Cell with unresolved formula in has value > 0

[Bobby]

Hi,



I have a sheet with =IF(B5<0,(B5*-1)/D5*F4,"") in cell H5.

There is no data in the sheet at all, and cell H5 shows as blank.

If I try and construct a formula starting If H5>0 then it shows as true.

Surely a cell with no value is not > 0?

[BobBridges]

I just checked to be sure, and, as you might expect, when I have nothing in X99, then X99>0 evaluates as false. So my next theory is that there's something in there already. I just discovered (thanks to your question) that a space is actually considered to be >0. So I'm thinking H5 has a space in it, or more than one.

[macropod]

Your first formula outputs a number or null into H5. A null is not the same as no data and has a non-zero value. Accordingly, your subsequent formula needs to test for nulls (i.e. "") as well.

[Bobby]

Originally Posted by BobBridges

I just checked to be sure, and, as you might expect, when I have nothing in X99, then X99>0 evaluates as false. So my next theory is that there's something in there already. I just discovered (thanks to your question) that a space is actually considered to be >0. So I'm thinking H5 has a space in it, or more than one.

Originally Posted by macropod

Your first formula outputs a number or null into H5. A null is not the same as no data and has a non-zero value. Accordingly, your subsequent formula needs to test for nulls (i.e. "") as well.

Both quite right, nulls do appear to have 0 length though so =IF(LEN(H5)>0 works fine.