Mastering COUNT, COUNTA And COUNTBLANK In Microsoft Excel 2007
Excel boasts a huge range of functions which are conveniently arranged into categories. The COUNT function is found under the statistical category. There are actually five COUNT functions; COUNT, COUNTA, COUNTBLANK, COUNTIF and COUNTIFS. We will look at COUNTIF and COUNTIFS in another article. In this article, we will examine COUNT, COUNTA and COUNTBLANK.
The COUNT function returns the number of cells within a given range or series of ranges that contain numbers. COUNTA simply counts the cells which aren’t blank. COUNTBLANK does the reverse: it counts the cells in a range which are black.
For the purposes of illustration, let’s say that we have a spreadsheet containing the scores achieved by students in a variety of subjects. For each student, we can input one of three entries under each subject: firstly, a number representing the score achieved; secondly, the letter ”X” indicating a subject the student was scheduled to take but missed; and, thirdly, the cell can be left blank, indicating a subject that they were not scheduled to take.
In order to count the number of exams each student took, we would use the COUNT function. To count the number of exams each student was scheduled to take, we would use COUNTA. Finally, to calculate the number of exams they were not scheduled to take, we would use COUNTBLANK.
To create the formula for calculating the number of exams taken by a student, we can click in the appropriate call and click the Insert Function button on the left of the formula bar. Next, we can highlight the statistical function category and scroll down to ”COUNT”. As always Excel provides a tool-tip telling us what this function does: it ”counts the number of cells in a range that contain numbers”.
When we click OK, the Function Wizard appears and we are prompted to specify the parameters required by this function. In almost all circumstances, these parameters will consist of cell references. We can simply drag across the cells that we want to count and Excel will create the reference for us. We can then click OK and Excel Will return the correct value.
Next, we would repeat this same procedure to create a formula containing the COUNTA function and another for containing COUNTBLANK. Finally, we would copy the formula down: simply highlight the cells containing the original formulas and drag the AutoFill handle down.
The writer of this article is a developer and trainer with TrainingCompany.Com, a UK IT training company offering Microsoft Excel 2007training courses at their central London training centre.