IF statement question

K

KarenH

Can someone translate the following IF statement for me?

=IF((A2<>"")*(ISNA(MATCH(A2,$A$1:A1,0))),"A","B")

I'm confused abut the first part, specifically the asterisk separating the
two criteria.
Thanks!
 
F

Franz Verga

Nel post *KarenH* ha scritto:
Can someone translate the following IF statement for me?

=IF((A2<>"")*(ISNA(MATCH(A2,$A$1:A1,0))),"A","B")

I'm confused abut the first part, specifically the asterisk
separating the two criteria.
Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi Karen,

The formula can be written also in this way:

=IF(AND((A2<>""),(ISNA(MATCH(A2,$A$1:A1,0)))),"A","B")

Its mean that:

IF A2<>"" (i.e. A2 is not empty)

AND the value in A2 doesn't match the value in A1(the formula MATCH is used
to search the value in A2 in A1, if the two values are different, MATCH
function returns #N/A! error the formula ISNA convert the error in TRUE)

THEN write A in the cell the formula is written

ELSE write B in the cell.

--
Hope I helped you.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Ciao

Franz Verga from Italy
 
S

SteveG

Karen,

=IF((A2<>"")*(ISNA(MATCH(A2,$A$1:A1,0))),"A","B")


IF A2 is not blank AND (*) A2 is not (ISNA) found (MATCH) in the range
$A$1:A1 then return the letter A IF both are not true then return the
letter B. You could write the formula like this,

=IF(AND(A2<>"",ISNA(MATCH(A2,$A$1:A1,0))),"A","B")

Having the $ in the first A1 and not the second allows you to expand
the range when you copy down without losing the starting point.

HTH

Steve
 
K

KarenH

Thanks to Franz and SteveG for this explanation -- that helped a lot! I'd
never seen the asterisk used as an "and" before, I always think of it as a
multiplication symbol.

I appreciate the helpful answers!
 
K

Kevin Vaughn

Yes the * is the multiplication symbol. In this instance, it is multiplying
two boolean values (true or false.) If both values are true, that works out
to be the same as AND. True and True = True. True * True = 1 (which is
true.) Anything else will be 0 or false. False * true (same as 0 * 1 and as
we all know, 0 times anything is 0.) True * False or False * False will be 0
(or false.)
 
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