Determine cell contents

[Bidwin]

The following function works for non-blank cells and for some (apparently) blank cells, but not for other (apparently) blank cells:
=IF(ISBLANK(B2),B1,B2).

In the latter cases it returns a 0 (zero). How can I determine the binary or hex contents of a cell to see what's really there? I'm stumped.

Thanks,
Bidwin

 

[tusharm]

Use the CODE function. Also, I find the LEN function useful as the first step in the diagnostics.

 

[Ekim]

An easy way to determine the characters in a cell is to use Chip Pearson’s “Cell View” add-in. The add-in allows you to see the exact characters in a cell (including non-printable characters), as well as hex codes.
http://www.cpearson.com/excel/CellView.htm

After you install the add-in, it will add an item called "View Cell Contents" to your View menu. Select a cell then click the menu item to display a dialog box that shows the cell’s contents, together with the character codes.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Mark W.]

ISBLANK returns TRUE for empty cells only. If your cells contain the null text string, "", and you want to treat it as blank consider using COUNTBLANK. See my example below...

Book1
	A	B	C	D	E
1		FALSE	TRUE
2		TRUE	TRUE
3
4
5
6
Sheet1