WD: Negative Numbers Miscalculated in Word Table (95407)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0
- Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0a
- Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0b
- Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0c
- Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0
- Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0a
- Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0c
- Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 6.0
- Microsoft Word for the Macintosh 6.0.1
- Microsoft Word for Windows 95
- Microsoft Word 97 for Windows
- Microsoft Word 98 Macintosh Edition
This article was previously published under Q95407 SYMPTOMS
Word miscalculates negative numbers in a table in the following cases.
Case 1 (Word 2.x and Word 6.x)
When you use the SUM function, and the negative marking (such as a minus
sign or parentheses) is to the right of the dollar sign
Word adds the number instead of subtracting it.
NOTE: If you bookmark the values, Word reads the minus sign or parentheses
as a string character, which causes the bookmarked number to have a value
of 0 (zero) when you use the bookmark name in a calculation.
Case 2 (Word 6.x and Later)
Numbers enclosed within parentheses are ignored if they are more than one
column away from the formula. In the following table, the result of the
calculation is 7, instead of the expected result of 6:
When Word encounters the parentheses, it treats the number as text and
disregards any other numbers to the left of it.
WORKAROUNDCase 1
Move the dollar sign to the immediate left of the number. For example,
change this
to this:
Case 2
Method 1:
Use negative signs instead of parentheses.
Method 2:
Change the formula to refer to the cell range. Change the formula in this
table
to this:
STATUS
Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 8/16/2005 |
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| Keywords: | kbbug KB95407 |
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