PlanMaker DEC2BIN: Signed 32-Bit Conversion and Examples

The PlanMaker 2026 reference, 2024 reference and 2021 reference were retrieved and read on October 15, 2026. These establish documented support in those manual families, not the original introduction or a last-working-version endpoint. Both historical endpoints remain unverified. The manual comparison does not certify every desktop, FreeOffice or mobile build. The separate dated user report below names one FreeOffice revision and an NX 2026 installation.

No native PlanMaker execution, screenshot or file transfer was performed. The expectations below are independently checked integer encodings consistent with the documentation, not reliable predictions for the reported affected NX installation. English formulas use commas; localized separators and function names require checking in the installed build.

A SoftMaker support thread, read October 15, 2026, documents a conflict with the manual. On September 3, 2026, forum user JezShed reported DEC2BIN(512) returning #NUM! in OfficeNX 2026, versus 1000000000 in FreeOffice PlanMaker 2024 revision F1234.0411. The NX revision number was not supplied. The thread is in the Windows support section; this does not establish behavior on other platforms or all 2026 builds.

On September 4, SuperTech, identified as SoftMaker Team, acknowledged a regression and referred it for investigation. This is staff acknowledgment of the report, not our native reproduction. The user’s additional negative-number comparison contains a mismatched formula and explanation, so it is not treated as an exact verified NX result.

Staff suggested =BASE(512,2) and =BASE(MOD(-42,2^32),2,32) as temporary alternatives. Their mathematical encodings are 1000000000 and 11111111111111111111111111010110; their operation in a particular installation remains untested here. No fixed revision or universal last-working version is established by this thread.

Read every table and width/sign example below as the documented contract. A result such as #NUM! for an in-range input may be this version-specific defect rather than invalid source data. Test 511, 512 and a negative control in your exact build before relying on a conversion pipeline.

=DEC2BIN(Number [, Digits])

Number is required. The documented signed domain is −2^31 through 2^31−1, or −2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647. The binary/hexadecimal/octal strings for negative values encode the 32-bit two’s-complement word, rather than an ordinary minus-prefixed numeral.

The input column contains numeric decimal integers. The reference explicitly describes the converted output as text, even when it contains only digits. Keep the original numeric column for sums and comparisons. The documented truncation of Digits does not establish how a fractional Number is treated.

Digits is optional. When omitted, PlanMaker determines the required width. It must be greater than zero; fractional Digits are truncated rather than rounded. A positive input whose significant representation is wider than Digits gives #NUM!, as shown in the vendor examples.

For a negative value the 32-bit representation is used and Digits is ignored. The examples use ordinary positive width requests when checking that rule; they do not settle validation precedence for a simultaneously invalid width. Number’s numeric value and Digits’ display requirement remain separate.

Create BaseControls with Source in A1 and Converted in B1, Width_12 in C1. Enter the numeric A inputs below. Fill B2 =DEC2BIN(A2) through B7. Fill C2 =DEC2BIN(A2,12) through C7.

In a copy change A4 from 42 to 43. The documented expectations for B4 and C4 become 101011 and 000000101011; verify these in the installed build. Only that input row changes.

SoftMaker gives =DEC2BIN(42) as 101010, and =DEC2BIN(42,8) as 00101010. Six significant bits are required, so =DEC2BIN(42,4) gives the documented #NUM! error. Padding is not permission to remove significant bits.

Under the manual contract, the negative control =DEC2BIN(-42) is 11111111111111111111111111010110, exactly 32 bits. With Number negative, a positive Digits request such as 8 is ignored: the documented output remains the 32-bit two’s-complement representation. The regression warning prevents treating this as a guaranteed NX 2026 observation. It does not become a minus sign followed by 101010.

Create ByteBoundary with numeric 255,256,1023 in F2:F4. Fill G2 =DEC2BIN(F2) downward. Expected strings are 11111111,100000000,1111111111. All three values lie inside PlanMaker’s documented signed range, even though only the first fits an unsigned eight-bit field.

In H2:H4 use width 8. Under the documented contract, the first result fits; the next two require more places and produce the insufficient-width error. This does not identify the cause of every #NUM! in an affected build. A nine-place width can hold 256, while 1023 needs ten. A receiver’s eight-bit limit is a separate validation rule from this function’s much wider numeric domain.

For the original worksheet’s 42, put =BIN2DEC(B4) in a spare cell. The expected numeric result is 42. For row 7’s −42, =BIN2DEC(B7) has expected result −42, using the inverse function’s matching 32-bit interpretation.

This is a documentation-backed mathematical round trip, not a native transfer test. It does not prove a copied file retains text type, leading zeroes or the expected width. Check the raw strings in a receiving system before discarding the original numeric input.

If you need a human-readable signed binary string with an explicit minus sign, that is a different presentation contract. Do not assume a two’s-complement word is intended for every audience just because it is the function’s documented negative representation.

=DEC2BIN(42,8.9) has independently expected output 00101010 because the documented Digits truncation gives width 8. This is a width example, not evidence for truncating a fractional source Number. Keep an explicit integer width in routine formulas for readability.

Respect the documented signed range and source base. The short reference does not give a complete native error/coercion matrix for malformed strings, prefixes, blanks, Boolean values, arrays or fractional Number inputs. No exact error token is invented for those cases. A source with too many bits or an invalid digit is outside the documented contract even when its intended meaning seems obvious.

Before reuse, record the exact PlanMaker build, edition, platform, language and workbook format. Recreate the original cells, inspect whether source text survived entry, and apply each changed-input control separately. Test saving and the receiving application’s interpretation independently; neither follows from a correct mathematical encoding.