1. User's Guide
  2. General Operations
  3. Entering Percentage Values in Forms and Ad Hoc Grids

Entering Percentage Values in Forms and Ad Hoc Grids

In forms and ad hoc grids, note the best practices outlined in this topic when entering values in cells defined as percentages.

  • When entering a percentage value directly into a cell, enter the percent sign along with the percentage value. For example, to express "twenty percent" numerically, in the form or grid cell, enter

    20%

    Be sure to include the % sign, as follows:


    Shows that when a percentage is typed directly into a cell, the percent sign is also typed. The example shows 20% typed into the cell, and the formula bar in Excel also shows 20%

  • When entering a percentage value into the formula bar, enter the decimal point and the value, without the percent sign. For example, to express "twenty percent" numerically, in the formula bar, enter

    .20


    Shows that when a percentage is typed into the formula bar, a decimal point is also typed. The example shows .20 typed into the formula bar, and the cell also shows .20. After pressing Enter, the cell will change to 20%, with the percent sign.

In either of the above cases, after pressing Enter, 20% is displayed in a dirty cell. This changed cell value can be submitted.


Shows 20% in the cell, and the changed cell marked as dirty, a darker shade of yellow

You can use the Decimal Places option in the Options dialog, Formatting tab, for a more granular display of percentages. For example, in the grid below, the values in row 3 show 1%, but in the formula bar, we see the actual value of cell B3 is 0.5%.


Shows 1% in cell B3, but 0.5% in the formula bar.

In the Options dialog, Formatting tab, change the Decimal Places option to 2, and refresh the grid. This has the effect of adding two decimal places to all values in the grid. This change may be helpful for viewing the fractional percentage values, but may not help with reading and interpreting the grid overall:


After changing the Decimal Places setting to 2 (Options dialog, Formatting tab), we see 0.50% in cell B3, and 0.5% in the formula bar.

Follow these best practices when entering fractional percentages:

  • To enter a half percent numerically, in the form or grid cell, enter .5%

  • To enter a half percent numerically in the formula bar, enter .005

In general, Oracle Smart View for Office mimics standard Excel behaviors in handling percentages. Read more about Excel and percentages in the Microsoft documentation here.