The Excel OCT2HEX Function

Related Function:

Hex2Oct Function

Function Description

The Excel Oct2Hex function converts an Octal (Base 8) number into a Hexadecimal (Base 16) number.

The syntax of the function is:

OCT2HEX( number, [places] )

Where the function arguments are as follows:

number

The octal number that is to be converted to hexadecimal.

[places]

An optional argument, which specifies the number of characters that you want the returned hexadecimal number to have.

If this is greater than the minimum, the hexadecimal number will be padded out using leading zeros.

If omitted, the returned hexadecimal uses the minimum number of places.

Note that the supplied number argument must not be more than 10 characters (40 bits) long. The most significant bit of this value denotes the sign of the number and the remaining 39 bits denote the magnitude. Negative numbers are represented using two's complement notation.

+ Display Octal and Hexadecimal Summary:

Octal

The Octal (Base 8) Numeral System uses the digits 0-7.

The following table shows the first 16 octal values, along with the equivalent decimal values:

Octal	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	20
Decimal	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16

For further information on the octal numeral system, see the Wikipedia Octal Page

Hexadecimal

The Hexadecimal (Base 16) Numeral System uses the digits 0-9 and the characters a-f.

The following table shows the first 32 hexadecimal values, along with the equivalent decimal values:

Hexadecimal	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	a	b	c	d	e	f	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	1a	1b	1c	1d	1e	1f	20
Decimal	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32

For further information on the hexadecimal numeral system, see the Wikipedia Hexadecimal Page

Oct2Hex Function Examples

The following spreadsheets show five examples of the Excel Oct2Hex function.

Formulas:

	A
1	=OCT2HEX( "10" )
2	=OCT2HEX( "0000000007" )
3	=OCT2HEX( "10", 10 )
4	=OCT2HEX( "7777777770" )
5	=OCT2HEX( "763" )

Results:

	A
1	8
2	7
3	0000000008
4	FFFFFFFFF8
5	1F3

Note that, in the above example spreadsheet, the negative octal and hexadecimal numbers in cell A4 are represented by two's complement notation.

Further details and examples of the Excel Oct2Hex function are provided on the Microsoft Office website.

Oct2Hex Function Errors

If you get an error from the Excel Oct2Hex function this is likely to be one of the following:

Common Errors

#NUM!

Occurs if either:

The supplied number argument is not recognised as an octal number or contains more than 10 characters;
The resulting hexadecimal number requires more places than is specified by the supplied [places] argument;
The supplied [places] argument is < 0 or > 10.

#VALUE!

Occurs if the supplied [places] argument is non-numeric.

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