The Excel INFO Function

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Basic Description

The Excel Info function returns a text string containing information about the current operating environment.

The syntax of the function is:

INFO( type_text )

Where the type_text argument is a text string that specifies the type of information to be returned.

The different types of information that the Info function can return are shown in the table below :

type_text	Information Returned
"directory"	Path of the current directory
"numfile"	The number of active worksheets in all currently open Excel Workbooks
"origin"	Returns the top left cell reference of the current worksheet (generally A1) and the top left cell that is currently visible in the scrolled area of the current worksheet.
"osversion"	Current operating system version
"recalc"	Current recalculation mode (either "Automatic" or "Manual")
"release"	Current version of Microsoft Excel
"system"	Current operating environment ("mac" = Macintosh or "pcdos" = Windows)

Info Function Examples

The following spreadsheets show examples of the Excel Info function. The format of the function is shown in the spreadsheet on the left and the results are shown in the spreadsheet on the right. Obviously, the results may be different for your own operating system.

Formulas:

	A
1	=INFO( "directory" )
2	=INFO( "origin" )
3	=INFO( "osversion" )
4	=INFO( "recalc" )
5	=INFO( "system" )

Results:

	A
1	C:\Documents and Settings\
2	$A:$A$1
3	Windows (32-bit) NT 6.01
4	Automatic
5	pcdos

Further details and examples of the Excel Info function can be found on the Microsoft Office website.

Info Function Errors

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

Common Errors

#N/A!	-	Occurs if the type_text argument is "memavail" or "memused" (used in old versions of Excel, but no longer supported)
#VALUE!	-	Occurs if the type_text argument any other value that is not recognised as one of the values in the table above

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