LEFT function

  • Thread starter Thread starter Elijah
  • Start date Start date
E

Elijah

Hi ,

Just a simple problem (I hope). I have a column in an excel spreadsheet
which takes the first character of the previous column using LEFT(A1,1). Eg
A1 has "3-dice", and therefore column B is "3". The problem is that Excel
for some reason doesn't allow me to SUM column B. Its like the numbers in
column B aren't recognised as numbers. Can anyone help with a solution?

thanks in advance

Elijah
 
The reason the numbers aren't recognized as numbers is that LEFT()
returns a text string. Text is ignored in SUM(). You can coerce the
value to a number using the Value() function, as suggested by
JON-JON. The text will also be coerced in a math operation, e.g.:

=B1 + 0
 
Back
Top