PlanMaker ERROR.TYPE: Map documented errors without confusing diagnostic failures
ERROR.TYPE returns a numeric identifier for a documented error category in a referenced cell. A cell with no error instead produces #N/A from the diagnostic function itself. Keep source errors separate from errors produced by the diagnostic column.
Verification status: See the evidence and test scope described in this guide. How formula examples are checked
ERROR.TYPE returns a numeric identifier for a documented error category in a referenced cell. A cell with no error instead produces #N/A from the diagnostic function itself. Keep source errors separate from errors produced by the diagnostic column.
Availability and evidence
The PlanMaker 2026 reference, 2024 reference and 2021 reference were retrieved and read on October 15, 2026. These establish documented operation in those manual families, not an original introduction or a last-working-version endpoint. Both historical endpoints remain unverified. Specific FreeOffice/mobile editions and every desktop build are outside the checked scope.
The examples are documentation-backed and independently calculated or modeled. No native PlanMaker execution, screenshot, export or import test was performed. The English formulas use commas where multiple arguments are needed; localized names and separators need checking in the installed version.
Exact syntax
=ERROR.TYPE(Cell)
Syntax and the exact PlanMaker mapping
Cell is one required cell reference. The period in ERROR.TYPE is part of the English function spelling; it is not optional punctuation. The current function page documents these mappings:
| Source value | ERROR.TYPE result |
|---|---|
| No error value | #N/A |
| #NULL! | 1 |
| #DIV/0! | 2 |
| #VALUE! | 3 |
| #REF! | 4 |
| #NAME? | 5 |
| #NUM! | 6 |
| #N/A | 7 |
This seven-code table must not be silently expanded with an Excel or ONLYOFFICE code 8. PlanMaker’s general error documentation also describes newer categories such as #CALC! and #SPILL!, but this ERROR.TYPE page does not map them. Their diagnostic outputs remain unverified here. Likewise, the meanings of error labels should be read in PlanMaker’s own error-value reference.
Reproduce source and diagnostic layers
Create ErrorCodes with Source, Code, Source_error and Diagnostic_error in A1:D1. Enter A below and fill B2 =ERROR.TYPE(A2), C2 =ISERROR(A2) and D2 =ISERROR(B2) through row 7.
| Row | A entry | Expected B | Expected C | Expected D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | =1/0 |
2 | TRUE | FALSE |
| 3 | =1/1 |
#N/A | FALSE | TRUE |
| 4 | =NA() |
7 | TRUE | FALSE |
| 5 | ="#DIV/0!" |
#N/A | FALSE | TRUE |
| 6 | =SQRT(-1) |
6 | TRUE | FALSE |
| 7 | 0 |
#N/A | FALSE | TRUE |
The first two mirror the vendor’s example: a division error produces code 2, whereas a successful division produces #N/A from ERROR.TYPE. The text in row 5 only spells an error label. Code 7 in row 4 is a number, not a second instance of the original #N/A error.
In a copy, change A2 to =1/2. Its numeric result is 0.5; B2 changes to #N/A, C2 becomes FALSE and D2 TRUE. A newly displayed diagnostic error does not imply the source repair failed.
Advanced: guard the diagnostic column
On the original sheet fill E2 =IF(ISERROR(A2),ERROR.TYPE(A2),0) through E7. Expected E is 2,0,7,0,6,0 for this fixture. The selected sentinel 0 means no source error; it is a reporting convention, not an ERROR.TYPE code. It does not cover the unverified newer categories noted above.
SoftMaker also shows this alternative pattern:
=IF(ISNA(ERROR.TYPE(A2)),A2,"Error!")
For the supplied fixture, its expected results are Error!,1,Error!,the text #DIV/0!,Error!,0. It tests whether the diagnostic call returned #N/A, then passes through a non-error source. Do not describe this as a proven universal filter for all future error categories; the checked mapping contains only seven codes.
Advanced: reclassifying the code loses the source category
For row 4, B4 is numeric 7. A spare-cell formula =ERROR.TYPE(B4) is expected to return #N/A because the code itself is not an error. Similarly, =ISNA(B4) is FALSE even though =ISNA(A4) is TRUE. Point follow-up checks at the source or diagnostic column deliberately.
A useful audit retains A, B and a human-readable note together. Do not replace the original formula with its code if you still need to inspect the cause or recalculate after a correction.
Troubleshooting and limits
An invalid outer formula may fail before the function can inspect its argument. The mapping table does not authorize unsafe or malformed test formulas merely to force every error category. This guide uses a small set of documented arithmetic and NA controls and treats the other mapping rows as reference information.
Multi-cell arrays, localized names, unsupported inputs and exact handling of newly added error types remain untested. ISERROR provides a broad flag, ISNA identifies the unavailable category, and TYPE returns the broader value-type code 16 for errors rather than these subcategory numbers.
Native verification checklist
Record the exact product/build, edition, platform, language and workbook format. Recreate the original cells, inspect the actual formulas and apply each changed-input control on a separate copy. Verify saved-file recalculation and destination compatibility independently; neither follows merely from a matching displayed result.