Array evaluation of find_text argument in SEARCH() function - excel

Question

Say I have the following:
Entering the following formulas in cell C1 and then clicking Evaluate Formula->Evaluate produces very different results:
Formula 1: B$1:B$5 evaluates as non-array
{=SEARCH(B$1:B$5,A1)}
Formula 2: B$1:B$5 evaluates as an array
{=IF(SEARCH(B$1:B$5,A1),"")}
Why, exactly, is this? What is the cause of this behavior? If possible, please provide other examples using other Excel functions to illustrate what is happening here.
Parenthetically:
My question came about while experimenting with the accepted answer to this question.

Answer 1

In general, an array of values will only be returned by a worksheet function given that the following two conditions are satisfied:
1) The formula in question is either in itself capable of returning an array of values, or else is contained within a larger set-up of several functions, one or more of those which precede the function in question (and therefore act upon it) having that property. Whether that capability is something which requires coercion (i.e. via array-entry (CSE)) or is an in-built feature of the function is not important in terms of the answer you are seeking.
2) The array generated must be passed to a further function for processing. Excel is more teleological than you think: it has no great belief in returning an array of values as an end in itself.
As for your example, it's not that SEARCH, when array-entered, isn't capable of processing arrays (it is). It's more that there is no further function incited which is to act upon that array. In the IF version, there is precisely that, though again, if you process that one more time you'll find that your current array is reduced to just the first element in that array. Wrap a further function around the IF, e.g. SUM, and you'll be able to go one step further, and so on and so on.
And here is a major difference between evaluating formulas via the Evaluate Formula tool, and repeated "evaluation" via selecting various parts of the function in the formula bar and pressing F9.
The latter will always return an array of values, whether the above two conditions are satisfied or not. However - and not many people realise this - the "evaluation" so obtained can, ultimately, lead to incorrect results, and so should only be used providing one is aware of its limitations.
Take the following example, for instance:
With A1:A10 empty, the formula:
=SUMPRODUCT(0+(A1:A10=""))
correctly returns 10.
Now select just the part A1:A10 in the formula bar and press F9. Excel, being forced to "evaluate" the range, returns:
=SUMPRODUCT(0+({0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0}=""))
which, on further processing, results (correctly, it would seem) in the quite different result of 0.
Regards