Hi

check tools / options / view tab and ensure that formulas is unticked
it might also be that the cell is formatted to text, choose a blank unused
cell somewhere and copy it, then click on your cell, choose edit / paste
special - ADD. You might then still need to click on the cell press the F2
key and then press enter for it to behave.

Cheers
JulieD

"ch" wrote in message
...
I tried to use functions and had an instant when I type in :

=if(or(A3=A2,A3=A4),1,0)

Excel instead of executing the function and does the comparison, displays
the exact words as above.

How can I get Excel to perform the function as I had wanted?