Thanks to everyone who helped with this question.
The following is a summary I made for myself.  This might be of interest to
some.
 =IF(OR(A1<0;B1<=0);"";(A1-B1)/B1)

Any time there is -100% or a blank in C, *look at the As and the Bs* to see
what in the As and Bs. This is because there are various reasons why
-100%ora blank appear in C.

   1.

   If both A and B are positive, and A is greater than B, get positive
   number in C
   2.

   If both A and B are positive, and A is less than B, get a negative number
   indicating how much less A is than B in C
   3.

   If either A or B is a negative number, *get nothing in C*
   4.

   If both A and B are negative numbers, and A is more negative than B, *get
   nothing in C*
   5.

   If A has 0, -100% appears in C, except some *Cs stays blank* because of
   either 3. or 4, above
   6.

   If B has 0, C will have -100%, except some *Cs stays blank* because of
   either 3. or 4, above
   7.

   If B has -100%, A will be blank.
   8.

   If A is blank, C will have -100%, except some *Cs stays blank* because of
   either 3. or 4, above
   9.

   If B is blank, C will have -100%, except some *Cs stays blank* because of
   either 3. or 4, above. Also some other Cs that had numbers or
-100%becomes blank.

I originally used just A1, B1, and C1 to explain what I was asking.   The
spreadsheet has a number of cells that are involved with the 3-cell
question  When "C1" is in three of more columns, the changing of either on
of the 3 columns gives different results depending on the combination of
what is in the involved "A1"s and "B1"s cells

Walter

On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 8:52 AM, Johnny Rosenberg <[email protected]>wrote:

> 2009/5/31 JOE Conner <[email protected]>:
> > Johnny Rosenberg wrote:
> >>
> >> Maybe I misunderstood the question, but what if both A1 and B1 are
> >> negative? If that also should give a blank C1, the formula you got was
> >> correct (I guess, I didn't study it closer, but it looks correct).
> >> However, you can obtain the same thing with the OR function and it
> >> might look a little bit more straight forward:
> >> =IF(OR(A1<0;B1<0);"";(A1-B1)/B1)
> >>
> >> This means (and this is only for a quick explanation, you can't enter
> >> it this way, of course): IF A1<0 OR B1<0 THEN "" ELSE (A1-B1)/B1
> >>
> >> Johnny Rosenberg
> >
> > <<SNIP>>
> > I feel constrained to point out that if B=0 your formula will fail.  You
> > need the less than symbol changed to equals or less than.  e.g. B<=0.
> >
> > Joe Conner, Poulsbo, WA USA
>
> Yes, of course. Didn't think of that, but sure, it's obvious that
> you're right. I didn't even look at the formula with my brain switched
> on…
>
> =IF(OR(A1<0;B1<=0);"";(A1-B1)/B1)
>
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