why does formula not work until I clear referenced cell ??

[colwyn]

I'm putting formulas down an excel column but they don't work. Just by
chance I clicked on one of the referenced cells and pressed delete
(although there was nothing visible in it) and the formula then
worked.
e.g, I put formula in cell C2 which references cell B2 in
conjunction with other cells and nothing happens. I click B2 and press
delete and answer to formula now appears in cell C2.
Anyone know how I can deal with this? I have formulas to run down
nearly 300,000 rows and cannot do "press delete" for every occassion.
Thanks.
Colwyn.

 

[Don Guillett]

You didn't post your formula but I suspect that someone has touched the
dreaded space bar.

=IF(TRIM(I3)="",1,2)
or
=IF(LEN(TRIM(I2))=0,1,2)

 

[Jim Thomlinson]

As a guess your claculation mode is set to manual. Iit is under Tools |
Options | Calculation...

Press <Shift + Ctrl + Alt + F9>
for a full recalculation of all cells.

 

[colwyn]

Don, thanks a lot. The second formula helped me get there. Saved a
whole lot of sweat!!!
Thanks again.
Colwyn.