ARABIC Function in ONLYOFFICE Spreadsheet Editor: Syntax and Examples

=ARABIC("MMXXVI") is expected to return the number 2026. Use ARABIC to turn Roman-numeral labels into numbers you can sort or calculate with. The official reference accepts quoted text or a reference to a cell containing text and explicitly documents an empty string returning zero.

=ARABIC(text)

There is one required argument and no optional mode. Quote a literal, as in "XIV"; use an unquoted reference, as in A2. The output is numeric, not a string of decimal digits.

The version-pinned parser and wrapper trim leading/trailing whitespace, uppercase letters and accept an initial minus sign. Their symbol check allows I, V, X, L, C, D and M. This check is not a strict validator of conventional Roman notation: it accepts arrangements beyond standard subtractive pairs. If the task requires historically or editorially valid numerals, validate that separately before converting.

1. Enter Roman label in A1 and Numeric key in B1.
2. Enter the text values below in A2:A6. Do not enter surrounding quotation marks in the cells.
3. Put =ARABIC(A2) in B2 and fill down to B6.
4. Keep the original labels in column A; sort the whole table by column B when a numeric ordering is needed.

The arithmetic is independent of a spreadsheet engine: IV is 5−1; XLIX is (50−10)+(10−1); MCMXCIV is 1000+900+90+4. Uppercasing explains the lowercase example.

Do not interpret successful conversion of IC as approval of that spelling. The parser subtracts a repeated group of smaller symbols from the next larger symbol. Its behavior therefore differs from a simple “accept only standard I/IV/V/IX…” grammar. The scalar empty-string case is verified in the documentation; a genuinely blank cell, a multi-cell range and an array are different inputs and should not be substituted without checking their respective behavior.

Suppose an index supplies chapter labels such as II, IX and X. Retain that text in A, keep a separate converted numeric key in B and use the key to sort the full index. This avoids alphabetical ordering that can place IX before V while leaving the original typography available for display.

Decide explicitly how empty labels should be handled: zero is a valid output of ARABIC(""), so it cannot by itself distinguish “missing label” from a zero-valued conversion. Likewise, an error-catching wrapper can conceal invalid spelling; review errors before replacing them. For numeric text in bases such as binary or hexadecimal, use DECIMAL rather than ARABIC. Roman letters and positional-base digits follow different rules.

The official ARABIC reference was checked on October 18, 2026. The implementation discussion uses official SDKJS source tagged v10.0.0.169, matching the version/build designation of Desktop Editors 10.0.0-169. Desktop Editors 10.0 was released on October 13, 2026. The first version introducing this individual function is not established by these sources. Current documentation does not mark it retired or deprecated.

Examples in this guide are expected results from documentation, source inspection and independent calculations, not results observed in the application. They have not been tested in the application or its calculation engine. The unversioned help and pinned source do not establish identical behavior in older versions, mobile clients, every server deployment or imported workbooks. Examples use English names and comma argument separators; adapt formula-entry separators to your editor settings.

• DECIMAL
• IFERROR