Microsoft Office

Making Your Worksheets Error-Free 32
NEW FEATURE
The IFERROR function is new to Excel 2007. For compatibility with previous versions, use this
formula:
=IF(ISERROR((C2-B2)/C2),””,(C2-B2)/C2)
#N/A errors
The #N/A error occurs if any cell referenced by a formula displays #N/A.
FIGURE 32.1
#DIV/0! errors occur when the data in column C is missing.
NOTE
Some users like to enter =NA() or #N/A explicitly for missing data. This method makes it perfectly
clear that the data is not available and hasn’t been deleted accidentally.
The #N/A error also occurs when a LOOKUP function (HLOOKUP, LOOKUP, MATCH, or VLOOKUP) can’t find
a match.
#NAME? errors
The #NAME? error occurs under these conditions:
n
n
n
The formula contains an undefined range or cell name.
The formula contains text that Excel interprets as an undefined name. A misspelled function
name, for example, generates a #NAME? error.
The formula uses a worksheet function that’s defined in an add-in, and the add-in is not installed.
Excel has a bit of a problem with range names. If you delete a name for a cell or range and the
name is used in a formula, the formula continues to use the name, even though it’s no longer
defined. As a result, the formula displays #NAME?. You may expect Excel to automatically convert the names
to their corresponding cell references, but this doesn’t happen.
NOTE
#NULL! errors
The #NULL! error occurs when a formula attempts to use an intersection of two ranges that don’t actually
intersect. Excel’s intersection operator is a space. The following formula, for example, returns #NULL!
because the two ranges don’t intersect.
=SUM(B5:B14 A16:F16)
555