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Complex numbers are real and imaginary coefficients which combine to form a
complex number. They are in the form of x+yi or x+yj where x is the real
coefficient and y is the imaginary coefficient. Complex numbers always
carry a suffix of the letter i or j.
The function in this article takes three arguments: the number to be
formatted, a format code for the real component, and a format code for the
imaginary component. For example, the function
=FormatComplex(A1,"0.00","0.0000")
would display the complex number in cell A1 with two decimal places for the
real component and four decimal places for the imaginary component.
You can also use multisection formats to format positive, negative, and
zero components differently. For example, the function
=FormatComplex(A1,"0.00;-0.00;0","0.0000;-0.0000;0")
would have the same result as the earlier example, but with zero components
displaying as "0" rather than including extra zeroes to the right of the
decimal point. If you use a multisection format, the formats for negative
numbers must begin with a "-" (minus sign) as in the example.
Sample Visual Basic Procedure
Option Explicit
Function FormatComplex(NumToFormat As String, RealFormatCode As _
String, ImagFormatCode As String)
Dim PlusOrMinus As String
Dim CharPosition As Integer
' Is NumToFormat real?
If Right(NumToFormat, 1) <> "i" Then
' NumToFormat is real.
FormatComplex = Format(NumToFormat, RealFormatCode)
Else
' NumToFormat is either imaginary or complex.
' Search NumToFormat from right until + or - or left end is
' reached.
PlusOrMinus = "not found"
For CharPosition = Len(NumToFormat) - 1 To 1 Step -1
PlusOrMinus = Mid(NumToFormat, CharPosition, 1)
If PlusOrMinus = "+" Or PlusOrMinus = "-" Then Exit For
Next
' Is NumToFormat complex or imaginary?
If (PlusOrMinus = "+" Or PlusOrMinus = "-") And _
CharPosition <> 1 Then
' NumToFormat is complex.
' Is imaginary component negative?
If Mid(NumToFormat, CharPosition, _
Len(NumToFormat) - CharPosition) < 0 Then
' Imaginary component is negative, so "-" does not need
' to be added.
FormatComplex = Format(Left(NumToFormat, _
CharPosition - 1), RealFormatCode) & _
Format(Mid(NumToFormat, CharPosition, _
Len(NumToFormat) - CharPosition), _
ImagFormatCode) & "i"
Else
' Imaginary component is not negative, so "+" needs to
' be added.
FormatComplex = Format(Left(NumToFormat, _
CharPosition - 1), RealFormatCode) & "+" & _
Format(Mid(NumToFormat, CharPosition, _
Len(NumToFormat) - CharPosition), _
ImagFormatCode) & "i"
End If
Else
' NumToFormat is imaginary.
FormatComplex = Format(Left(NumToFormat, _
Len(NumToFormat) - 1), ImagFormatCode) & "i"
End If
End If
End Function