SUMIF criteria?

[dpenny]

I can't get SUMIF to work in all cases. The following refers only to criteria argument.
works: 1 "1" ">1"
also works: K3 where cell K3 contains either numeric 1 or string '1

does not work: K3 when cell K3 contains ">1" or "*"

How can I make the criteria be another cell which contains string values and/or an operator?

The inherent data in list being compared is numeric.

[daddylonglegs]

What result do you expect if K3 contains * ?

If you use the formula

=SUMIF(A:A,K3,B:B) when K3 is * then column B will be summed whenever column A contains text (or a formula blank)

You can get >1 if K3 contains 1 by using

=SUMIF(A:A,">"&K3,B:B)

[dpenny]

When K3 contains a *, I expected a sum of everything regardless of whether the criteria data was string or numeric. To me, everything MEANS everything. But I do understand.

I guess my real problem is that my criteria data is sometimes string, sometimes numeric, and sometimes a mixture. Ahhh, the pleasures of dealing with data from an Oracle query.

And while on the topic, why did K3 containing:
'>1 work while
">1" not work ?
Of course, with all numberic criteria data.