Take some old bugs out, put some fresh ones in

**Salem** · 09-27-2007, 06:32 AM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/26/excel_2007_bug/
"It was working, honest guv, but we've since improved it."

**CornedBee** · 09-27-2007, 07:57 AM

In the linked MSDN blog post, commenters are falling over each other complaining about IEEE floating point inaccuracies. It's rather funny to watch.

Yarin · 09-28-2007, 12:28 PM

Only MS is this inventive.

Sang-drax · 09-28-2007, 01:23 PM

It's only six numbers out of almost 10^19 that don't work. Good enough, I say.

indigo0086 · 09-28-2007, 01:24 PM

Least they didn't xray anyone to death.

pianorain · 09-28-2007, 03:48 PM

And the bug doesn't affect any formulas; it's just the display. Sure, it's a bug, but a fairly benign one. I just can't imagine how such a bug could pop up unless the display code is unnaturally convoluted.

**CornedBee** · 09-28-2007, 04:09 PM

Which I wouldn't at all put past them. But I'm very puzzled, too.

DavidP · 09-28-2007, 07:10 PM

yeah that seems like a very odd bug to come up unless the person who programmed the code was drunk....I mean....how hard is it to say:

Code:

product = a * b;
output = product;

Rather...they want to say:

Code:

product= a * b;
if ( product== 65535 ) output = 100000;
....etc....

Sang-drax · 09-28-2007, 08:42 PM

The bug has to do with conversion from binary to decimal for printing. If the binary result ends up being very, very close to 65535, but smaller, the conversion will fail. Maybe it has to do with lots of carried 1s?

09-27-2007, 06:32 AM	#1
Salem and the hat of Jobseeking Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: The edge of the known universe Posts: 21,710	Take some old bugs out, put some fresh ones in http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/26/excel_2007_bug/ "It was working, honest guv, but we've since improved it." __________________ If you dance barefoot on the broken glass of undefined behaviour, you've got to expect the occasional cut.
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09-27-2007, 07:57 AM	#2
CornedBee Cat without Hat Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 8,492	In the linked MSDN blog post, commenters are falling over each other complaining about IEEE floating point inaccuracies. It's rather funny to watch. __________________ All the buzzt! CornedBee "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code." - Flon's Law
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09-28-2007, 12:28 PM	#3
Yarin Unregistered User Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 982	Only MS is this inventive. __________________ May the Source be with you.
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09-28-2007, 01:23 PM	#4
Sang-drax and the hat of marbles Join Date: May 2002 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 2,041	It's only six numbers out of almost 10^19 that don't work. Good enough, I say. __________________ Last edited by Sang-drax : Tomorrow at 02:21 AM. Reason: Time travelling
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09-28-2007, 01:24 PM	#5
indigo0086 Ethernal Noob Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 1,891	Least they didn't xray anyone to death.
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09-28-2007, 03:48 PM	#6
pianorain Anti-Poster Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 1,241	And the bug doesn't affect any formulas; it's just the display. Sure, it's a bug, but a fairly benign one. I just can't imagine how such a bug could pop up unless the display code is unnaturally convoluted. __________________ Rule #1: Every rule has exceptions
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09-28-2007, 04:09 PM	#7
CornedBee Cat without Hat Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 8,492	Which I wouldn't at all put past them. But I'm very puzzled, too. __________________ All the buzzt! CornedBee "There is not now, nor has there ever been, nor will there ever be, any programming language in which it is the least bit difficult to write bad code." - Flon's Law
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09-28-2007, 07:10 PM	#8
DavidP l'Anziano Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 2,630	yeah that seems like a very odd bug to come up unless the person who programmed the code was drunk....I mean....how hard is it to say: Code: product = a * b; output = product; Rather...they want to say: Code: product= a * b; if ( product== 65535 ) output = 100000; ....etc.... __________________ My Website "Circular logic is good because it is." Last edited by DavidP; 09-28-2007 at 07:12 PM.
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09-28-2007, 08:42 PM	#9
Sang-drax and the hat of marbles Join Date: May 2002 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 2,041	The bug has to do with conversion from binary to decimal for printing. If the binary result ends up being very, very close to 65535, but smaller, the conversion will fail. Maybe it has to do with lots of carried 1s? __________________ Last edited by Sang-drax : Tomorrow at 02:21 AM. Reason: Time travelling
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