INFO()

Syntax. INFO(type_text)

Definition. This function returns information about the operating system and Excel.

Arguments

• type_text (required). A string that specifies the type of information required

Background. Table 11-5 shows the information returned by this function for different type arguments.

Table 11-5. String Arguments and Their Meaning

Argument	Return Value
memused	Memory used by Excel, in bytes.
memavail	Available memory, in bytes.
totmem	Total memory, in bytes, including the used memory.
recalc	Recalculation mode for the current workbook as specified in the Options dialog box: Automatic or Manual (text).
numfile	Number of active worksheets in the open workbooks and loaded add-ins.
system	Name of the operating system (pcdos for Windows and mam for Mac).
osversion	Version of the operating system (the cell content is formatted as text).
origin	Returns the absolute reference of the upper-left cell in the current window based on the current scrolling position. This argument has the prefix $A: (text).
version	The version of Excel as text.
directory	The path of the current directory or folder.

Inside Out: Keep the results updated

The results of this function are not always automatically updated. After you switch into manual mode, you have to press the F9 key to recalculate the result.

The directory argument is more complex. If you open the Open File dialog box, the current directory changes. If you don’t open a file in the dialog box (in other words, if you click Cancel), this change is applied only after the cell is recalculated.

Tip

The storage information refers to Excel and is not related to the information in the Windows Task Manager.

Note

Excel Help in Excel 2007 and earlier versions contains the following safety note:

Use this feature with caution. Sensitive or confidential information could be revealed to other users.

Examples. The following examples show how this function is used.

XML Functionality. Assume that you want to create at note to alert the user that the functionality for XML lists is not available in Excel 2003 or previous versions. You can add a note to a cell (for example, on a cover sheet) by using INFO(version) within an IF() function.

Because the INFO() function returns text, a number comparison might fail. Alphabetically sorted, the string 11.0 is greater than 10.0 but smaller than 9.0! For this reason, the formula is more complex:

=IF(VALUE(REPLACE(INFO("version"),FIND(".",INFO("version"),1),1,","))<11, "Excel is
not XML-enabled.","You can use the XML function.")

The FIND() function returns the position of the period in the version number, and the REPLACE() function replaces the period with a comma. The VALUE() function converts the returned text into a number that is compared with the number 11.

Creating a Link. You can use the INFO() and HYPERLINK() functions to create a link to the current directory:

=HYPERLINK(INFO("directory"))

This works in Windows XP, but in Windows Vista you have to remove the last backslash if B11 contains the information:

=HYPERLINK(LEFT(B11,LEN(B11)-1))

The formula

=HYPERLINK(LEFT(INFO("directory"),LEN(INFO("directory"))-1))

doesn’t work.

See Also

CELL()

Sample Files

Use the Info worksheet in the Information.xls or Information.xlsm sample file. The sample files are found in the Chapter11 folder. For more information about the sample files, see the section titled Using the Sample Files.