Excel Formula Display in Cell

[Enkrypted]

I'm trying to get cells that have formulas in them to display empty or blank. For example, here is an image of part of the spreadsheet:

The "Amount" cells contain the formulas of "Rate x Units" (i.e. - =L19*J19)

I would like to have the Amount cells show up empty (without the dollar sign and dash in there) until information is entered into the rate and unit cells. How would I go about doing that?

Enkrypted
A+

 

[randy700]

=IF(L19*J19=0,"",L19*J19)

Randy

 

[SkipVought]

Hi,

Use the data > List > Create list. As you add data to the sheet in this table, your formula will automatically propogate to the new row.

As a matter of practice, it is not a best and accepted practice to pre-populate cells with formulas. Leads to all sorts of unseen problems, espacially, if you want to make use of the plethora of Excel features like Dynamic Named Ranges and lookup functions.

Skip,

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

 

[dallen43]

Isn't this just a cell formatting issue?

Such as.. Format, Cells, Custom and enter "$#,##0.00 ;$#,##0.00-;" or whatever format is desired. Having the second ; after the negative format causes zero to be blank.

Sorry if I didn't understand the question.

 

[SkipVought]

The "Amount" cells contain the formulas of "Rate x Units" (i.e. - =L19*J19)

Its not just an issue of formatting.

He's got EMPTY ROWS OF DATA execpt for the formula: NOT a very good practice!

Skip,

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

 

[Gruuuu]

additionally, dallen, if you're allowing Excel to process all those formulas in a clunky workbook, it becomes a real calculation burden.

The way I've handled it in the past is similar to randy's, except his doesn't avoid calculation.

What I usually do is something like
=IF(L19=0,0,J19*L19)
This is handy when you've got vlookups or processor intensive functions.

Skip, I've been using Excel for a long, long time. And I have never used lists. Thank you, I now have a new toy to play with.