{} in Excel formula - what do these mean?

[WalkieTalkie]

I hope this is an easy one for someone to answer - I've searched everywhere and can't find any explanation.

What do {} parentheses mean when they are at the beginning and end of a formula in a cell in an excel worksheet? Here's an example of what I mean:

{=SUM(IF($A$2:$A$168="h",IF($C$2:$C$168="",1,0)))}

gives a different result than:

=SUM(IF($A$2:$A$168="h",IF($C$2:$C$168="",1,0)))

I'd appreciate any help you can give me...

Thanks

Miranda

 

[straybullet]

The curly brackets indicate an array formula.

From MS Office 2K3 help:

A formula that performs multiple calculations on one or more sets of values, and then returns either a single result or multiple results. Array formulas are enclosed between braces { } and are entered by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER.)

Let them hate - so long as they fear... Lucius Accius

 

[WalkieTalkie]

Thanks - I knew it would be easy!