Introduction To Array Formulas

Array Formulas
Array Formulas are formulas that work with arrays, instead of individual numbers, as
arguments to the functions that make up the formula.
Introduction To Array Formulas

When an array formula is displayed, it is surrounded by braces {}. You do not enter the
braces. Instead, when you enter an array formula, you press Ctrl+Shift+Enter,
rather than just Enter. Excel will automatically add the braces. You must press
Ctrl+Shift+Enter when you first enter an array formula, and also each time you edit
the formula later. If you enter or array formula without pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter, it
will return an incorrect result or a #VALUE! error.
For example, consider the formula
=IF(A1=B1,1,0)
This will return either 1, if A1=B1, or 0 if they are not equal. But suppose you want to get
a count of
the number of cells in a range, A1:A10, which are equal to the corresponding cells in
B1:B10. By using an array formula, you can do this with a single formula by passing
arrays to the =IF function, and summing up the results:
=SUM(IF(A1:A10=B1:B10,1,0))
By entering this as an array formula, you are instructing the =IF function to "loop" through
the range A1:A10, compare each element to the corresponding element in B1:B10, and
return an array of 1's and 0's, each element of which indicates the result of each
comparison. The =SUM function adds up this array, and returns a single number indicating
the number of cells in A1:A10 which are equal to their counterparts in B1:B10.
When you use more than one range in an array formula, all of the ranges must contain the
same number of elements. Otherwise, an error is returned.
Array formulas are ideal for counting cells in a
range with multiple criteria. For example, suppose
in A2:A10 we have a product-name, in B2:B10
we have a salesman-name, and in C2:C10 we
have number of units sold:
To compute the number of Phones sold by Smith,

we would use the following array formula:
=SUM((A2:A10="Phone")*(B2:B10="Smith")
*C2:C10)
This formula works by looping, looking at the

elements in the three ranges A2:A10, B2:B10,
and C2:C10. These three ranges do not have to
be in adjacent columns, or even in the same rows,
but
they must contain the same number of rows.
The ranges are looped though "simultaneously." Element Ai is evaluated in the same
iteration as elements Bi and Ci.
If element Ai is Phone, a 1 (True) is returned. Otherwise, 0 (False) is returned. If

element Bi is Smith, a 1 is returned, otherwise 0 is returned. Then Ci is returned. These
three values are multiplied together. The product will be either 0 (if either or both of the Ai
or Bi comparisons were false) or Ci. Summing these results together gives of the sum
of entries Ci where Ai is "Phone" and Bi is "Smith".
Logical Operations With Array Formulas

In addition to the AND operation described above, you can also use array formulas to
perform an OR, and XOR, or even a NAND (Not AND) operation.
Addition simulates the OR operation. If either one or both conditions are true, addition will
return a non-zero result. Using the example above, we can count the number of sales, in
which either a Fax was sold, or Jones was the salesman (or both).
=SUM(IF((A2:A10="Fax")+(B2:B10="Jones"),1,0))
=SUM(IF(MOD((A2:A10="Fax")+(B2:B10="Jones"),2),1,0))
The MOD operator in the above formula returns 0 when either both conditions (Fax,
Jones) are True or when both are False. It returns 1 only when either exactly one of the
conditions is True.
NAND is an Negative And operation, which returns true when neither or one of the
elements is True. It returns False when BOTH elements are True.
=SUM(IF((A2:A10="Fax")+(B2:B10="Jones")<>2,1,0))
This counts all sales, except those in which Jones sold a Fax.
You can combine these formulas to create rather complex logical tests. Just be careful to
make sure that you parentheses are in the right places.
Formulas That Return Arrays

The other "flavor" of array formulas are functions that return arrays as their result. To work
with these types of functions, you must enter the same formula into an array of cells. As is
often the case, an example best explains this.
Suppose we have a matrix in A1:C3. We can use the =MINVERSE function to return the
inverse of this matrix. Since the inverse of a matrix is itself a matrix, we've got to enter the
=MINVERSE function as an array formula.
Select a range of cells, A5:C7,

in our example, with the same
number of rows and columns as
the original matrix, enter
=MINVERSE(A1:C3), and
press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
This enters the =MINVERSE
function as an array formula into
all of the selected cells, and the
inverse matrix will be returned
into this array. You'll notice that
when you enter a formula into
an array of cells, you cannot
alter a single cell in the array.
You must edit or delete the
entire array.

Introduction To Array Formulas

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Array Formulas

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Array Formulas

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Array Formulas

Introduction To Array Formulas

For example, consider the formula

To compute the number of Phones sold by Smith,

This formula works by looping, looking at the

If element Ai is Phone, a 1 (True) is returned. Otherwise, 0 (False) is returned. If

Logical Operations With Array Formulas

Formulas That Return Arrays

Select a range of cells, A5:C7,

You might also like