"<"&"tbd" will evaluate to "<tbd", but I like

=countif(a1:a10,"<"&"tbd")
so that if you want to point at a cell that contained TBD, it looks like it
would be easier to fix:

=countif(a1:a10,"<"&a1)



Earl Kiosterud wrote:

Dave,

Oddly, "<tbd" works too, though yours seems more sensible.

Countif has a strange set of rules, and also doesn't follow the ASCII code
value strictly when doing < or operations. COUNTIF(a1:a10, tbd) should
fail with a name error, but doesn't. Doesn't work either.
--
Earl Kiosterud
www.smokeylake.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Dave Peterson" wrote in message
...
Maybe you could use =countif() instead:

=countif(a1:a10,"<"&"tbd")



chadwick wrote:

Hi all - a simple question (I think).

I'm trying to use the DCount function to count all records for which
the "Completion Date" field is NOT "TBD." I can easily count all
records whose dates are "TBD," or any specific date, eg "9/15/2002," by
simply entering that info in the criteria field that I'm referencing.
Can anyone tell me how to enter a NOT criterion?

As always, all help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

--

Dave Peterson

--

Dave Peterson