On 10/11/2007 03:48 PM, James Knott wrote: > Al Hodges wrote: >> Percentage Error >> >> This should be fixed, as it is identical to the error in >> Microsoft's Excel. >> >> Someone with a legal mind at Microsoft might even accuse you of >> copying their program, when your Open Office Calc duplicates the >> error in Microsoft's Excel. >> >> When I was a college teacher, I failed two students for cheating >> because they both used exactly the same stupid wrong answers. We >> used to call that cheating. >> >> In reverse engineered software, it could get you sued. >> >> The error is simple: In both Microsoft Excel and OpenOffice Calc, >> there is a fault in handling percentage. Enter 5, then enter % from >> tool bar; result is 5% Enter 0.5, then enter % from tool bar; >> result is 50%, but I wanted to have 1/2 of 1% as the number in the >> location. >> > I get 500.00% and 50.00%. If I enter the % from the keyboard, I get > 5.00% and 0.50% > >
I think the college teacher has failed the spreadsheet exam... :-) I get the same as you & the other responders. However, I think I see the difference. If I enter 5 in an unformated A1 and then apply the % button from the toolbar I get 500.00% in the cell (500% in the formula bar). If I enter 0.5 in A2 and then apply the % button from the toolbar I get 50.00% in the cell (50% in the formula bar). Now that the cells are formated for percentage and: I go back to A1 and enter 5, the cell now shows 5.00% (5% in the formula bar). I go back to A2 and enter 0.5, the cell now shows 0.50% (.5% in the formula bar). =========================================================================== So now I dual-boot out of linux to my trusty WinXP drive & try the same on MS Excel: If I enter 5 in an unformated A1 and then apply the % button from the toolbar I get 500% in the cell (500% in the formula bar). If I enter 0.5 in A2 and then apply the % button from the toolbar I get 50% in the cell (50% in the formula bar). Now that the cells are formated for percentage: I go back to A1 and enter 5, the cell now shows 5% (5% in the formula bar). Note: this is due to the cell being set to 0 decimal places as default, if I set it to 2 decimal places it displays 5.00% in the cell. I go back to A2 and enter 0.5, the cell now shows 1% (0.5% in the formula bar). Note: this is due to the cell being set to 0 decimal places as default, if I set it to 2 decimal places it displays 0.50% in the cell. Now format a blank cell to a number format, enter '5%', the result is both 0.05 in the cell, and 0.05 in the formula bar in MS Excel. Entering '5%' in an unformated cell (General) results in 5% and 5%. Now in OOo Calc open a clean spreadsheet and enter '5%', the result is both 5.00% in the cell and in the formula bar. Calc cells default to Number format on opening a blank spreadsheet. Excel defaults to 'General'. I do have to agree that I would not expect a value of 5 in the cell to be changed to 500% after applying the % button from the toolbar if I am looking for a text change. But then again, a percentage is 1/100, or parts per hundred, so if I enter '5' it is 500% is it not? So, Al... I think that the you should go back and give those students a passing grade. The issue is the conversion of cell values to formats and preformated cells to values. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
