Cannot enter an array formula

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ritujoy
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Ritujoy

I'm trying to help a user on a toshiba laptop with array formulas.
For some reason he cannot create an array formula. The formula
evaluates on everyone else's laptop but his. He has Windows 98 and
Office XP Professional. Has anyone encountered this?

Ryan
 
If he can't create it then you wouldn't know that it doesn't evaluate, so which
is it? What's the formula? and can he actually create it but it doesn't appear
to have the right answer. If you hit F9 does the right answer appear?
 
He cannot create them but others can. So, the last experiment
involved me creating the formula, F9-ing and then emailing him the
file. When he opened the file, he saw the correct answer and was able
to F9 himself. However, upon trying to F2 (edit cell) and then
F9-ing, he got a value error.
 
Are you sure he is entering it correctly, ie using CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER, as what you
describe is exactly what would happen if it wasn't array entered correctly.
 
Yes, I'm positive. I tried it on his laptop as well and the cell
updates fine as long as he doesn't edit the formula on his laptop.
 
No chance his regional settings could be different such that separators are
different, ie ; instead of , and so on?? - After that I'm struggling :-(

--
Regards
Ken....................... Microsoft MVP - Excel
Sys Spec - Win XP Pro / XL 00/02/03

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It's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission :-)
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Ritujoy said:
Yes, I'm positive. I tried it on his laptop as well and the cell
updates fine as long as he doesn't edit the formula on his laptop.

"Ken Wright" <[email protected]> wrote in message
Click to expand...
 
I had a laptop with very sticky keys (especially shift keys)- have you
confirmed (outside of trying to enter the formula) that the laptop is
sending the appropriate key combination? I wonder if there is an easy way to
'sniff' the key signals and see what is being sent to windows...

Ritujoy said:
Yes, I'm positive. I tried it on his laptop as well and the cell
updates fine as long as he doesn't edit the formula on his laptop.
Click to expand...
correctly.
 
Hitting the ENTER key is an easy one to check. Holding down SHIFT to get caps
is an easy one to check. Select a couple or more cells and type 0 and then hit
CTRL+ENTER to see if it puts the 0 in all cells wll let you check the CTRL key.
 
yes, we've tried all those and have plugged in a couple keyboards,
still no luck. this is a crazy problem.
 
OK, what happens if he creates/edits the formula, gets the error and then hits
F9 a couple of times?
 
My only other thought is checking either of the following;

* check for any TSR programs that might be capturing and affecting
keystrokes (unlikely, but since you haven't found anything else)

* check to see if the user changed any XL settings- I've never messed with
them, but for example under tools/options/transitions I've always had mine
set to XL, I have no idea if "transition formula entry" or "transition
formula evaluation" might affect the entry of array formulas, or whether it
depends on the filetype listed (in the XL XP dialog box anyway)- for
example, I wouldn't know if transitioning formula entry to something other
than an XL workbook might have an impact. Sorry I don't know more, but it's
the next thing that comes to mind to check.

Ken, do you have experience with any of this transition stuff?

Best regards,
Keith
 
Can you explain further what the formula looks like?

Is it a multicell array formula? Is he only trying to change one of the
cells--not the whole array of cells???
 
Thanks everyone for considering this problem. It's certainly
something related to his system since the formula works fine on
everyone else's platform. The settings are all the same and hitting
f9 repeatedly doesn't help. we should just toss his laptop. thanks for
the comments though.
 
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