Re: [libreoffice-users] Calc multiplication & division formulas acting strangely (Mac 5.2.3)

At 14:20 07/11/2016 -0500, Bonly Noname wrote:
> On 2016-11-06 8:43 PM, "Brian Barker" <b.m.barker@btinternet.com> wrote:
> > At 20:06 06/11/2016 -0500, Bonly Noname wrote:
> > > Today I created a spreadsheet in 5.2.3 (Mac) and each time I try 
> > > to do a multiplication with a decimal, Calc gives me a #NAME?. In 
> > > cell A1R1 =4*1.5 gives #NAME? In each spreadsheet that I've opened 
> > > I get the same problem. When I do 4*150%, Calc changes the formula 
> > > to =4*1.5 and gives 6. Then I try =4/1.5 and I get #NAME?
> > > [...]
> > > What's going on here? What should I be looking into?
> >
> > This is exactly what you will see if your settings are for a locale 
> > which uses the comma instead of the point as the fractional 
> > separator (as many do). You can confirm this easily by entering (to 
> > modify your first example):
> > =4*1,5
> > - which should work.
> >
> > You need to tell Calc to expect the point as the fractional 
> > separator. Before installing any application software, select 
> > appropriate locale settings in your operating system. Only if 
> > necessary, modify the settings in the application. In LibreOffice, 
> > go to Tools | Options... | Language Settings | Languages and make 
> > appropriate selections there. (Oh, on the Mac, for "Tools | 
> > Options..." read "LibreOffice | Preferences".)
>
> Thank you Brian. I thought that was the issue, but I've tried =4*1, 
> 5 and it gives me Err:509.

Well, it will - since you've inserted that unhelpful space! We need 
the number one-and-a-half, not the two separate numbers one and five. 
The test is =4*1,5 - as I suggested. I'm sticking with my suggestion 
that this will work!

> I can open old Calc spreadsheets with decimal inputs and have no 
> problem until I try to enter new numbers.

That's also consistent with my suggestion. Formulae in existing 
documents are reinterpreted in the light of your new settings.

> I've noticed that if the formula is multiply by less than 1.0, the 
> calculation works.  As soon as I try any decimal greater than 1.0, I 
> get the #NAME?. =0.99 * 0.99 works =1.1*0.99 gives #NAME? =2*0.99 
> works =2.1*1 #NAME? Very weird.

I don't immediately see what is happening here, but it has to be said 
that there are very many places where locales and languages are set. 
It's difficult to test every possibility without messing up my 
system. Note, for example, that the cell formatting has its own 
language setting (at Format | Cells... | Numbers | Language), though 
that ought to affect only the display of results, not the 
interpretation of input.

You might want to get someone to look at a sample document to see 
what is happening.

Brian Barker  


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