EXCEL: formula result not coming up as expected???

[cutestuff]

hi,
I'm sure this is real simple but I can't figure out why.
I am just trying to do a simple IF statement in Excel.
Basically, the scenario is:
If cell H3 = 0 then put a blank in cell J3.
Sounds simple huh?
Well, I've put this formula on J3: IF(H3=0,"", H3-I3)
But it keeps coming up with: 0
However, if I put: IF(H3>0,"", H3-I3) and the value of H3 is 0, it comes up with blank.
Why is that? How could 0 > 0????
Cells H3 and I3 get their values from a lookup formula. All it returns is a number (0, 1, 2, etc.)

Please, any help is appreciated. I'm sure it's something I overlooked?

Thanks,
cs

 

[SkipVought]

Hi,

Do you have a literal value in H3 or a FORMULA?

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[cutestuff]

hi Skip!
H3, I3 and J3 all have formulas.
H3 and I3 are Vlookup formulas that return a number.
J3 just has the formula: =H3-I3
I think looking at it closely it seems as though it's not reading it as 0 because of the formula? Is there a way around this? I tried conditional formatting too but same issue.

 

[cutestuff]

Oh. I think I kind of solved the problem. I just manipulated the formula. It worked for what I needed for now. I still don't know why the above didn't work but oh well.

 

[SkipVought]

I just manipulated the formula.

HOW? Please post your solution.

Some formulas can return, what seems to be, unexpected results.


Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[cutestuff]

I just changed the formula to:
IF(H3+I3=0, "", H3-I3)
It seems as though if I just put H3=0 it doesn't read the result correctly. But if I put some type of calculation in the first part it works. Like I said, it worked for my particular situation but it's still not my ideal solution.

 

[SkipVought]

How about when H3 is ZERO and I3 is not?

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[cutestuff]

The reason I said this formula will just work in this particular instance is when H3 is ZERO, I3 will ALWAYS be zero. That's why I was just putting H3=0 in the beginning - putting I3 =0 also will be redundant.

 

[SkipVought]

That tells me, I believe, that you have formulas in your source data in "empty" rows, in anticipation of data being entered at some later time.

YES?

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[cutestuff]

Not sure what you meant there...

 

[SkipVought]

WHY will either H3 or I3 exclusively never have a ZERO?

You may very well have a valid reason why both can be zero but neither can be zero exclusively.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}

 

[cutestuff]

Ok...maybe this will help:
I3 holds the value for completed pieces for a particular item.
H3 is the TOTAL number of pieces (completed or not).
Which is why if the TOTAL is zero (H3=0), I can assume that I3 will be zero (no items = nothing complete).
Does that make sense?

 

[SkipVought]

OK.

Skip,

_{Just traded in my old subtlety...
for a NUANCE!}