DEC2OCT Function (LibreOffice Calc)

• Converts decimal → octal
• Returns a text string
• Supports optional minimum-length padding
• Handles negative numbers using two’s complement
• Useful in engineering, encoding, and legacy systems modeling

DEC2OCT(number; [places])

Arguments

• number:
  Decimal integer between –536,870,912 and 536,870,911.

• places (optional):
  Minimum length of the returned octal string.
  Pads with leading zeros if necessary.

Convert decimal to octal

=DEC2OCT(64)
→ "100"

Convert with padding

=DEC2OCT(64; 6)
→ "000100"

Convert a negative number

=DEC2OCT(-10)
→ "7777777766"   (two’s complement)

Force 8‑character octal output

=REPT("0"; 8-LEN(DEC2OCT(A1))) & DEC2OCT(A1)

Round‑trip validation

=OCT2DEC(DEC2OCT(A1))

Convert decimal → octal → binary

=DEC2BIN(OCT2DEC(DEC2OCT(A1)))

Extract the low octal digit

=RIGHT(DEC2OCT(A1; 3); 1)

Use in bitwise logic (via decimal conversion)

=DEC2OCT(BITAND(A1; 7))

Convert a range of values

=ARRAYFORMULA(DEC2OCT(A1:A10))

DEC2OCT returns text, not a number

Valid input range

• Minimum: –536,870,912
• Maximum: 536,870,911

Negative numbers use two’s complement

Octal output is always unsigned.

Examples:

• –1 → "7777777777"
• –10 → "7777777766"

Behavior details

• If places is too small → Err:502
• If places is omitted → no padding
• If number is out of range → Err:502
• Octal digits range from 0–7 only

• Always specify places when consistent width is required
• Use DEC2OCT for legacy systems, engineering, and encoding workflows
• Use BASE() for arbitrary‑base conversions
• Normalize octal strings before comparison
• Document two’s complement behavior for negative values

• OCT2DEC — octal → decimal
• DEC2BIN / DEC2HEX — other base conversions
• BASE — general base conversion
• BITAND / BITOR / BITXOR — bitwise logic
• TEXT functions — padding and formatting

By mastering DEC2OCT, you can build precise, encoding‑ready engineering models in LibreOffice Calc.