PrecisionCalc
xl
Precision
Get Your Numbers Right

 

xlpAVERAGE

Returns the average (arithmetic mean) of the numeric arguments, with up to 32,767 significant digits of precision. Same as Excel's built-in AVERAGE function, but with high precision.

Syntax

xlpAVERAGE(numlist...,,format)

numlist... Required. The list of numbers and/or cell ranges for which to find the average. Accepts up to 29 numlist arguments, or up to 28 if the optional format argument is used. Ignores text that can't be evaluated to a number. Ignores blank cells.
format Optional. Determines formatting options (formatting negatives with parentheses instead of a leading hyphen, adding thousands separators, adding currency symbol, and formatting in exponential notation), and setting maximum significant digits.

Any argument that begins with the text "format:" (must include the colon at the end) is evaluated as a format argument.

Each of the five format options can be used individually in separate arguments, or any number of them can be combined in the same argument.

When combining multiple format options into one format argument:

  • The text "format:" need only appear at the beginning.
  • The text "negative", thousands", "currency", "exponent", and/or "MSD=" can appear anywhere after the text "format:".
  • Any uninterrupted series of numeric digits appearing right after the text "MSD=" are taken to be the number of maximum significant digits.
  • See below for examples of valid and invalid combination format values.

Must be enclosed in double quotes ("") if included directly in an xlpAVERAGE argument. Double quotes are not necessary if the format argument references a cell in which the format argument is entered.

May be included anywhere in the series of xlpAVERAGE arguments -- can be the first argument, or the last, or anywhere in-between.

The format argument is not case sensitive.

format value

Result
format:negative If return value is negative, it is formatted with parentheses ("()") instead of the default leading hyphen ("-").

You can also format negatives with a red font.

format:thousands Return value is formatted with thousands separators (commas in English).
format:currency Return value is formatted with the local currency symbol. The currency symbol will be added either to the beginning or to the end of the result, whichever is appropriate for the locale.
format:exponent Return value is formatted in exponential notation.
format:MSD=n Determines the maximum number of significant digits to be returned. Default is 100, or the user's custom maximum set in the About box, or the maximum number allowed by the edition of xlPrecision, whichever is less.

Examples of valid combination format values

format:negative,thousands,currency,MSD=200
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, and MSD=200)
format:  negative - thousands - currency - MSD=75  blah blah this extra text is ignored
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, and MSD=75)
format:negativethousandscurrencyMSD=1000
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, and MSD=1000)
FORMAT:NEGATIVE,THOUSANDS,CURRENCY,MSD=200
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, and MSD=200)
Format:Negative,Thousands,cUrReNcY,msD=200
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, and MSD=200)
format:MSD=200,thousands,negative,currency
(recognizes MSD=200, thousands, negative, and currency)
format:MSD=200  blah blah this extra text is ignored  negative
(recognizes MSD=200 and negative)
format:currency,thousands
(recognizes currency and thousands)
Examples of invalid combination format values
format negative,thousands,currency,MSD=200
(missing colon (:) after "format")
format = negative,thousands,currency,MSD=200
(missing colon (:) after "format")
Examples of partially valid combination format values
format:negative,thousands,currency,MSD200
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, BUT missing "=" after "MSD")
format:negative,thousands,currency,MSD:200
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, BUT missing "=" after "MSD")
format:negative,thousand,currency,MSD=200
(recognizes negative, currency, and MSD=200, BUT "thousands" is misspelled as "thousand")
format:negative,thousands,currency,MSD=1,000
(recognizes negative, thousands, currency, BUT MSD is recognized as 1, not 1000, because the comma (",") is not a numeric digit)

Remarks

Examples

Formula Description Result
=xlpAVERAGE(1,2) Average of 1 and 2 1.5
=xlpAVERAGE(-1,2.5) Average of -1 and 2.5 0.75
=xlpAVERAGE(A1:B2)
 
  A B
1 1 3
2 2 4
Average of values in cells A1:B2 2.5
=xlpAVERAGE(A1:C3)
 
  A B C
1 1 abc 7
2 2 5  
3 3 6 9
Average of values in cells A1:C3, ignoring text in cell B1 and ignoring blank cell (C2) 4.714285714285714285714286
(length depends on xlPrecision edition)
=xlpAVERAGE(A1:C3,"format:negative,thousands,currency,msd=20")
 
  A B C
1 10,000 abc -70,000
2 20,000 50,000  
3 30,000 -60,000 -90,000
Average of values in cells A1:C3, ignoring text in cell B1 and ignoring blank cell (C2), and formatting with parentheses for negatives, with thousands separators, with local currency symbol, and limiting significant digits to 20 ($6,714.2857142857142857)
=xlpAVERAGE(A1:C3,format:negative,thousands,currency,msd=20)
 
  A B C
1 10,000 abc -70,000
2 20,000 50,000  
3 30,000 -60,000 -90,000
Average of values in cells A1:C3, ignoring text in cell B1 and ignoring blank cell (C2), and with double quotes missing from around formatting argument -6714.28571428571428571
 4285714285714285714285
(missing double quotes around format argument)
(length depends on xlPrecision edition)

 

=xlpAVERAGE(A1:C3,A4)
 
  A B C
1 10,000 abc -70,000
2 20,000 50,000  
3 30,000 -60,000 -90,000
4

 format:negative,thousands,currency,msd=20

Average of values in cells A1:C3 and A4, ignoring text in cell B1 and ignoring blank cell (C2), and formatting with parentheses for negatives, with thousands separators, with local currency symbol, and limiting significant digits to 20 ($6,714.2857142857142857)
(double quotes around format argument not necessary if format argument references a cell in which the format argument is entered)
=xlpAVERAGE(A1:C3,A4)
 
  A B C
1 10,000 abc -70,000
2 20,000 50,000  
3 30,000 -60,000 -90,000
4

 format:negative,currency,exponent,msd=20

Average of values in cells A1:C3 and A4, ignoring text in cell B1 and ignoring blank cell (C2), and formatting with parentheses for negatives, with local currency symbol, in exponential notation, and limiting significant digits to 20 ($6.7142857142857142857E+3)
=xlpAVERAGE(A1:C3,"format:currency",A4:A6)
 
  A B C
1 10,000 abc -70,000
2 20,000 50,000  
3 30,000 -60,000 -90,000
4

 format:msd=20

 
5

 format:negative

 
6

 format:thousands

 
Average of values in cells A1:C3 and A4:A6, ignoring text in cell B1 and ignoring blank cell (C2), and formatting with parentheses for negatives, with thousands separators, with local currency symbol, and limiting significant digits to 20 ($6,714.2857142857142857)

See Also

xlpMEDIAN
xlpMODE