Learn How to Use IF and IS Functions in your Spreadsheet
**Although this article specifically refers to Excel spreadsheet functions, such as IF functions and IS functions (eg ISERROR or ISBLANK), the information can be adapted for most spreadsheet programs**
Most spreadsheet users quickly become familiar with the SUM function, beyond that though functions tend to remain a bit of a mystery. However, spreadsheet functions can be powerful tools when creating spreadsheets so its a good idea to expand beyond the basics.
Two very handy function families are the IF functions and the IS functions. These functions are easy to use and allow you to create a wide range of useful formulas.
IF functions are used to compare 2 or more pieces of data and make a conclusion based on that data. For example, say you have a spreadsheet that tallies students grades and you need to see at a glance who passed and who failed. An IF function could easily be used to decide if the student got a grade between 0% and 50%, and failed, or whether they got above 50% and passed.
That's just one example of how the IF function could be used. You can also use the IF function to create more complex formulas.
IS functions are closely related to IF functions. Generally an IS function allows you to replace an expected result with another, more userfriendly result. For example the ISERROR replaces Excel's standard, ugly errors (such as #VALUE!) with messages of your own design.
There are also IS functions to allow you to decide what happens if a cell is blank, if a cell contains text or if it contains a number.
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