Why does SUM not compute, even if the cells display numeric values

[George Furnell]

Hi,
My formula =SUM(Q13:Q14) returns 0, despite the fact that both cells
contains numeric values. Could this be because both cells where populated
with a function that returned a string?

Hope you can help.

Kind regards

George Furnell

[Niek Otten]

<Could this be because both cells where populated with a function that
returned a string?>

Definitely. Use =VALUE(YourPresentFormula) instead

--
Kind regards,

Niek Otten

"George Furnell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
> My formula =SUM(Q13:Q14) returns 0, despite the fact that both cells
> contains numeric values. Could this be because both cells where populated
> with a function that returned a string?
>
> Hope you can help.
>
> Kind regards
>
> George Furnell

[Ken Johnson]

=SUM(Value(Q13:Q14)) Ctrl + Shift + Enter should work.
Ken Johnson

[George Furnell]

> =SUM(Value(Q13:Q14)) Ctrl + Shift + Enter should work.
> Ken Johnson

Thank you for response, it worked. Please explain what the Ctrl+Shift+Enter
keys do differently than just Enter?

Regards

George

[Ken Johnson]

Hi George,
Glad I could help, thanks for the feedback.
For the Value function to work on all the cells in the range Q13:Q14
the formula has to be entered as an array formula. Ctrl + Shift + Enter
achieves this. If you look in the Formula Bar after following that
process you will see that the formula is inside braces
ie {=SUM(VALUE(Q13:Q14))}. This makes it possible for you to determine
which cells have array formulas.
Ken Johnson