Neil wrote...
Under the NUMBER option I should be able to choose which base I want to use:
HEX, OCT and BIN.
Such cells should sort as numbers not text.
If many "IT professionals" misuse Excel as a programming and/or system
administration tool, that's their problem (and their companies' and
their fellow employees').
Excel is *NOT* a tool for programmers. Excel is not a tool for system
administration. To the extent it can read and write text files and is
more capable than Notepad, it's too commonly misused.
Excel is also commonly misused by people trying to use it for
statistical analysis, engineering, genetic research, and a whole host
of other fields outside financial analysis, it's intended use. Excel is
*NOT* a general purpose calculation tool.
If you want this functionality in a spreadsheet, there are several open
source ones you could attempt to modify to suit your needs. Microsoft
is unlikely to provide this functionality any time soon (i.e., before
the end of your working life).
