Blank cells?

[David]

Greetings and thanks in advance for your time.
The following scenario captures the essence of the problem:
In an empty spreadsheet, if I enter "" into cell A10 and then copy and paste
values, A10 appears to be blank. However, if I select cell A1 and press [end]
then down arrow, cell A10 will be selected. This suggests that A10 is somehow
different to it's neighbouring blank cells? Can anyone please throw any light
on this?

 

[JulieD]

Hi David

"" doesn't make a cell blank - it adds a zero length text string into the
cell.

generally the ISBLANK function is used to check if a cell is blank or not -
a cell with "" in it will return FALSE on this test.


Cheers
JulieD

 

[David]

Julie,
With respect, please read my question. I am asking about "" after copy and
paste values
Thanks

Hi David

"" doesn't make a cell blank - it adds a zero length text string into the
cell.

generally the ISBLANK function is used to check if a cell is blank or not -
a cell with "" in it will return FALSE on this test.


Cheers
JulieD

Greetings and thanks in advance for your time.
The following scenario captures the essence of the problem:
In an empty spreadsheet, if I enter "" into cell A10 and then copy and
paste
values, A10 appears to be blank. However, if I select cell A1 and press
[end]
then down arrow, cell A10 will be selected. This suggests that A10 is
somehow
different to it's neighbouring blank cells? Can anyone please throw any
light
on this?

 

[JulieD]

Hi David

sorry i must be dense tonight (denser?) ... if you've typed "" into a cell
then it is not blank any more - it contains a zero length string

.... not sure where the copy & paste special comes into it, though. If i
type "" into A10, i see "" in cell A10. If i click on cell A10 and copy &
paste special - values back into A10 i still see "" - using excel 2003.

However if i type the following formula into cell A10
=IF(A1="","","") and then copy / paste special values on A10 i see a "blank"
cell which when i use =ISBLANK(A10) returns FALSE. - which is what i expect
as "" is not blank it's a "zero lenght string"

Cheers
JulieD

Julie,
With respect, please read my question. I am asking about "" after copy and
paste values
Thanks

Hi David

"" doesn't make a cell blank - it adds a zero length text string into the
cell.

generally the ISBLANK function is used to check if a cell is blank or
not -
a cell with "" in it will return FALSE on this test.


Cheers
JulieD

Greetings and thanks in advance for your time.
The following scenario captures the essence of the problem:
In an empty spreadsheet, if I enter "" into cell A10 and then copy and
paste
values, A10 appears to be blank. However, if I select cell A1 and press
[end]
then down arrow, cell A10 will be selected. This suggests that A10 is
somehow
different to it's neighbouring blank cells? Can anyone please throw any
light
on this?

 

[Harlan Grove]

David wrote...

The following scenario captures the essence of the problem:
In an empty spreadsheet, if I enter "" into cell A10 and then copy and paste
values, A10 appears to be blank. However, if I select cell A1 and press [end]
then down arrow, cell A10 will be selected. This suggests that A10 is somehow
different to it's neighbouring blank cells? Can anyone please throw any light
on this?

You are misstating what you're doing. In every version of Excel with
transition formula entry enabled OR disabled, if you type only two
double quotes and press enter, Excel will display two double quotes in
the cell (unless you've given the cell a number format that hides text
or set the text and background colors the same). If you then copy that
cell and paste special as values into a different cell, that cell will
also display the two double quotes.

It's pretty obvious you mean you entered the formula ="". If you copy
cells containing that formula and paste special as values into other
cells, those other cells may appear blank, but they contain text. THEY
ARE *NOT* BLANK CELLS.

This is a fundamental point when using Excel: appearances are often
deceiving. There are a great many types of cell contents that appear
blank but aren't. This particular type is the constant zero length
string. It differs from true blank cells by having a .Value property of
"" rather than Empty.

 

[Gord Dibben]

David

Julie did read your question and has posted again reiterating that "" is never
blank no matter what you wish it to be or how you manipulate it.


Gord Dibben Excel MVP

Julie,
With respect, please read my question. I am asking about "" after copy and
paste values
Thanks

Hi David

"" doesn't make a cell blank - it adds a zero length text string into the
cell.

generally the ISBLANK function is used to check if a cell is blank or not -
a cell with "" in it will return FALSE on this test.


Cheers
JulieD

Greetings and thanks in advance for your time.
The following scenario captures the essence of the problem:
In an empty spreadsheet, if I enter "" into cell A10 and then copy and
paste
values, A10 appears to be blank. However, if I select cell A1 and press
[end]
then down arrow, cell A10 will be selected. This suggests that A10 is
somehow
different to it's neighbouring blank cells? Can anyone please throw any
light
on this?

 

[Dave Peterson]

You can see what's left in that cell after you did the copy|paste
special|values.

Turn on Tools|Options|Transition Tab|check Transition navigation keys.

You'll see an apostrophe in the formula bar.

(remember to toggle this option off).

One way to get rid of this "junk" is:
select the cells (ctrl-a, twice in xl2003)
edit|Replace
what: (leave blank)
with: $$$$$ (any unique string)
replace all

then reverse it.
edit|Replace
what: $$$$$ (any unique string)
with: (leave blank)
replace all

Greetings and thanks in advance for your time.
The following scenario captures the essence of the problem:
In an empty spreadsheet, if I enter "" into cell A10 and then copy and paste
values, A10 appears to be blank. However, if I select cell A1 and press [end]
then down arrow, cell A10 will be selected. This suggests that A10 is somehow
different to it's neighbouring blank cells? Can anyone please throw any light
on this?

 

[David]

Thanks Dave & Harlan for your help