Bracket {..} in formulas

I encountered a formula in a spreadsheet which starts and ends with {=...}
these brackets. The formula refers sum (although in reality it is sumproduct)
The brackets are visible in the formula bar, but not in the cell when I
double click it. When I click in the formula bar the brackets disappear and
the formula stops working. It is not possible to copy this back from the
original workbook. When typing it back the formula become ordinary text.
--
milet

Hi,
that is an array formula if you edit and press enter the { dissapear, when
editing the formula what you have to do is to press CTRL+SHIFT+Enter and your
{} will be added to your formula

"milet" wrote:

I encountered a formula in a spreadsheet which starts and ends with {=...}
these brackets. The formula refers sum (although in reality it is sumproduct)
The brackets are visible in the formula bar, but not in the cell when I
double click it. When I click in the formula bar the brackets disappear and
the formula stops working. It is not possible to copy this back from the
original workbook. When typing it back the formula become ordinary text.
--
milet

The brackets indicate this is an Array formula.

These are created by hitting CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER instead of a straight
ENTER

Double-clicking the cell puts you in Edit mode so the brackets disappear.

Select the top cell of the range and F2 to get into edit mode.

CSE at this point.

Brackets will be placed into all cells.


Gord Dibben MS Excel MVP



On Thu, 1 Oct 2009 08:49:01 -0700, milet
wrote:

I encountered a formula in a spreadsheet which starts and ends with {=...}
these brackets. The formula refers sum (although in reality it is sumproduct)
The brackets are visible in the formula bar, but not in the cell when I
double click it. When I click in the formula bar the brackets disappear and
the formula stops working. It is not possible to copy this back from the
original workbook. When typing it back the formula become ordinary text.

You should not add the curly braces manually in front and end of the formula.
This can be done by giving F2 and pressing Cntrl+Shift+Enter. These type of
fomula's are called as Array formula in Excel.

Have a look in the below link for more details.
http://www.cpearson.com/excel/ArrayFormulas.aspx

If this post helps, Click Yes!

--------------------
(Ms-Exl-Learner)
--------------------



"milet" wrote:

I encountered a formula in a spreadsheet which starts and ends with {=...}
these brackets. The formula refers sum (although in reality it is sumproduct)
The brackets are visible in the formula bar, but not in the cell when I
double click it. When I click in the formula bar the brackets disappear and
the formula stops working. It is not possible to copy this back from the
original workbook. When typing it back the formula become ordinary text.
--
milet