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Converting to Octal

Filtering Columns for Unique Values

Printing Multiple Worksheets on a Single Page

Changing the Default Font

Creating a Drawing Object

Determining a Value of a Cell

Understanding Macros

 

Determining a Value of a Cell

Summary: Cells can store all sorts of information that can be formatted and displayed in a myriad of ways. If you want to quickly get to the value stored within the cell, you can use the N worksheet function. (This tip works with Microsoft Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, and Excel 2007.)

You already know that a cell in a worksheet can contain any number of different items: numbers, dates, formulas, and so on. There may be times when you want to determine the underlying value in a cell, without regard to the way the cell is formatted. For this need, Excel provides the N worksheet function. For instance, let's assume that cell F17 contains a date. If you use = N(F17) as your formula, the value returned by the formula is the underlying serial number used for the date.

Besides returning date serial numbers, the N worksheet function returns a number if the referenced value or cell can be resolved to a number, a 1 if the value or cell can be resolved to the logical value True, and a 0 for anything else. The following provides a few examples of how the N worksheet function works:

Value in F17 Returned by = N(F17)
3/11/99 36230
37.14 37.14
TRUE 1
Quarter 1 0
5:40 0.236111

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2320) applies to Microsoft Excel versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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