{ "category": "Information functions", "display_name": "ISERROR", "entry_kind": "built_in_function", "eval_api": { "method": "POST", "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/eval" }, "function_id": "FUNC.ISERROR", "implementation_state": { "answer_bank": { "excel_builds": [ "20430" ], "larger_numeric": 0, "last_bit": 0, "matched": 1227, "other_mismatch": 0, "refused": 0, "rows": 1227, "unread": 0, "worst_ulp": 0 }, "detail": "Recorded: 1,227 in the answer bank and 22 workbook cells.", "dnacalc_commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87", "in_catalogue": true, "state": "matches", "state_label": "Matches every recorded Excel answer", "summary": "Matches all 1,249 recorded answers", "workbook_corpus": { "cells": 23, "matched": 22, "pending": 1 } }, "implementations": [ { "commit": "9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87", "flavour": "excel-compatibility-candidate", "language": "Rust", "name": "CalcFunc", "own_code": [ "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/information.rs#L94-L94", "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/information.rs#L180-L188" ], "repository": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc", "shared_code": [ "catalogue/aggregate::reader", "catalogue/aggregate::read_reference", "catalogue/information::unary", "catalogue/information::scalar", "catalogue/information::known", "catalogue/information::predicate", "catalogue/information::each", "catalogue/information::n", "catalogue/information::n_of", "catalogue/information::referenced" ], "source": "https://github.com/DnaCalc/DnaCalc/blob/9e1884369a678158dd82d3d74188daf986995e87/crates/calc-func/src/catalogue/information.rs#L94-L94", "state": "matches", "suite": null, "summary": "Matches all 1,249 recorded answers" } ], "json_url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/api/functions/FUNC.ISERROR.json", "name": "ISERROR", "notes": [], "schema": "efh.function-reference/v1", "section_order": [ "what-it-does", "try-it", "quirks", "how-to-implement", "version-differences", "alternatives" ], "sections": { "alternatives": "\n### Relationships\n\n\nThis is the classic Excel trap, and it is worth stating in one line before anything else:\n\n> `ISERROR` is `TRUE` for `#N/A`. `ISERR` is `FALSE` for `#N/A`. `ISNA` is `TRUE` only for\n> `#N/A`.\n\nWhich means, over the `Error` kind, `ISERROR = ISERR OR ISNA`, and the three functions partition\nthe error space into exactly the two halves that matter in practice: *the lookup found nothing*\n(`#N/A`) versus *the formula is broken* (everything else).\n\n- **`ISERR`** — use it when a missing lookup is a legitimate outcome you want to let through\n while still catching genuine faults. Using `ISERROR` there silently swallows the \"not found\"\n signal, and that is how bad numbers get published.\n- **`ISNA`** — the narrow test; the complement of `ISERR` within the error kind.\n- **`IFERROR(x, y)`** supersedes the `IF(ISERROR(x), y, x)` idiom, evaluates `x` once, and is\n the modern form. `IFNA(x, y)` is the `#N/A`-only counterpart, paired with `ISNA` the way\n `IFERROR` is paired with `ISERROR`.\n- **`ERROR.TYPE`** answers *which* error rather than *whether*; it returns a code 1–8 for an\n error input and `#N/A` for anything else.\n- **`AGGREGATE`** with the appropriate option skips errors during a scan instead of testing\n them — the other declared way to mask errors named in\n [coercion and lifting](../model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md).\n\n\n", "how-to-implement": "\n### Notes for implementers\n\n\n1. **Do not implement `ISERROR` as a list membership test against the seven legacy codes.** A\n list will silently return `FALSE` for `#SPILL!` and `#CALC!` on a modern build. Test the\n kind. Then record, separately and honestly, whether Excel agrees — that is a measurement, not\n a design decision.\n2. **The error must reach the kernel.** Any layer that short-circuits on an error input before\n dispatch will make `ISERROR` return the error instead of `TRUE`. The propagation exception\n has to be declared at the function, not hoped for.\n3. **`ISERROR` and `ISNA` classify arrays elementwise while some sibling predicates route\n through a generic lift path.** They reach the same shape, but the two routes are not the same\n code, so an array-shape divergence would show up in one and not the other. Test both.\n4. **Do not confuse the C-API error enumeration with the worksheet code set.** The extended\n family does not map one-to-one onto the legacy enumerations, and whether a code survives a\n boundary crossing is a per-code, per-version fact.\n\n\n", "quirks": "\n### Result and edge cases\n\n\nReturns a `Logical`, or an array of `Logical` when the argument is an array.\n\n- **Errors do not propagate through this function.** `ISERROR` is one of the declared\n per-family exceptions to the propagation discipline in\n [coercion and lifting](../model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md): the error is the subject of the\n test, not a failure to forward. An error input yields `TRUE`, never the error itself.\n- **Empty cells are `FALSE`.** `Empty` is not an error kind.\n- **Text, numbers, logicals, references** are all `FALSE`.\n\n\n\n### Errors\n\nMicrosoft's IS-functions page documents no error return for `ISERROR`.\n\n\n", "sources": "- Microsoft, \"IS functions\" —\n .\n Read for this page: the `ISERROR` row naming the seven legacy codes, the `ISERR` row, and the\n remark that IS-function arguments are not converted.\n- Handbook, [coercion and lifting](../model/02-coercion-and-lifting.md) — error propagation as\n engine law and the declared per-family exceptions, `ISERROR` among them.\n\n\n", "version-differences": "The recorded environments below distinguish a reading from a same-input comparison. Counts describe captured inputs in each environment; overlapping captures and comparisons are not totals of unique worksheet calls.\n\n| Excel 16.0 build | Platform and CPU | Captured inputs |\n|---|---|---:|\n| 20430 | Windows, 64-bit, CPU not recorded | 1,227 |\n\nThe record contains no same-input comparison between these environments. Reading different inputs on different builds does not establish either a version change or cross-build agreement.\n\n[Recorded environments and comparison details](https://github.com/DnaCalc/ExcelFunctionsHandbook/blob/5dc75391aa5125ccc5abdb095da85950980d6fd8/content/evidence/environments/FUNC.ISERROR.json).", "what-it-does": "\n`ISERROR(value)` returns `TRUE` when the value it receives has kind `Error`, and `FALSE` for\nevery other kind.\n\nThe Handbook states the rule as membership in the `Error` kind rather than membership in that\nlist of seven, because Excel's modern extended codes (`#SPILL!`, `#CALC!`, `#FIELD!`,\n`#BLOCKED!`, `#CONNECT!`, `#BUSY!`, `#GETTING_DATA`) exist on the worksheet and did not exist\nwhen that documentation sentence was written. **Which of the extended codes `ISERROR` answers\n`TRUE` for is not established here.** The kind-membership reading predicts `TRUE` for all of\nthem; the documentation's enumeration predicts nothing about them either way. That gap is real\nand is listed below rather than papered over.\n\nThe one thing that is definite and is the reason both this function and `ISERR` exist:\n**`ISERROR` includes `#N/A`.** `ISERR` excludes it. See \"Relationships\".\n\n\n\n### Arguments\n\n\n`value` — required, exactly one.\n\nNot converted. Microsoft's IS-functions remark applies: \"The value arguments of the IS\nfunctions are not converted.\" Text that reads as a number stays `Text`, and text that reads as\nan error name — the literal string `\"#N/A\"` typed into a cell as text — stays `Text` and is\ntherefore `FALSE`. An error *value* and the text that spells an error are different kinds, and\n`ISERROR` separates them.\n\n" }, "signature": { "display": "ISERROR(value)", "parameters": [ { "description": null, "name": "value", "optional": false, "repeats": false } ], "trailing_repeats": false }, "sources": { "metadata": { "admission": { "label": "implemented", "reason": null }, "arity": { "max": 1, "min": 1 }, "category": "Information functions", "classification": { "arg_preparation_profile": "ValuesOnlyPreAdapter", "coercion_lift_profile": "None", "determinism_class": "Deterministic", "error_collapse_profile": "None", "fec_dependency_profile": "None", "host_interaction_class": "None", "kernel_signature_class": "Custom", "rich_value_usage": "RichBlind", "surface_fec_dependency_profile": "RefOnly", "thread_safety_class": "SafePure", "volatility_class": "NonVolatile" }, "descriptions": { "long": null, "short": "TRUE for any error value", "short_source": "dna-calc-own" }, "docs": { "english_description": "Returns TRUE if the value is any error value", "microsoft_url": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/is-functions-0f2d7971-6019-40a0-a171-f2d869135665" }, "entry_kind": "built_in_function", "localized_family_names": [ { "locale": "ar-SA", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "bg-BG", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "cs-CZ", "names": [ "ISODD", "JE.CHYBA", "JE.CHYBHODN", "JE.ČISLO", "JE.LOGHODN", "JE.NEDEF", "JE.NETEXT", "JE.ODKAZ", "JE.PRÁZDNÉ", "JE.TEXT" ] }, { "locale": "da-DK", "names": [ "ER.FEJL", "ER.FJL", "ER.IKKE.TEKST", "ER.IKKE.TILGÆNGELIG", "ER.LOGISK", "ER.REFERENCE", "ER.TAL", "ER.TEKST", "ER.TOM", "ER.ULIGE" ] }, { "locale": "de-DE", "names": [ "ISODD", "ISTBEZUG", "ISTFEHL", "ISTFEHLER", "ISTKTEXT", "ISTLEER", "ISTLOG", "ISTNV", "ISTTEXT", "ISTZAHL" ] }, { "locale": "el-GR", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "en-AU", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "en-GB", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "en-US", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "es-ES", "names": [ "ES.IMPAR", "ESBLANCO", "ESERR", "ESERROR", "ESLOGICO", "ESNOD", "ESNOTEXTO", "ESNUMERO", "ESREF", "ESTEXTO" ] }, { "locale": "et-EE", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "fi-FI", "names": [ "ONEI_TEKSTI", "ONLUKU", "ONPARITON", "ONPUUTTUU", "ONTEKSTI", "ONTOTUUS", "ONTYHJÄ", "ONVIITT", "ONVIRH", "ONVIRHE" ] }, { "locale": "fr-FR", "names": [ "EST.IMPAIR", "ESTERR", "ESTERREUR", "ESTLOGIQUE", "ESTNA", "ESTNONTEXTE", "ESTNUM", "ESTREF", "ESTTEXTE", "ESTVIDE" ] }, { "locale": "he-IL", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "hr-HR", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "hu-HU", "names": [ "HIBA.E", "HIBÁS", "HIVATKOZÁS", "LOGIKAI", "NEM.SZÖVEG", "NINCS", "PÁRATLANE", "SZÁM", "SZÖVEG.E", "ÜRES" ] }, { "locale": "id-ID", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "it-IT", "names": [ "ISODD", "VAL.ERR", "VAL.ERRORE", "VAL.LOGICO", "VAL.NON.DISP", "VAL.NON.TESTO", "VAL.NUMERO", "VAL.RIF", "VAL.TESTO", "VAL.VUOTO" ] }, { "locale": "ja-JP", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "ko-KR", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "lt-LT", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "lv-LV", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "nb-NO", "names": [ "ERF", "ERFEIL", "ERIKKETEKST", "ERIT", "ERLOGISK", "ERREF", "ERTALL", "ERTEKST", "ERTOM", "ISODD" ] }, { "locale": "nl-NL", "names": [ "IS.ONEVEN", "ISFOUT", "ISFOUT2", "ISGEENTEKST", "ISGETAL", "ISLEEG", "ISLOGISCH", "ISNB", "ISTEKST", "ISVERWIJZING" ] }, { "locale": "pl-PL", "names": [ "CZY.ADR", "CZY.BŁ", "CZY.BŁĄD", "CZY.BRAK", "CZY.LICZBA", "CZY.LOGICZNA", "CZY.NIE.TEKST", "CZY.NIEPARZYSTE", "CZY.PUSTA", "CZY.TEKST" ] }, { "locale": "pt-BR", "names": [ "É.NÃO.DISP", "É.NÃO.TEXTO", "ÉCÉL.VAZIA", "ÉERRO", "ÉERROS", "ÉLÓGICO", "ÉNÚMERO", "ÉREF", "ÉTEXTO", "ISODD" ] }, { "locale": "pt-PT", "names": [ "É.CÉL.VAZIA", "É.ERRO", "É.ERROS", "É.LÓGICO", "É.NÃO.DISP", "É.NÃO.TEXTO", "É.NÚM", "É.REF", "É.TEXTO", "ÉÍMPAR" ] }, { "locale": "ro-RO", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "ru-RU", "names": [ "ЕЛОГИЧ", "ЕНД", "ЕНЕТЕКСТ", "ЕНЕЧЁТ", "ЕОШ", "ЕОШИБКА", "ЕПУСТО", "ЕССЫЛКА", "ЕТЕКСТ", "ЕЧИСЛО" ] }, { "locale": "sk-SK", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "sl-SI", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "sr-Latn-RS", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "sv-SE", "names": [ "ÄREJTEXT", "ÄRF", "ÄRFEL", "ÄRLOGISK", "ÄRSAKNAD", "ÄRTAL", "ÄRTEXT", "ÄRTOM", "ÄRTOM", "ÄRUDDA" ] }, { "locale": "th-TH", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "tr-TR", "names": [ "EBOŞSA", "EHATA", "EHATALIYSA", "EMANTIKSALSA", "EMETİNDEĞİLSE", "EMETİNSE", "EREFSE", "ESAYIYSA", "EYOKSA", "TEKMİ işlevi" ] }, { "locale": "uk-UA", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "vi-VN", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "zh-CN", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "zh-HK", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] }, { "locale": "zh-TW", "names": [ "ISBLANK", "ISERR", "ISERROR", "ISLOGICAL", "ISNA", "ISNONTEXT", "ISNUMBER", "ISODD", "ISREF", "ISTEXT" ] } ], "localized_names": [], "signature": { "display": "ISERROR(value)", "parameters": [ { "description": null, "name": "value", "optional": false, "repeats": false } ], "trailing_repeats": false }, "surface_name": "ISERROR", "version_marker": null, "xlcall": { "code": "3", "symbol": "xlfIserror" } }, "microsoft": "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/is-functions-0f2d7971-6019-40a0-a171-f2d869135665" }, "try_it": { "formula": "=ISERROR(1)" }, "url": "https://handbook.dnacalc.com/functions/ISERROR.html", "variants": [], "versions": [ { "behaviour": "1,227 captured inputs are indexed for this environment. Capture dates: 2026-09-29 to 2026-09-29. This is a reading count, not a comparison with another build.", "excel_build": "16.0 build 20430", "platform": "Windows, 64-bit, CPU not recorded", "sources": [ "https://github.com/DnaCalc/ExcelFunctionsHandbook/blob/5dc75391aa5125ccc5abdb095da85950980d6fd8/content/evidence/environments/FUNC.ISERROR.json" ] } ] }