Microsoft Office

Part II
Working with Formulas and Functions
About This Chapter’s Examples
Most of the examples in this chapter use named ranges for function arguments. When you adapt these formulas
for your own use, you’ll need to substitute either the actual range address or a range name
defined in your workbook.
Also, some examples consist of array formulas. An array formula is a special type of formula that enables you
to perform calculations that would not otherwise be possible. You can spot an array formula because it’s
enclosed in curly brackets when it’s displayed in the Formula bar. In addition, I use this syntax for the array
formula examples presented in this book. For example:
{=Data*2}
When you enter an array formula, press Ctrl+Shift+Enter (not just Enter) and don’t type the brackets. (Excel
inserts the brackets for you.) If you need to edit an array formula, don’t forget to use Ctrl+Shift+Enter when
you’ve finished editing (otherwise, the array formula will revert to a normal formula and it will return an
incorrect result). Refer to Chapter 17 for an introduction to array formulas.
Counting the total number of cells
To get a count of the total number of cells in a range (empty and non-empty cells), use the following formula.
This formula returns the number of cells in a range named Data. It simply multiplies the number of
rows (returned by the ROWS function) by the number of columns (returned by the COLUMNS function).
=ROWS(Data)*COLUMNS(Data)
This formula will not work if the Data range consists of noncontiguous cells. In other words, Data must be a
rectangular range of cells.
Counting blank cells
The following formula returns the number of blank (empty) cells in a range named Data:
=COUNTBLANK(Data)
The COUNTBLANK function also counts cells containing a formula that returns an empty string. For example,
the formula that follows returns an empty string if the value in cell A1 is greater than 5. If the cell meets
this condition, the COUNTBLANK function counts that cell.
=IF(A1>5,””,A1)
You can use the COUNTBLANK function with an argument that consists of entire rows or columns. For
example, this next formula returns the number of blank cells in column A:
=COUNTBLANK(A:A)
The following formula returns the number of empty cells on the entire worksheet named Sheet1. You must
enter this formula on a sheet other than Sheet1, or it will create a circular reference.
=COUNTBLANK(Sheet1!1:1048576)
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