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Q: Microsoft Excel ( No Answer,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Microsoft Excel
Category: Science > Technology
Asked by: csusb-ga
List Price: $10.00
Posted: 08 Jan 2006 10:09 PST
Expires: 07 Feb 2006 10:09 PST
Question ID: 430753
How do I get Microsoft excel to ignore non-entries in a field of data?
I would prefer not to use conditional statements, however if it is
necessary is there an example which I could use?

Clarification of Question by csusb-ga on 08 Jan 2006 10:32 PST
If I do in fact need to use conditional statements, is there a way
that I can get a false statement to result in a non-entry instead of a
"false"?

Request for Question Clarification by endo-ga on 14 Jan 2006 16:49 PST
Hi,

As suggested in the comments, your question is confusing, could you
please elaborate with a detailed example?

Thanks.
endo
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Microsoft Excel
From: brix24-ga on 08 Jan 2006 19:02 PST
 
You may have to give an example (at least for me). 

For the "average" function, empty cells are not counted (but cells
with zero are counted). Here is part of the Help info in Excel for the
Mac:

" If an array or reference argument contains text, logical values, or
empty cells, those values are ignored; however, cells with the value
zero are included.
Tip   When averaging cells, keep in mind the difference between empty
cells and those containing the value zero, especially if you have
cleared the Zero values check box in View (Excel menu, Preferences
command). Empty cells are not counted, but zero values are."

Another part of Help tells how to get Excel to ignore empty cells in graphing.

I suspect you have something else in mind, though.
Subject: Re: Microsoft Excel
From: brix24-ga on 08 Jan 2006 19:28 PST
 
Perhaps you mean something like this:

cell A3 has 12
cell b3 has 3
cell a4 has 10
cell b4 is empty
cell c3 has the formula "=a3/b3"
cell c4 has the formula "=a4/b4"

Instead, you could try

=IF(OR(ISBLANK(A3),ISBLANK(B3)),"",A3/B3)
in cell c3

and 

=IF(OR(ISBLANK(A4),ISBLANK(B4)),"",A4/B4)
in cell c4

If I put the formula "=average(c3:c4)" in a cell, the cell shows "4."
I don't know if the "" cell is ignored in all situations, though.

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