Formula bar displaying SUM formula, but not its arguments

XLFreek

New Member
Joined
Jan 22, 2009
Messages
3
So this is a new one to me.

I open a workbook, do some macros as part of my payroll approval process, then I get to the part where I have to see the arguments listed in a formula that's displayed in the formula bar. What I get - but just every once in a while - is an equal sign and the sum, rather than an equal sign and then the list of all the arguments. It's not a formula using the SUM function. It's a cell in which another employee is manually adding onto it as she works the file to show what she's added into the data. I use that formula as a part of a means to ensure her calculations of what she added were correct and mine as well. It also displays at a glance the list of all changes made to the worksheet. Trust me, it works, and works very well, and for 10 years, especially to catch calculation errors made by a multiple number of contributors. Anyway...

Example; instead of a formula displayed as:

=12+87+50+35

... it reads as:

=184

... which is the sum of the formula. The problem is, that's what it displays, even when I click into the formula box to, I don't know, "jog" the formula to display properly. I need the components in an active formula, not just the sum, to do my part. It's really odd.

I cannot figure what to do to undo this, or what caused it to happen to prevent it, for that matter. My only workaround is to open the original file sent to me (saved with a different name) and copy the formula out of it, which is invariably intact with all its arguments. I paste the formula into the working file's cell in question, and it's like it never happened. Everything works as it should as it does when I don't experience the issue.

My only guess at this point is that the running of macros somehow - yet inconsistently - causes this, and it's only in that one cell. It's that VBA Voodoo. On the occurrence today that prompted my post here, I didn't think to open up the Format properties to see if anything changed, but opening the file now, it is formatted as it should be (Currency), as this is what the numbers represent.

Honestly, I am at a loss on how to troubleshoot this. My first inclination is to have a macro take the contents of the formula before I run the other macros and paste it as text near the cell so that I don't have to open the original workbook again to copy over the formula with its components intact.

Any thoughts here?

Thanks,
Bill
 

Excel Facts

What is the fastest way to copy a formula?
If A2:A50000 contain data. Enter a formula in B2. Select B2. Double-click the Fill Handle and Excel will shoot the formula down to B50000.
Is the sheet protected ???
If so, in the review tab, click on Unprotect sheet
 
Upvote 0
OK, highlight the value in the formula bar and press F9
 
Upvote 0
If the original input is not recoverable, I wonder if someone might have hit F9 for a quick formula evaluation during the input phase, and then rather than exiting from the formula bar (cancelling the evaluation), they hit Enter, which would overwrite the detail that you want, replacing it permanently with the formula result.
 
Upvote 0

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