The meaning of "+".

  • Thread starter Thread starter Cooz
  • Start date Start date
C

Cooz

Hi everyone,

Someone wrote this function in a workbook that I am asked to describe:
=IF(+I4991="","",+I4991)

Can anyone explain why it should contain these + characters? What is the
difference compared to: =IF(I4991="","",I4991)?

Thank you,
Cooz
 
There is no difference: the + sign is redundant (throw-back to older
spreadsheet packages).

Hope this helps.

Pete
 
The "+" is extraneous. Harmless, but not necessary.
Believe it's just a legacy habit by ex-Lotus users.
 
hi
not to seem argumentative, but me and lotus go back to pre-windows days and
i don't remember ever having to put plus signs in front of numbers in
formulas.
i had to put minus signs to denote negative numbers but you have to do that
in excel also.

regards
FSt1
 
But I bet you wrote many formulas like:
+a1+b1

There are lots of old(!) Lotus 123 users who would do:
=+a1+b1
thinking that they need both.

It wasn't required in 123 and it's not required in xl.
 
Excel is inconsistent on this. Put XYZ in A1, then =LEN(A1) in B1.
Then put @LEN(A1) in B2, and +LEN(A1) in B3 - why does it leave the +
sign in the formula in B3?

Pete
 
I don't know why it does, but it does.

But I forgive excel for trying to keep the user's formula as-is.

I don't forgive the user for starting with a + <vbg>.
 
I used to do it all the time, Dave, when I first started with Excel
(having come from Quattro Pro), and I still do it occasionally now.
<ebg>

It would be quite easy for the Excel expression parser to replace =+
with just = when you have pressed the <Enter> key.

Pete
 
Easy to request. Maybe not so easy to implement. Who knows for sure? Well, MS
does. But they never shared anything with me about this!
 
I used to do it all the time, Dave, when I first started with Excel
(having come from Quattro Pro), and I still do it occasionally now.
<ebg>

It would be quite easy for the Excel expression parser to replace =+
with just = when you have pressed the <Enter> key.

Pete
Click to expand...

Sometimes it does. Bad form to quote yourself? I posted the following
a week ago....


Actually, it's a Windows thing. This doesn't (or at least didn't,
haven't used every Mac version) occur on a Mac, strangely enough.

You can start typing a formula or function with an =, +, or -. It
automatically adds the necessary = at the beginning if you start
typing with a + or -.

If you type a + to start typing in a formula, Win Excel leaves the
plus in there for no apparent reason. Interestingly, if you type a +
followed by numerals, like, "+100+A4", then it does work properly and
the final result is "=100+A4". But if you follow with a reference or a
function, it leaves the extraneous +. So entering "+A4+100" becomes "=
+A4+100".

I think many people use the + because it is on the 10-key portion of
the keyboard, easier to reach than =.

Sometimes I don't care since it is harmless. Sometimes it annoys me
and I do a Replace "=+" with "=".
 
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