Microsoft KB Archive/924624

Knowledge Base

Array constants may unexpectedly contain backslash characters in Excel 2007 or in Excel 2003

Article ID: 924624

Article Last Modified on 5/24/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft Office Excel 2003
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007

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SYMPTOMS

Array constants may unexpectedly contain backslash (\) characters in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 or in Microsoft Office Excel 2003.

CAUSE

This issue may occur when period (.) characters or semicolon (;) characters in the array create a symbol conflict.

In Excel 2007 and in Excel 2003, the following format is used for array constants:

• Array constants are enclosed in braces ( { } ).
• Column separators are indicated by the period character.
• Row separators are indicated by the semicolon character.

WORKAROUND

When you open a document that contains array constants, symbols are automatically modified. Therefore, to work around this issue, use a backslash (\) character as the new row separator or column separator for any new array constants you create.

REFERENCES

For more information about this issue in Excel 2007, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA102225581033.aspx

Keywords: kbtshoot kbprb KB924624

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