><enter>. You can read about array formulas in the help file. Pieter Vandenberg : What do { } brackets mean when they encompass a function? : The following function, which works when the spreadsheet is opened, is in a : spreadsheet I inherited. If you arrow onto the cell containing this function : it shows up just as shown below: : {=SUM(IF(H$8:H$27="+",$F$8:$F$27,0))} : once the cell containing the function is doubleclicked the, the function : then looks like: =SUM(IF(H$8:H$27="+",$F$8:$F$27,0)) : and when 'enter' is pressed the cell reads: #VALUE! : If the same cell is double-clicked to go into edit mode and the brackets are : added at the front and rear of the function, just as shown above, after : 'enter' is pressed the cell reads: =SUM(IF(H$8:H$27="-",$F$8:$F$27,0)) : I've used various functions quite a bit, but have never seen this before. Chip also has a discussion about array formulas. http://www.cpearson.com/excel/array.htm > What do { } brackets mean when they encompass a function? > [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > I've used various functions quite a bit, but have never seen this before. |
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