I came up with a simple solution that I tried to post but it abended. Tahnks
to all who noodled on this.

"Steve-in-austin" wrote:

I have a 240 column row (row 1) with zeros except for one cell 0. I need a
formula in 240 columns of row 2 that will:

if cell in row 1 0 then
begin column count for # of columns specified (a variable) and
display another varaible until column count = # of columns specified else
the cell =0

I think the key is creating an absolute reference from the cell in row 1
0, but I cannot find the right mix of column / index and ? functions. Thanks