{ "category": "Statistical functions", "display_name": "COUNTBLANK", "entry_kind": "built_in_function", "eval_api": { "method": "POST", "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/eval" }, "function_id": "FUNC.COUNTBLANK", "implementation_state": { "answer_bank": null, "detail": "Recorded: 14 workbook cells.", "dnacalc_commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87", "in_catalogue": true, "state": "matches", "state_label": "Matches every recorded Excel answer", "summary": "Matches all 14 recorded answers", "workbook_corpus": { "cells": 15, "matched": 14, "pending": 1 } }, "implementations": [ { "commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87", "flavour": "excel-compatibility-candidate", "language": "Rust", "name": "CalcFunc", "own_code": [ "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/aggregate.rs#L102-L110", "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/aggregate.rs#L436-L449", "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/aggregate.rs#L451-L495" ], "repository": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc", "shared_code": [ "catalogue/aggregate::reader", "catalogue/aggregate::read_reference" ], "source": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/aggregate.rs#L102-L110", "state": "matches", "suite": null, "summary": "Matches all 14 recorded answers" } ], "json_url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/functions/FUNC.COUNTBLANK.json", "name": "COUNTBLANK", "notes": [ { "basis": "One recorded reading.", "documentation": null, "evidence": [ { "commit": "eceb809985e244e9d0a20f905e58fe57b8741ed8", "locator": "sheet fn2_q187", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" }, { "commit": "1cccd45a8e55db2363b6afeefa1505fc645d8dbe", "locator": "recorded_countblank_optional_lambda_omission_is_a_value_error", "note": "recorded answer pinned", "path": "apps/dna-onecalc/tests/acceptance.rs", "repository": "DnaCalc" } ], "functions": [ "FUNC.COUNTBLANK" ], "inferred": "That this holds for missing values in general is inferred.", "kind": "quirk", "note_id": "FN-COUNTBLANK-001", "open": [], "recorded_on": "2026-11-04", "repros": [ { "call": "=LAMBDA([xx],COUNTBLANK(xx))()", "correct": null, "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#VALUE!", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "source": { "commit": "eceb809985e244e9d0a20f905e58fe57b8741ed8", "locator": "sheet fn2_q187, row 20, column 10", "note": null, "path": "crates/calc-func/tests/captures/fn2_questions/oracle.capture.json", "repository": "DnaCalc" } } ], "schema": "efh.function-note/v1", "statement": "An optional LAMBDA parameter left out reaches COUNTBLANK as a missing value, and the result is #VALUE!, not a count of 1.", "status": "measured", "title": "COUNTBLANK of an omitted optional LAMBDA parameter is #VALUE!" } ], "schema": "efh.function-reference/v1", "section_order": [ "what-it-does", "try-it", "quirks", "how-to-implement", "version-differences", "alternatives" ], "sections": { "alternatives": "\n### Relationships\n\n\n- **[COUNTA](FUNC.COUNTA.md)** — the near-complement that is not a complement, because both count\n empty-text cells. The pair is the clearest illustration in Excel that \"blank\" is not one concept.\n- **`COUNT`** — counts numbers only; `0` counts there and does not count here, which\n is the one place all three functions agree in spirit.\n- **`COUNTIF`** — `COUNTIF(range,\"\")` and `COUNTIF(range,\"<>\")` are the usual\n attempted substitutes. They run the criteria matcher's own blank-and-empty-text rules, which are\n a third definition again, so they are not reliable stand-ins. If you need a specific definition of\n blank, write it explicitly with `ISBLANK` or `LEN`.\n- **[ISBLANK](FUNC.ISBLANK.md)** — the per-cell predicate, and a *fourth* definition: `ISBLANK` is\n false for a formula returning `\"\"`, where `COUNTBLANK` counts it. `SUMPRODUCT(--ISBLANK(range))`\n and `COUNTBLANK(range)` therefore disagree exactly on the empty-text cells, and that disagreement\n is the cleanest available diagnostic for how many such cells a range holds.\n- **`AREAS`, `ISFORMULA`, `FORMULATEXT`, `SUBTOTAL`, `AGGREGATE`** — named in the upstream record as\n the same-direction reference-sensitive surfaces that also reject array substitutes. They are the\n family `COUNTBLANK` belongs to structurally, even though it is filed with the counting functions.\n\n\n", "how-to-implement": "\n### Notes for implementers\n\n1. **Take the reference, not the values.** Resolving to values first destroys the information the\n function needs: you cannot count cells that never existed as values. This is why the surface is\n declared reference-visible at the adapter.\n3. **Reject arrays deliberately.** It is tempting to reuse the aggregate expansion helper that\n serves `COUNT` and `COUNTA`; that is precisely the mistake the upstream bug stream records, and\n the root-cause note calls it inheriting an over-permissive shape rather than a regression.\n5. **Empty text is a Text value.** The predicate is \"is this Text of zero length\", not \"does this\n render as nothing\". A number formatted to display nothing is not blank.\n\n\n", "quirks": "\n### The signature divergence\n\n2. Excel accepts several ranges undocumented, and the documentation is narrow.\n3. Excel accepts several arguments but the documentation describes the supported usage.\n\n`=COUNTBLANK(A1:A3, C1:C3)` in a live Excel decides it in one cell. It is the first probe listed\nbelow, and it is the kind of question this Handbook exists to publish rather than guess at.\n\n\n\n### Result and edge cases\n\n\nReturns `Number` — a non-negative integer count.\n\n- **Zero is not blank.** Documented. This is the rule that makes `COUNTBLANK` usable on numeric\n columns where `0` is a real observation.\n- **Never-touched cells inside the range count.** They have no value at all, which is the\n uncontroversial half of the definition.\n\n\n\n### Errors\n\n\nThe documentation states no error conditions for this function.\n\n| Error | Condition |\n|---|---|\n| `#VALUE!` | An array-valued argument is supplied instead of a range |\n| propagated | An error value in a scanned cell surfaces as the function's result |\n| `#VALUE!` | Argument-count or preparation failure |\n\nThe array-rejection row has the live-Excel anchor described above. The error-propagation row has no\nanchor at all.\n\n\n", "sources": "- Handbook call-model chapters [01 The value universe](../model/01-value-universe.md) (Empty as a\n value kind; the raw-versus-published boundary) and\n [02 Coercion and lifting](../model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md) (reference resolution as an\n explicit step; error propagation as a per-family declaration).\n- Handbook projections `data/functions/FUNC.COUNTBLANK.json` — which records the documented\n `COUNTBLANK(range)` display signature alongside an arity of minimum 1 and maximum 255, the\n divergence discussed above — and `data/presence/FUNC.COUNTBLANK.json`.\n\n\n", "version-differences": "No comparison between specific Excel builds is recorded here yet. This does not establish that all builds behave alike.", "what-it-does": "\n`COUNTBLANK(range)` counts the cells in a range that are **blank**, where blank has a specific\ndocumented meaning that is not the same as \"empty\".\n\nMicrosoft's page states the rule in two sentences: cells with formulas that return `\"\"` (empty\ntext) are also counted, and cells with zero values are not counted. So:\n\n| Cell content | Counted as blank? |\n|---|---|\n| Nothing at all | yes |\n| A formula returning `\"\"` | yes |\n| A literal empty string | yes, on the same rule |\n| `0` | no |\n| Any other number, text, or logical | no |\n| An error value | not documented — see below |\n\nThe definition is therefore *display-shaped* rather than *content-shaped*: a cell counts as blank if\nit shows nothing, even when it contains a formula. That is a defensible choice for the job the\nfunction exists to do — finding gaps in a data-entry region — and it is the reason `COUNTBLANK` is\nnot the complement of [COUNTA](FUNC.COUNTA.md).\n\n**The arithmetic that surprises people.** `COUNTA` counts a `\"\"` cell (it contains information) and\n`COUNTBLANK` counts the same cell (it displays nothing). So for a range `r`,\n\n COUNTA(r) + COUNTBLANK(r) ≥ ROWS(r) * COLUMNS(r)\n\nwith equality only when no cell holds empty text. Two functions, two definitions of blank, both\ndocumented, both correct on their own terms. Anyone reconciling a count should decide which\ndefinition they mean before choosing a function.\n\n\n\n### Arguments\n\n\n`COUNTBLANK(range)` — one argument.\n\n| Argument | Meaning (as documented) |\n|---|---|\n| `range` | \"The range from which you want to count the blank cells\" |\n\nMicrosoft's page states plainly that the function accepts one argument. The argument is a *range*,\nnot a value: this is a reference-sensitive surface, and the distinction is load-bearing rather than\nstylistic — see the next section.\n\n" }, "signature": { "display": "COUNTBLANK(range)", "parameters": [ { "description": null, "name": "range", "optional": false, "repeats": false } ], "trailing_repeats": false }, "sources": { "metadata": { "admission": { "label": "implemented", "reason": null }, "arity": { "max": 1, "min": 1 }, "category": "Statistical functions", "classification": { "arg_preparation_profile": "RefsVisibleInAdapter", "coercion_lift_profile": "AggregateDirectAndRangeDualPolicy", "determinism_class": "Deterministic", "error_collapse_profile": "None", "fec_dependency_profile": "None", "host_interaction_class": "None", "kernel_signature_class": "Custom", "rich_value_usage": "RichBlind", "surface_fec_dependency_profile": "RefOnly", "thread_safety_class": "SafePure", "volatility_class": "NonVolatile" }, "descriptions": { "long": null, "short": "How many cells of a range are empty", "short_source": "dna-calc-own" }, "docs": { "english_description": "Counts the number of blank cells within a range", "microsoft_url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/countblank-function-6a92d772-675c-4bee-b346-24af6bd3ac22" }, "entry_kind": "built_in_function", "localized_family_names": null, "localized_names": [ { "locale": "ar-SA", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "bg-BG", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "cs-CZ", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "da-DK", "name": "ANTAL.BLANKE" }, { "locale": "de-DE", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "el-GR", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "en-AU", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "en-GB", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "en-US", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "es-ES", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "et-EE", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "fi-FI", "name": "LASKE.TYHJÄT" }, { "locale": "fr-FR", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "he-IL", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "hr-HR", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "hu-HU", "name": "DARABÜRES" }, { "locale": "id-ID", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "it-IT", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "ja-JP", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "ko-KR", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "lt-LT", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "lv-LV", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "nb-NO", "name": "TELLBLANKE" }, { "locale": "nl-NL", "name": "AANTAL.LEGE.CELLEN" }, { "locale": "pl-PL", "name": "LICZ.PUSTE" }, { "locale": "pt-BR", "name": "CONTAR.VAZIO" }, { "locale": "pt-PT", "name": "CONTAR.VAZIO" }, { "locale": "ro-RO", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "ru-RU", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "sk-SK", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "sl-SI", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "sr-Latn-RS", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "sv-SE", "name": "ANTAL.TOMMA" }, { "locale": "th-TH", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "tr-TR", "name": "BOŞLUKSAY işlevi" }, { "locale": "uk-UA", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "vi-VN", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "zh-CN", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "zh-HK", "name": "COUNTBLANK" }, { "locale": "zh-TW", "name": "COUNTBLANK" } ], "signature": { "display": "COUNTBLANK(range)", "parameters": [ { "description": null, "name": "range", "optional": false, "repeats": false } ], "trailing_repeats": false }, "surface_name": "COUNTBLANK", "version_marker": null, "xlcall": { "code": "347", "symbol": "xlfCountblank" } }, "microsoft": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/countblank-function-6a92d772-675c-4bee-b346-24af6bd3ac22" }, "try_it": { "formula": "=COUNTBLANK(B2:B4)", "inputs": { "B2": 1, "B3": 2, "B4": 3 } }, "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/functions/COUNTBLANK.html", "variants": [], "versions": [ { "behaviour": "=LAMBDA([xx],COUNTBLANK(xx))() returned #VALUE!. Inputs were supplied through formula literals. These are controls from this environment, not a same-input comparison with another build.", "excel_build": "16.0.20527.20088", "observations": [ { "call": "=LAMBDA([xx],COUNTBLANK(xx))()", "excel": { "bits": null, "display": "#VALUE!", "kind": "error" }, "input_route": "formula-literal", "inputs": [], "recorded_in": "Excel 16.0.20527.20088 Current Channel, Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA" } ], "platform": "Windows 64-bit (NT 10.0.26200), x86-64, AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, en-ZA", "sources": [ "https://github.com/DnaCalc/ExcelFunctionsHandbook/blob/3345a87/content/notes/FN-COUNTBLANK-001.json" ] } ] }