Microsoft KB Archive/27798

Multiplan: Two Values Should Be Equal, But Are Not PSS ID Number: Q27798 Article last modified on 06-11-1990 PSS database name: D_MPlan

1.x 2.x 3.x 4.00 4.01 4.20

MS-DOS

Summary:

There may be small differences between numbers that appear the same on screen. The screen displays a number that is rounded to show the number of decimal places available on the screen. The ROUND function can be used to correct these discrepancies.

Another possibility is that there is an extremely small rounding error resulting from calculations. These typically arise during multiplication, division, or functions using multiplication or division. The ROUND functions can again be used to resolve these extremely small differences in numbers.

Computers must convert values from decimal representation to the corresponding binary value. Since 10 (the decimal base) is not a power of 2 (the binary base), the conversion can yield a very small error in certain rare instances. All spreadsheet programs occasionally yield incorrect answers of this type. This is especially true if the program has the ability to return values that have many digits to the right of the decimal point, which Multiplan can do (15 digits of precision).

More Information:

Rounding can avoid problems in both of these situations.

The ROUND function may be placed around calculations to round results to a specific number of decimal places. To round a sales commission to the nearest cent given a commission rate of 7.5 percent and a sale of $1,777.00, the following formula can be used:

ROUND(.07*17800,2)

The number resulting from this formula is $133.28, instead of $133.275 without using the round function.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1990.