XL: Parentheses Not Displayed in Number and Currency Format (240829)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 2000 Service Release 1 (SR-1)
Microsoft Excel 2000
Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

This article was previously published under Q240829

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

If you try use the Format Cells dialog box to format a negative number with parentheses, numbers and currency may not display the parentheses format for negative numbers.

CAUSE

This behavior may occur if the Negative Number Format setting in the International registry key is corrupted.

RESOLUTION

To correct the negative number format in the Regional Settings in the registry, follow these steps.

NOTE: The following steps apply to Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT 4.0.

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

Click Start, click Run, and then type regedit in the Open box. Click OK to start the Windows Registry Editor.
Locate and expand the International key:
My Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International
Select the string value iNegCurr, and then click Modify on the Edit menu.
Change the Value Data of iNegCurr to "0," and then click OK.
Quit the Registry Editor.
Restart the computer.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Excel 2002.

MORE INFORMATION

The iNegCurr entry indicates the format to use for negative values for currency. This entry can be changed by choosing the International icon from Control Panel, and using the Currency Format option.

Valid entries for the iNegCurr= entry are shown in the following table.


   Value    Format
   -----    ------

   0        ($1)

   1        -$1

   2        $-1

   3        $1-

   4        (1$)

   5        -1$

   6        1-$

   7        1$-

   8        -1 $

   9        -$ 1

   10        $ 1-

For example, the entry iNegCurr=5 causes a negative currency value to be displayed in the format "-1$".

The negative number format for currency in the Regional Settings tool in Control Panel uses a format that does not use parentheses and may also exhibit the same problem. For additional information about missing parentheses in number formats, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

174613 XL: Parentheses Are Missing in Number Formats

Modification Type:	Minor	Last Reviewed:	1/6/2006
Keywords:	kbprb KB240829