BASE in Collabora Office: Encode Positive Integers in Bases Two through Thirty-Six

• Introduced: the original Collabora release and launch date are not established by the reviewed sources.
• Availability: documented in Collabora Office 26.04 desktop help.
• Platform scope: online and mobile deployment support is not inferred from the desktop documentation.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Function-specific documentation and independent controls; no native Collabora execution.

=BASE(Number; Radix [; MinimumLength])

Number is documented as a positive integer. Radix is an integer from 2 through 36. The output uses digits 0–9 followed by letters A–Z. MinimumLength adds zeros on the left when the converted text is shorter than the requested minimum.

The dedicated source does not explicitly extend the Number contract to zero, negative or fractional inputs. The examples use positive integers and do not import the signed two’s-complement behavior of specialized binary, octal or hexadecimal converters.

MinimumLength specifies a minimum, not a maximum. It does not clip a longer value or enforce the field-size rule of an external file.

Put numeric 125 in A2. Enter radices 2, 8, 10, 16 and 36 in B2:B6. In C2 use =BASE($A$2;B2) and fill down.

The quantity remains 125. Hex 7D means 7×16+13; base-36 3H means 3×36+17. The letter positions come from the documented digit alphabet, where A represents ten.

These are alternate representations of one positive number, not values to add as ordinary decimal strings. Keep A2 numeric for arithmetic.

Enter positive numbers 1, 35, 36 and 1295 in E2:E5. In F2 enter =BASE(E2;36;3) and fill down.

Expected outputs are 001, 00Z, 010 and 0ZZ. The three-character layout comes from the explicit minimum length, not from a different numeric quantity.

For a boundary control, =BASE(1296;36;2) has independently expected output 100, because 1296 is 36 squared and needs three digits. MinimumLength 2 does not truncate it to two positions. Validate the value against your file’s maximum before encoding.

Suppose two positive field codes are restricted to 1 through 35. Enter high code 3 in H2 and low code 17 in I2. Compute the numeric packed value with:

=H2*36+I2

Expected number: 125. =BASE(H2*36+I2;36;2) produces 3H.

A low field of 36 violates the one-digit rule. With high 3 and low 36, the arithmetic gives 144 and BASE gives 40. That is the same packed number as high 4 and low 0, so the converter cannot recover the intended invalid field boundary. Validation belongs before packing.

Use =DECIMAL(F2;36) beside the four padded fields and fill down. Expected numeric results are 1, 35, 36 and 1295. Comparisons with E2:E5 are all TRUE.

DECIMAL interprets text under an explicit radix. Leading zeros in these fields do not change the quantity. A round trip preserves the numeric meaning, but an original arbitrary text width must be stored or supplied separately.

For example, decoding 0007D as hexadecimal yields 125; re-encoding with MinimumLength 2 yields 7D rather than restoring all five original positions.

The source supplies the radix interval and positive-integer contract but not a complete native error table, maximum exact Number, coercion matrix or fractional-argument policy. Those cases remain unverified.

DEC2HEX has a different signed-format contract. BASE is useful for a deliberately unsigned positive numbering scheme across many radices; similarity of the visible output does not make the functions interchangeable at negative values or boundaries.

• Collabora Office 26.04: BASE.
• Editorial testing standards.

Complete dedicated product documentation reviewed. Outputs are independent decimal, positional, character or type models, or explicit vendor controls; no native Collabora execution. Formulas use English names and semicolon separators. Optional-argument brackets describe syntax and are not typed into working formulas.