Using DEC2BIN() with large numbers

Question

I\'m trying to convert 4503599627370495 into binary in Excel. DEC2BIN() returns #NUM! error because DEC2BIN cannot handle such a large number.

Any thou

Answer 1

Normally when I need to know the binary of a decimal value, it is always interesting to see the hexadecimal value. The function does not use MOD or HEX() for the big number since Microsoft limited it, so it is done manually for very large numbers.

Bino(Value,Bytes)

Value can be any integer decimal number or a cell contained it, small or superbig. Bytes is optional, standard 2, automatic.

=Bino(A1,4)

The number or bytes and bits presented is automatic based on its value, standard minimum of 2 bytes, but you can pad with extra zero bytes at left, using the optional bytes argument. The example above will show A1 with 4 bytes and 32 bits, even if A1 contains a single numeric digit, or will use more bytes and bits if larger than 4.

=Bino(A1)

Will show A1 with a minimum of 2 bytes and 16 bits, or larger if necessary. For better visualization, binary format has nibbles separated by "-" and bytes by "|"

=Bino(129) = 0x0081 = 0000-0000|1000-0001

=Bino(129,1) = 0x81 = 1000-0001

=Bino(257,1) = 0x0101 = 0000-0001|0000-0001

The function is rigged to insert Error messages into the CELL in case the number is negative or bytes > 10. Can be easily removed or changed.

It helped me while testing VBA simulating lots of math for optimization code for 8 bits microcontrollers (AVR) assembly, creating routines for Sin(x) and Ln(x) with 16 bits precision.

Public Function Bino(ByVal Valo As Double, Optional ByVal Bytes As Long = 2) As String
Dim Conta
Dim Resul as String
Dim Bits
Dim SA As Double
Dim SB As Double
Dim SX As String

If Valo < 0 Then
   Bino = "[Err: Negative]"
   Exit Function
   End If

If Bytes > 4 Then
   Bino = "[Err: Bytes > 10]"
   Exit Function
   End If

ValoHex = ""
SB = Valo
Do While SB > 1
   SA = SB / 16
   ValoHex = Hex(Int(16 * (SA - Int(SA)))) & ValoHex
   SB = SA
Loop

If Len(ValoHex) Mod 2 = 1 Then ValoHex = "0" & ValoHex
Zeroz = Bytes * 2 - Len(ValoHex)
If Zeroz = 2 Then ValoHex = "00" & ValoHex
If Zeroz = 4 Then ValoHex = "0000" & ValoHex
ValoHexLen = Len(ValoHex)
ValoHex = "0x" & ValoHex

If Bytes < ValoHexLen Then Bytes = ValoHexLen / 2
Bits = Bytes * 8 - 1
For Conta = 0 To Bits
    Div = ""
    If Conta And Conta Mod 4 = 0 Then Div = "-"
    If Conta And Conta Mod 8 = 0 Then Div = "|"
    If Int(Valo / 2) = Valo / 2 Then Bitt = 0 Else Bitt = 1
    Resul = Bitt & Div & Resul
    Valo = Int(Valo / 2)
Next Conta

Resul = ValoHex & " = " & Resul
Bino = Resul

End Function