Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Deriving an Absolute Value.

Deriving an Absolute Value

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 25, 2018)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

VBA provides a function to return the absolute value of an expression. For those who might not remember from math class, an absolute value is the positive equivalent of any expression. Thus, if a formula would normally result in a negative value, such as -27, the absolute value of that formula would result in the positive equivalent, or 27.

The syntax for the absolute value function is as follows:

x = Abs(y)

where x is the result and y is a value or an expression that evaluates to a value.

Note:

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WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1898) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Deriving an Absolute Value.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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