& to an existing string of formulas

[johnny52]

Hey Everybody ,at the end of a long string of formulas, I added the following
&IF(a2>0,"(",b2,")","").......................now if a2<0 I wanted it to return a blank, but I'm still getting the parenthesis ( ) appearing ......I want them gone

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Joe4]

IF(a2>0,"(",b2,")","")

is not a valid formula. You have too many arguments.
Is this what you meant?
IF(a2>0,"(" & b2 & ")","")

 

[johnny52]

Yes that what I meant, sorry....tried the formula you posted and got ( ) in the cell when a2<0.....the parenthesis are still there when .I was hoping it would be blank

 

[Joe4]

Yes that what I meant, sorry....tried the formula you posted and got ( ) in the cell when a2<0.....the parenthesis are still there when .I was hoping it would be blank

What exactly is in cell A2?
And what does this formula return?
=LEN(A2)

 

[johnny52]

a2=5 b2=3 now your formula =IF(LEN(A2)>0,"(" & B2 & ")","") in c2......so when ( I meant to say,B2 is blank I get ()

 

[Joe4]

If a2=5 and b2=3, the formula returns (3), as expected.
If a2=5 and b2 is blank, the formula returns (), as expected.
If a2 is blank, and b2=3, the formula returns nothing, as expected.

I am guessing maybe you haven't described the issue clearly to us, and what you want is BOTH a2 and b2 to be greater than 0 to return the parentheses and value in between.
If that is correct, then try:
=IF(AND(a2>0,b2>0),"(" & b2 & ")","")

 

[johnny52]

All the previous formulas work.....the numerical results are fine. I just didn't like seeing this ( ) in the cell

I probably explained my issue incorrectly......sorry for that

This however works great thanks for all the help.

 

[Joe4]

All the previous formulas work.....the numerical results are fine. I just didn't like seeing this ( ) in the cell

So it sounds like you really want to check to make sure that B2 has a value in it too, which is what I added in my last formula.

 

[johnny52]

Yes
I also just noticed that if the cell is blank I can just make it -1 in another column and reference that instead .......if(d2="",-1,a2) that got rid of the blank parenthesis too

I'll stick with your solution it covers the multiple options I need .......THANKS

 

[Joe4]

You are welcome.