hi,
used in a formula, double quotes means nothing.
in your example formula...
if A3 is nothing(null, blank) then display the contents of A2 else display
the contents of A3.
if A2 and A3 are blank, then nothing will be displayed.

regards
FSt1

"calline6" wrote:

> then does it mean, for instance in the b.m. formula,
>
> =if(a3="",a2,a3) whereby a3 is a name and a2 is blank
>
> thanks for the clarification
>
> "churchmouse@noemail.nospam" wrote:
>
> > then nothing will be displayed. It's one way to get rid of "#value" error
> > messages
> >
> > "calline6" <calline6@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:73D043DF-3B2E-4871-AA48-8AA756650707@microsoft.com...
> > >I always come across the usage of a double quotation mark but don't really
> > > know what does it mean. If the double quotes encloses a word, then the
> > > word
> > > will be display. What if it is just opened and closed quotes?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> >
> >
> >