ISBLANK

[SharonDrumm]

I am trying to create a formula in a new cell that says if any of three other cells are not blank, then fill the contents of new cell with same text as in a different cell, otherwise don't put anything in the new cell.

I can't write the correct formula. What's more, I cannot figure out how to cycle through more than one set of the formulae in each cell. This is important because I don't want to leave a blank cell (and therefore in this instance, a blank row) for every instance when the argument is true (all are blank).

Any help is really appreciated. My skills are just not this developed, although I can conceive of what I want to do!

Sharon

 

[Yogi Anand]

On 2002-03-29 09:17, Aladin Akyurek wrote:

On 2002-03-29 08:46, Yogi Anand wrote:

On 2002-03-29 08:17, Aladin Akyurek wrote:
Yogi & wi_guy,

Put in one of the target cells,

=IF(ZX,1,"") [ ZX must be an "untouched" cell ]

then try the ISBLANK formula you suggested.

Aladin

Hi Aladin:
I see your point that with the scenario you proposed, the affected target cell would appear to be blank -- but it really wouldn't be blank -- it will have a formula in it. So the formula that my cyber-buddy wi_guy and I proposed works as expected. I hope I am not missing some thing here!

In A1 enter:

=IF(ZX,1,"") [ ZX must be an "untouched" cell ]

B1 is a untouched cell (nothing in it)

C1 is a untouched cell (nothing in it)

In E1 enter: Great

In D1 enter:

=IF(AND(ISBLANK(A1),ISBLANK(B1),ISBLANK(C1)),E1,"")

Note. What Sharon wants is I think something different, but that's not the issue here.

What do you get?

Aladin

Hi Aladin:
Keying in the entries as you suggested, the formula in D1 did not yield Great
But is it not to be expected, because the collection of three cells A1,B1,and C1 is not blank ... even though A1 appears to be blank, it is not -- it has got a formula in it.
My check of A1 =isblank(A1) ... FALSE
My Check of B1 =isblank(B1) ... TRUE
My check of C1 =isblank(C1) ... TRUE

Now when I deleted the entry in cell A1, the collection of three cells A1,B1,and C1 becoming blank,
'Great' popped up in cell D1

 

[Aladin Akyurek]

On 2002-03-29 14:34, Yogi Anand wrote:

On 2002-03-29 09:17, Aladin Akyurek wrote:

On 2002-03-29 08:46, Yogi Anand wrote:

On 2002-03-29 08:17, Aladin Akyurek wrote:
Yogi & wi_guy,

Put in one of the target cells,

=IF(ZX,1,"") [ ZX must be an "untouched" cell ]

then try the ISBLANK formula you suggested.

Aladin

Hi Aladin:
I see your point that with the scenario you proposed, the affected target cell would appear to be blank -- but it really wouldn't be blank -- it will have a formula in it. So the formula that my cyber-buddy wi_guy and I proposed works as expected. I hope I am not missing some thing here!

In A1 enter:

=IF(ZX,1,"") [ ZX must be an "untouched" cell ]

B1 is a untouched cell (nothing in it)

C1 is a untouched cell (nothing in it)

In E1 enter: Great

In D1 enter:

=IF(AND(ISBLANK(A1),ISBLANK(B1),ISBLANK(C1)),E1,"")

Note. What Sharon wants is I think something different, but that's not the issue here.

What do you get?

Aladin

Hi Aladin:
Keying in the entries as you suggested, the formula in D1 did not yield Great
But is it not to be expected, because the collection of three cells A1,B1,and C1 is not blank ... even though A1 appears to be blank, it is not -- it has got a formula in it.
My check of A1 =isblank(A1) ... FALSE
My Check of B1 =isblank(B1) ... TRUE
My check of C1 =isblank(C1) ... TRUE

Now when I deleted the entry in cell A1, the collection of three cells A1,B1,and C1 becoming blank,
'Great' popped up in cell D1

Yogi,

It seems you're not disturbed by what you observed. The reasoning you use

even though A1 appears to be blank, it is not -- it has got a formula in it

is interesting but, I feel, a bit special:

I think a computed blank and a blank should not be treated differently: we don't treat a 5 typed in E1 differently from a 5 computed by a formula in E1.

What do you think?
This message was edited by Aladin Akyurek on 2002-04-01 05:46

 

[Yogi Anand]

Hi Aladin:
I appreciate your comments -- I believe what you are saying is that the solutions should be air-tight and tank tough with little ambiguity. However, we also have to keep in mind that the user should not become complacent about what is real even though it may be behind the scenes -- because looks can be deceiving and lead us astray.
I always admire your insightful comments and solutions!

 

[gareth]

Hi Sharon :wink:

Try this
=IF(OR(LEN(A1),LEN(B1),LEN(C1)),E1,"")

 

[Aladin Akyurek]

On 2002-04-24 03:21, gareth wrote:
Hi Sharon /board/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Try this
=IF(OR(LEN(A1),LEN(B1),LEN(C1)),E1,"")

In which way is this something new or different, given the fact that I suggested eons ago,

Lets say that A1, B1, and C1 are the cells we want to test for being blank in D1 and E1 contains the relevant text:

=IF(OR(LEN(A1),LEN(B1),LEN(C1)),E1,"")

as you can see by examining the complete thread?