1
I'm getting a strange error in Excel where I cannot enter formulas:
=ROUND(1.5,0)
gives an error:
The formula you typed contains an error
I presume it has something to do with the (red herring) fact that I am in a locale that uses:
. for decimal point, for digit grouping,, for list separation
How do I enter these formulas in Excel?
Update: semi-colon doesn't work:
Ian Boyd
Posted 2011-09-09T14:20:13.340
Reputation: 18 244
0
Any chance you can enter the formula in a less funky locale? When I enter it with the list separator beeing "," and save, the formula is working even when I open the file with the list separator set to ,,. In that case the separator gets displayed as a blank, and when I look closer it's really a blank (Unicode 0x0020)
However, when I want to enter that in the formula as separator, I get the same error you see.
Florenz Kley
Posted 2011-09-09T14:20:13.340
Reputation: 1 453
Semicolon doesn't work. Updated question with screenshot proof. – Ian Boyd – 2011-09-09T15:34:36.290
oops. my bad. I had the very same problem the other day, but my solution doesn't fit your problem ;-( funky. let me try in Excel. – Florenz Kley – 2011-09-09T15:51:55.190
The locale might be a red herring; it's the only reason i can imagine why excel is now choking on some pretty standard stuff. – Ian Boyd – 2011-09-09T16:01:09.507
edited the answer. I do think it's the locale, and I think that maybe the formula handling is different from cell handling. – Florenz Kley – 2011-09-09T16:21:26.270
just checked with a Unicode … as list separator - that works. Any chance you could use a Unicode character as list separator? Guess: while Windows tolerates a two-char list separator, Excel formulas do not. – Florenz Kley – 2011-09-09T16:30:59.657
i guess update your answer to say, "It's a bug in Excel and cannot be done" and i'll accept it. – Ian Boyd – 2011-09-09T17:24:16.063
I'll try to get a RealAnswer(tm) from MSFT. Will update when I hear something back. Don't hold your breath, though. – Florenz Kley – 2011-10-01T21:27:22.680
There's an accepted answer in it for ya if ya do! :P – Ian Boyd – 2011-10-02T12:18:38.763
now that should get me going ;-) – Florenz Kley – 2011-10-03T20:30:10.450
1Can you try
=ROUND(1.5;0)? – Mehper C. Palavuzlar – 2011-09-09T15:19:52.397Try Alt+0132, because that looks like a single character, not two commas. – Excellll – 2011-09-09T15:22:08.667
@Mepher C. Palavuzlar: That doesn't work: "The formula you typed contains an error" – Ian Boyd – 2011-09-09T15:32:13.067
@Excelll: You can't use Alt+keypad codes in Excel; it interprets keypad strokes as navigation, and trues to leave the cell – Ian Boyd – 2011-09-09T15:32:57.073
@Ian Boyd: Keypad codes work just fine in Excel. Maybe you don't have NumLock on? – Excellll – 2011-09-09T17:33:11.537