Excel 2007 Formula With {} Brackets That Mysteriously Appear and Disappear

Greetings to all,

I am a Budget Analyst for the US Government, currently supporting the US Army at Redstone Arsenal, AL.

I have some Excel formula's that are driving me up the wall. First I will say I am not the author of these formulas, but i am the one who is tasked with ensuring they function properly.

Here are the formulas that are giving me fits :

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Now here is the problem, when I look at the first formula (422), and select the cell the formula has "{" at the start and "}" at the end, but when i try to edit, those brackets disappear. But, the formula for 422 works.

The other formula 115, is identical in every way but one, it does not have the "{ }" brackets at either end, and it does not work.

Can anyone provide insight about the "{ }" brackets that mysteriously appear and disappear? Are they why the formula does not work? What it is supposed to to is scan the worksheet identified by the number (422 or 115)(these are two examples but there are more than 2 worksheets in the workbook) and count the number of new entries after comparing what is on the numbered worksheet (115 or 422) to what is on the worksheet entitled "BASE". If something new on numbered worksheet I know I have to add that to the Base worksheet.

The only difference is the "{" brackets,it seems. Any suggestions? Thank you for your time if you happen to read this.

Originally Posted by judgeh59

this is called an ARRAY Formula....if you click in the formula they will disappear and then to put them back you have to do Crtl-Shift-Enter (CSE)

As I say, like the farmer in his field....Outstanding... great answer, because that is something I never knew about.