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Raxmon2023's avatar
Raxmon2023
Copper Contributor
Aug 11, 2023
Solved

Error when subtracting dates in excel

I have an excel file with a register of the entry and exit times of a site and there is a cell in which I get #### and if I display it I get a very small negative number. It doesn't cause me any problem but it could be a bug that just with this data a strange thing happens.

To make sure that the format is the same I copied the format of the other cells that work.

 

 


As you can see, if I separate the operations and take them out of the IF function, the result is 0 and not ####.

  • Raxmon2023 

    I can only repeat myself: Negative time value are displayed with ########.

     

    If I put the "same" data in my spreadsheet it looks a little different.

     

    The reason behind the tiny decimal number is the "floating point error".

    You could round your result. Or you could convert the time values into decimal minutes (x60x24) and convert the result back into a time value (/60/24). Change the number format accordingly.

    =D5*24*60-C5*24*60-($F$2*24*60+$F$3*24*60)

     

  • Detlef_Lewin's avatar
    Detlef_Lewin
    Silver Contributor
    Negative time values are always displayed with ######.
    But the value itself will not change.
    • Raxmon2023's avatar
      Raxmon2023
      Copper Contributor

      Detlef_Lewin 
      It is 0 the value of that cell. That cell has an if operation where it checks if it is Friday or not to do one operation or another. If I do the operations without that IF, what appears on the right, which is 0:00, appears, but if I put it in the if, #### appears. The numbers are as follows
      16:28:00 - 7:35:00 - 8:23:00 + 0:30:00

       

      Doing the next minute and the previous minute doesn't happen and it doesn't happen to me with any other value that matches 0

      scientific value

       

      numeric value

      Why is this happening? Is it a very low level bug? It does not generate any problem for me because the truth is that this excel is to have my own control but now I am simply curious about why this happens






      • Detlef_Lewin's avatar
        Detlef_Lewin
        Silver Contributor

        Raxmon2023 

        I can only repeat myself: Negative time value are displayed with ########.

         

        If I put the "same" data in my spreadsheet it looks a little different.

         

        The reason behind the tiny decimal number is the "floating point error".

        You could round your result. Or you could convert the time values into decimal minutes (x60x24) and convert the result back into a time value (/60/24). Change the number format accordingly.

        =D5*24*60-C5*24*60-($F$2*24*60+$F$3*24*60)

         

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