Microsoft Knowledge Base

True, False, and Values with # Change to All Capital Letters
Last reviewed: September 12, 1996
Article ID: Q102080
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, versions 2.2, 3.0, and 4.0
  • Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 2.x, 3.0, and 4.0
  • Microsoft Excel for OS/2, versions 2.0 and 3.0

SYMPTOMS

When you enter logical values (such as true or false) or error values (such as #N/A) in a cell on worksheet or macro sheet, these values are displayed in capital letters.

CAUSE

The words true and false are considered logical arguments and will be converted to uppercase letters when you enter them in a cell. Error values beginning with the number sign (#) will also become uppercase. The following are valid error values: #N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #NULL!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, and #NAME?.

WORKAROUND

To work around this situation, follow the procedure below appropriate to your version of Microsoft Excel.

Microsoft Excel Version 4.0

To have these words appear in lowercase, they must be entered as text strings. To force these words to remain lowercase, precede them with a single quotation mark (') as in the following examples: 

   'true
   'false
   '#n/a

Microsoft Excel Versions 3.0 and Earlier

In versions of Microsoft Excel earlier than 4.0, you can display these words in lowercase letters by entering the words as a formula and enclosing them in quotation marks, as in the following examples: 

   ="true"
   ="false"
   ="#n/a"

REFERENCES

"User's Guide 1," version 4.0, page 113

KBCategory: kbusage
KBSubcategory:

Additional reference words: 2.00 2.01 2.10 2.10c 2.10d 2.20 4.00 3.00
boolean case all caps



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Last reviewed: September 12, 1996
©1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Legal Notices.