On 7 Jun 2008 at 15:49, Richard Detwiler wrote: > mike scott wrote: ... > > And I've just spotted that a space character (which of course /looks/ > > like an empty cell) seems to behave like a numeric zero. Ouch!!! > > In what way does a space or a character behave like a zero? I've just > tried putting in a cell in the midst of some numbers, first with a > single letter, than with a space. I tried the SUM function, the AVERAGE > function, and the STDEV function, and all of these ignored the cell with > text.
Me not being clear, I think. Sorry. try filling a1:a10 with a 1. Then somewhere put a cell with counta(a1:a10) and another with sum(a1:a10). Now try (1) clearing, say, a5, and (2) putting an unquoted space in a5. Now suppose someone is doing some sort of stats with those numbers. I see scope for well-disguised problems. > > I'm not saying there are no instances where a space character isn't > treated like a zero -- just that based on a quick test with the > functions that you seemed to express some interest in, it is ignored, > rather than treated like a zero. > -- Permission for this mail to be processed by any third party in connection with marketing or advertising purposes is hereby explicitly denied. http://www.scottsonline.org.uk lists incoming sites blocked because of spam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mike Scott, Harlow, Essex, England --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
