Documentation/How Tos/Calc: N function

N

Returns the numeric value.

Syntax:

N(value)

returns the numeric value of value if possible. It returns the logical values TRUE and FALSE as 1 and 0 respectively.

N() is not intended to convert text to a number - use the VALUE() function instead.

Example:

N(123)

returns 123, because 123 is (already) a number.

N(TRUE)

returns 1.

N(A3)

where A3 contains FALSE, returns 0.

Issues:

N() in Calc will sometimes convert text to a number, but in Excel will always return text as 0. In Calc N("4") returns 0 in OOo3 but 4 in OOo2. Issue 113739 describes some further inconsistencies in the handling of text. In fact, the ODFF standard deliberately does not specify a behaviour. It may be better to use VALUE() to convert from text to number.