"go to" "blanks" after using a formula

[jhnnyboy247]

I am having an issue where i have used a formula such as =if(C2=1,"True",""),
if ill down an entire column, then I copy and paste the data in that column
as values. If i then try to use Go To.., Special, Blanks, these empty fields
(that the above formula would have put as "") are not selected.

This has worked this way in every edition of excel that i have used.
Why does excel not consider these as "blank" fields when they show nothing
in the cell and nothing in the formula bar?

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Johnny Boy,

Well, they're not blank, since you have a null string "" in them.

If you want, you could change your formula to

=IF(C1=1,True,"")

And then after you do your copy paste values, use Edit / go to / special / constants and choose
strings (uncheck the others) . That will select all the "" values, and leave the TRUE ((boolean
values, or what Excel considers logical expressions) alone.

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[T. Valko]

This is a case of semantics between the words blank and empty.

F5>Special>Blanks really means F5>Special>EMPTY CELLS

A cell that contains a formula blank is not an empty cell. A formula blank
is an empty TEXT string. If you convert that to a constant by using
Copy>Paste Special>Values the cell *still contains the empty text string* so
the cell *is not empty*.