Of course, if you're the only one using the spreadsheet you should use
whatever formula you want as long as it returns the correct result!

My experience has been, however, that many people are either unable or
unwilling to take the time to figure out what an unfamiliar formula does.
--
Brevity is the soul of wit.


"Epinn" wrote:

It is a long story ...... A lot happened before this post and only Bob and Roger understand. Hence, their names are part of the subject line. Comments are welcome from all.

Dave, your points are very well taken. Before I understood Boolean, I wasn't comfortable with the "implicity" as described by you. Yes, I agree that it may be more logical to use the IF/AND/OR syntax. Thank you for sharing.

I really like Bob's formula which should satisfy "simplicity" and "explicity."

Roger, thank you for your kind words.

Epinn

"Epinn" wrote in message ...
Hi Bob and Roger (in alphabetical order),

I just want to let you know that gradually I am detaching Boolean from SUMPRODUCT and I am learning to use Boolean outside of SUMPRODUCT. However, I still need SUMPRODUCT as a stepping stone to write my formula. You won't believe what I did.

Column A = age Column B = eye colour

I have this formula:

=IF(AND(A230,IF(OR(B2="blue",B2="brown"),1,0)=1), TRUE,FALSE)

But I don't like the 1, 0, AND, OR etc. Then I think: how would I write it if it were SUMPRODUCT.

So I wrote my SUMPRODUCT formula using * and +, A2:A10, B2:B10 etc. as if I was doing a count. When I was happy with my SP formula, then I changed it to IF and converted the range back to a single cell (e.g. A2). I ended up with the following:

=IF((A230)*((B2="blue")+(B2="brown")),TRUE,FALSE)

So, this is my "joke" of the day. Next time, I should be able to use Boolean at will without using SP as a "bridge."

Do you prefer the second IF formula to the first? Are there any circumstances when the first formula has an advantage over the second? I should feel free to use Boolean, right?

Please feel free to comment and I don't need any guarantee on your answers. <G

Epinn