IMREAL Function (OpenOffice Calc)

• Introduced: First release not established; documented by OpenOffice.org 3.3.
• Supported in: Apache OpenOffice 4.1.16; this identifies a verified release, not a final supported version.
• Scope: Desktop Calc with its Analysis add-in, English function names and semicolon-separated formulas.
• Checked: October 14, 2026. Eight reference formulas and the listed diagnostics were recalculated after XLSX import in 4.1.16 on Linux x86-64, Build 9816. Source and independent reference calculations were also checked.

IMREAL returns the real component a from a parsed complex value a+bi. It produces an ordinary numeric result. It is not the magnitude, phase or absolute value of the complex number. Release entry.

=IMREAL(ComplexNumber)

Exactly one complex argument is required. The parser recognizes lowercase i and j, pure imaginary forms and pure real forms. Invalid or empty strings are rejected in this function, unlike empty strings in the number-base conversion helper.

The native column records the saved 4.1.16 results. Text-returning conversion strings are retained exactly, including leading zeroes and uppercase hexadecimal letters. OCT2DEC, IMREAL and IMAGINARY return numeric values. These integer and quarter-unit references agree exactly with the saved results; errors are checked by display rather than interpreted from a numeric zero cache.

=IMREAL("3+4i") returns 3. Changing +4i to −4i leaves the result unchanged, while changing the real sign to −3 changes the result to −3. Keeping both components visible makes it easy to distinguish real-part extraction from magnitude 5.

For a complex text value in A2, =IMREAL(A2) extracts the numeric real component. Use COMPLEX to assemble a value from validated real and imaginary measurements when possible, rather than guessing a text pattern.

Real-part extraction is additive: Re(z+w)=Re(z)+Re(w). It is not generally multiplicative: Re(zw)=Re(z)Re(w)−Im(z)Im(w). For (3+4i)(1−2i), the real part is 11, not 3×1.

Conjugating a value leaves its real part unchanged, whereas negating the entire value reverses the real part’s sign. The magnitude requires both components through √(a²+b²); it cannot be recovered from IMREAL alone.

A pure imaginary value such as i has real part zero. That is a valid numeric zero obtained from a valid complex input, unlike substituting zero after a parser error.

The tested numeric argument 5 is converted to a pure real input, while the lowercase j string behaves like the corresponding i value. Unsupported uppercase I, invalid text and an empty string are rejected. These results establish the stated parser path, not every locale or imported complex-number format.

These additional formulas were recalculated through the same import path. Error displays are retained as errors, even when an ODS numeric attribute stores zero.

The IMREAL guide for Calligra Sheets documents that product’s own syntax and tested behavior. A shared function name does not guarantee the same argument conversion, text parsing, branch or precision rules.

• Function-specific release entry
• Conversion or strict complex parser

The saved ODS retained every tested formula identity. A deliberately stale SUM cache changed from 999999 to 3, and an uncached SUM returned 7 after hard recalculation. Native evidence covers the eight reference formulas and listed diagnostics only. Other explanatory compositions are independent mathematical checks; other releases, locales and extreme-value behavior were not established by this run.