At the start of this formula, I want to add a 7th IF statement that checks
the condition of another cell, and sets this whole formula to "--" if the
other cell is "". When I try to add it, I get a standard formula error
message box, and then the last MAX is highlighted. What's going on?
=IF((AND((X2+Y2)=MAX((X2+Y2),(AF2+AG2),(AN2+AO2),( AT2+AU2),(AZ2+BA2),(BF2+BG2)),(X2+Y2)=BQ2),V6,IF
{and so on five more times, checking next AF+AG. The formula ends with: if
false, "--". (I have left out the $ before each cell reference for brevity.
The entire formula is about 700 to 900 characters long, depending how far
down the sheet it is, but I can't add the 7th IF statement to even the
shortest one.) What prompted the need for the 7th if statement is
that without the underlying data cells being filled in, a #VALUE! error is
reported. Cells X,Y,AF,AG, etc. are themselves formulas, and are set to
equal "" when the underlying data are absent. I have two other formulas very
similar to this one, one checking just X,AF,AN, etc, and the other checking
Y, AG,AO, etc. They don't report the error message. Only the formula with
the combined X+Y, AF+AG, etc is a problem. There is also another combined
X+Y, AF+AG, etc formula showing the same error message, but it only has 3 IF
statments, and I am able to add the beginning 4th to cure the problem.

Thanks in advance for any help