Hi,

Use

=if(trim(a1)="a","***","")

Regards

Govind.


wrote:

i am using a formula

in c1
if(a1="a","***","")

sometimes the formula fails in subsequent rows
i suspect that there is a blank space following the "a"

how would one incorporate the trim function within the if statement
or do you have to use a helper column to trim and then evaluate the
trimmed result

thanks