PlanMaker OCT2BIN: 32-Bit Conversion, Width and Worked Examples

The PlanMaker 2026 manual, 2024 manual and 2021 manual were retrieved on October 15, 2026. They document this function in those manual families. They do not establish its original introduction or a last-working-version endpoint; both historical endpoints remain unverified. Support in every FreeOffice/mobile edition or individual desktop build is outside this check.

No native PlanMaker execution was performed. Expected values below are independently checked mathematical controls, not captured application results. Formulas use the English manual’s commas; verify localized names and separators in the installed product.

=OCT2BIN(Number [, Digits])

Number is required. Supply octal text, using only 0 through 7. Quote literals inside formulas and set source cells to text before entering them. This avoids automatic decimal interpretation or loss of long numeral strings.

The documented domain is signed −2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647. Negative inputs and results use a 32-bit two’s-complement word. The manual’s encoded endpoint notation identifies signed values; it is not an increasing interval of ordinary unsigned octal magnitudes. These are PlanMaker-specific rules, not assumed limits of another product with the same function name.

Digits is optional: omitted means the required width is chosen automatically. A supplied Digits must be greater than zero. Fractional Digits are truncated. If a positive result needs more significant places than the requested width, the documented error is #NUM!. Negative values use their 32-bit representation and ignore Digits. This guide tests that rule with positive widths; it does not infer precedence when a negative Number is combined with an invalid width.

Create BaseControls with Source in A1, Converted in B1 and Width_12 in C1. Format A2:A7 as text and enter the exact strings below. Fill B2 =OCT2BIN(A2) and C2 =OCT2BIN(A2,12) through row 7.

In a copy change A3 from 52 to 53. B3 becomes 101011, and C3 becomes 000000101011. Row 4 remains an independent leading-zero control for the original 42.

The source gives =OCT2BIN("52") as 101010, and =OCT2BIN("52",8) as 00101010. Octal 52 is 5×8+2=42, while the binary result is 32+8+2. Six significant binary places are needed. The source’s width-2 example therefore correctly gives #NUM!.

=OCT2BIN("37777777726") yields 11111111111111111111111111010110, the 32-bit pattern for −42. This does not use a ten-bit or ten-octal-digit negative convention from a different spreadsheet.

On GroupedFields, enter text 751,750 in F2:F3. Fill G2 =OCT2BIN(F2,9) through G3. The expectations are 111101001,111101000. Each octal digit maps to three bits: 7→111, 5→101, 1→001. The decimal quantities are 489 and 488.

For a smaller group, =OCT2BIN("7",3) is 111. Octal 10 means decimal eight and needs binary 1000, so three positions no longer suffice. A fixed-width field needs an explicit range rule in addition to a successful conversion.

=OCT2BIN("0052",8) also yields 00101010; the source’s leading zeroes do not alter 42. In contrast, encoded 20000000000 is the signed 32-bit minimum and converts to a one followed by 31 zeroes, not a positive 33-bit quantity.

The maximum positive signed input is 17777777777, represented by 31 binary ones. Keep those two endpoints separate from ordinary unsigned ordering of the written octal numerals. The function’s signed interpretation is part of the conversion contract, not a cosmetic display choice.

=OCT2BIN("52",8.9) has independent expected output 00101010, because truncating 8.9 gives width 8. This does not establish how a fractional source Number or a text numeral containing a decimal point is handled. Use explicit integer widths in production worksheets.

Invalid digits, prefixes, whitespace, Boolean values, blanks and numeric-text coercion outside the source examples do not have a complete documented error matrix here. No exact error token is invented for those cases. Inspect the raw input when a conversion seems wrong; a numeric cell that has already changed the source text cannot be repaired merely by choosing another output base.

Record the installed build, edition, language and workbook format before native reproduction. Check displayed strings and saving/export separately. A mathematically correct representation does not prove that an external receiver accepts the word size or preserves leading zeroes.