I am downloading a Google spreadsheet as Excel (XLSX). Everything works fine EXCEPT any cell with either MAXIFS or MINIFS inside the formula place an # sign after the = in the beginning of the cell, which causes the cell to value as a #NAME. Below is an example:
=#IF(SUM(G72:G551)>0,MAXIFS(F72:F551,G72:G551,">0"),'BOND INPUT'!G44)
Does anyone know how to eliminate the #? The EXCEL file is fed into a system so EXCEL .xlsx file is never actually opened in EXCEL.
I don't think that #NAME? is caused by # as it's valid in Excel 2019 and 365. MAXIFS and MINFS were introduced in 2019.
Firts you have to use a recent Excel version. If the error arises in the system where teh spreadsheet is bein loaded, then it's very likely that is using and old Excel file parser.
Anyway, the # can't be removed from the Google Sheets download as built-in function. You could remove it by editing the downloaded file.
Resources
Excel functions (alphabetical)
Related
# in the beginning of a formula
Related
I have prepared an excel workbook in latest version saved as .xlsx
I need it to run on an older PC using an older excel (.xls)
Some of the compatibility issues it reports deal with:
Table References
COUNTIFS
IFNA
Conditional formatting
There are many places where I need to change these formulae. If left as is, I get #NAME error. Is there a way to lessen the effort of going to each formula and replacing with older formulae?
Also, what can be used instead of COUNTIFS? It was pretty essential to my excel.
Any help/redirection will be appreciated.
I am currently working on an MS Excel 2013 spreadsheet (p:\master.xlsx) where some cells contain values that are directly linked from other MS Excel 2013 spreadsheets (p:\path1\feeder1.xlsx, p:\path1\feeder2.xlsx, etc).
What I am finding occasionally (not every time), is when I open up my p:\master.xlsx spreadsheet (and then "enable editing" and "enable content"), some of the values in this spreadsheet change from the correct linked value (a number) to value #REF.
When I look at the formula within these offending cells, I see it has also changed from say:
=MAX('P:\path1\[feeder1.xlsx]Sheet1'!$C:$C)
to
=MAX('P:\path1\[feeder1.xlsx]#REF'!$C:$C)
I can confirm the feeder.xlsx spreadsheet has not been moved or renamed and has not had it's values changed at all. The network drive the files sit on is also stable.
What is confusing me is that this appears to happen at random times (as opposed to every time). In addition, not all the cells revert to #REF - some of the values are still OK (and thus the formula is OK).
Due to not knowing if or when the formulas will change to their "#REF" status, I need to save the file every time I make a change (slightly frustrating).
I searched the forum and noticed another user had a similar issue on MS Excel 2010 but the answers provided did not appear to solve the user's issue. Anyone have any suggestions?
First make sure you're formula is not too long if your using 97-2003. if so save the file as .xlsx
if that don't work do the following
close all open workbooks.
open the workbook with the (now) broken links (#ref).
Click on the Data tab
Click on Edit Links.
Excel doesn't like links to closed workbooks
I have an excel file with many rows, and am trying to copy severl columns from this file to another file. However, the paste operation gives the following error message. I am not clear what does that mean and how to solve it.
Shown below is a quote from microsoft website as it will depend on your excel version
In Microsoft Excel 2003, when you format a cell or a range of cells, you may receive the following error message:
Too many different cell formats.
Excel encountered an error and had to remove some formatting to avoid corrupting the workbook.
In Microsoft Excel 2013, 2010, or 2007, files may produce the following error message:Excel found unreadable content in the file
One solution could be if you only need the values is to copy and paste special as values into the same workbook (diff sheet) and then try to copy into the new workbook. or do this same process but paste without the formatting using paste special.
I would be able to answer more if i new what kind of data was involved or the kind of formatting but give that a go and see if it helps
I've a C# database program and generate an Excel file (*.xlsx) with one sheet using EPPlus. The problem is that least a certain version of Excel does not recalculate the formulas while opening the document. I'm developing the app for somebody else and can tell you next week the exact version of Excel that shows the problem.
I'm not going to show my complete code, but a simple example that demonstrates the problem.
I've copied the example from here and adepted it a bit: EPPlus not caluculating formula output after binding
Here is the code:
using (var pck = new OfficeOpenXml.ExcelPackage())
{
var ws = pck.Workbook.Worksheets.Add("MySheet");
ws.Cells["A3"].Value = 2.3;
ws.Cells["A4"].Value = 10.2;
ws.Cells["A5"].Formula = "=SUM(A3:A4)";
ws.Cells["A5"].Style.Numberformat.Format = "#,##0.00";
ws.Workbook.CalcMode = ExcelCalcMode.Automatic;
pck.SaveAs(new FileInfo(#"c:\users\richard\tmp1.xlsx"));
}
The document opens fine in LibreOffice. It opens also in (the yet unkown) Excel version, but the formula is not recalculated on opening.
I was reluctant to buy a license for MS Office, so I downloaded an Excel viewer first.
ExcelViewer.exe, File version 12.0.4518.1071. This viewer shows the same behaviour: the formula is not calculated.
So, very relunctantly, I purchased Office 365 Home Premium and guess what: this version of Excel DOES recalculate the formulas.
I think it is a bug in the Excel version, not in EPPlus or my code. But is there any workaround to force ALL versions of Excel to recalculate formula's?
And yes, I've tried to read all other relevant postings here, this is not a duplicate.
Many thanks.
I don't think that is likely to be an Excel bug, its would be so fundamental that everyone would know about it. Generating an XL XML file does not calculate formulas. Viewing an Excel file in a viewer does not calculate formulas. Setting a workbook calculation mode to Automatic does not neccessarily mean that Excel will be in Automatic Calculation mode: Calculation mode is an Excel session instance setting taken from the first workbook opened so if Excel is in Manual mode when your workbook is opened it won't calculate. (And BTW I don't see how you expect to successfully create Excel files without being able to test them)
Excel usually treats Conditional Formatting formulas as if they are array formulas, except when loading them from an Excel 2002/2003 XML Spreadsheet file.
This is only an issue with the Excel 2002/2003 XML Spreadsheet format... the native Excel format works fine, as does the newer Excel 2007 XML format (xlsx).
After loading the spreadsheet, it is possible to make it work correctly by selecting the formatted range, going to the Conditional Formatting dialog, and clicking OK--but this only fixes the problem for the session.
Test case:
Enter the following into a new sheet:
A B C
1 N N N
2 x x x
3 x x x
Create this conditional format formula on cells A1:C1 (your choice of pretty colors for the format):
=(SUM(($A1:$C1="N")*($A$2:$C$2=A$3))>0)
This is an array formula that activates for A1, B1, and C1 whenever any of them has an "N" and the cell in row 2 below the "N" is equal to the cell in row 3 of the current column.
(This has been simplified from a real-world business spreadsheet. Sorry for the complexity of the test case, I am trying to find an easier test case to present here.)
And it works... you can alter the N's or the x's in any way you want and the formatting works just fine.
Save this as an XML Spreadsheet. Close Excel, and re-open the file. Formatting is now broken. Now, you can only activate conditional formatting if A1 is an "N" and A2 is the same as A3, B3, or C3. The values of B1, B2, C1, and C2 have no effect on the formatting.
Now, select A1:C1 and look at the conditional formatting formula. Exactly the same as before. Hit OK. Conditional formatting starts working again, and will work during the entire session the file is open.
Workarounds considered:
Providing the file in native (BIFF) Excel format. Not an option, these spreadsheets are generated on the fly by a web server and this is only one of dozens of types of workbooks generated dynamically by our system.
Providing the file in the Excel 2007 native XML format (xlsx). Not an option, current user base does not have Office 2007 or the compatibility plug-in.
Asking users to select the range, enter the Conditional Formatting dialog, and hitting ok. Not an option in this case, unsophisticated users.
Asking users to open the XML spreadsheet, save as native XLS, close, and re-open the XLS file. This does not work! Formatting remains broken in the native XLS format if it was loaded broken from an XML file. If (3) above is performed before saving, the XLS file will work properly.
I ended up rewriting the conditional formatting to not use array formulas. So I guess this is "answered" to some degree, but it's still an undocumented, if obscure, bug in Excel 2002/2003's handling of XML files.
I tried to recreate the problem you describe. Here is what I found.
Could consistently recreate the
problem using Excel 2003 on Windows
XP when saving as an XML
spreadsheet.
Could not reproduce the problem
using Excel 2003 on Windows XP when
saving as a standard xls
spreadsheet.
Could not reproduce the problem
using Excel 2007 on Windows Vista
when saving the file in the native
xlsx format.
Could not reproduce the problem
using Excel 2007 on Windows Vista
when saving the file in the Excel
97-2003 xls format.
(Note: All instances of Excel and Windows are current with all Windows updates.)
I also added a simple conditional formatting formula to each test. In every case, it worked as expected after saving the file, closing Excel, and reopening the file.
So the answer seems to be to use the standard Excel 2003 file format when saving the file.
BTW, this is a very odd formatting formula. It is difficult to imagine how you would use it. It must be a very specific & unusual business case. I also have the feeling something is missing in your post. (I'm not accusing you of being dishonest – just wondering if you may have shortened the formula for readability.) If this is not the exact formula you are using, please edit your original post with the complete formula and I will be happy to revisit this issue.
You can find some tutorial videos for self studying the conditional formatting issue over the following pages:
conditional formatting