Re: [libreoffice-users] Multi-test IF statement in Calc

At 21:28 18/09/2013 +0100, Mark Bourne wrote:
> Carl Paulsen wrote:
> > I'm trying to build an IF statement that tests if a condition 
> > exists in two columns, and assigns the number 1 if it does, and 0 
> > if not. The columns being checked are vLookups which return #N/A if 
> > an ID is not found in another table.  I'm trying to search for 
> > cases where an ID# IS returned in two columns meaning the record 
> > shows up in both tables.
> >
> > I can't figure out the syntax for this.  I've tried
> > IF(AND(A1<>"#N/A"; B1<>"#N/A"),1,0)
> > on both the vlookup formula columns and on columns that are pasted 
> > without formulas.  No luck yet.  Can someone chime in on this?
>
> Try:
>   =IF(AND(NOT(ISNA(A1)), NOT(ISNA(B1))),1,0)
>
> Although the cell is displayed as "#N/A", it's not a text value but 
> an error code indicating that a value is not available. ISNA() 
> returns TRUE if a cell contains the #N/A error code, and FALSE otherwise.

Indeed.  But it's simpler than that, in fact.  If you apply De 
Morgan's laws to the expression
AND(NOT(X);NOT(Y))
it simplifies to
NOT(OR(X;Y))
so we can simplify your formula to
=IF(NOT(OR(ISNA(A1);ISNA(B1))),1,0)

But we can do more.  The result of the NOT() function - which you are 
then testing using the IF() function - is a logical value, TRUE or 
FALSE.  But such logical values can be (mis)interpreted as numbers, 
with TRUE being one and FALSE zero - exactly the values you 
require.  So we don't need the IF() function at all.  Just use
=NOT(OR(ISNA(A1);ISNA(B1)))
This function will give you a logical result: TRUE or FALSE.  But if 
you format the result cells as Number, you will see the ones and 
zeroes that you seek.  If you wish to calculate further with these 
values, you don't even have to worry about formatting: just use them 
in arithmetic as they are.

I trust this helps.

Brian Barker


--
To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscribe@global.libreoffice.org
Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/
Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/
All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted