Error values #VALUE!, #NAME? and the rest — gull system handbook

Fixing rule errors in gull system: #NAME?, #VALUE!, #NUM!, #REF!, #NA!, #CIRCULAR!, syntax errors, the decimal comma, a missing bracket, AND and OR without brackets.

Error values #VALUE!, #NAME? and the rest

A red editor and an error value say where a rule failed. Each has one usual cause.

Error values

• Value: `#NAME?` - Usual cause: a typo in an input or function name; a name with a space without brackets; an input that is not in step 2 - Fix: insert the name with the Inputs button so it is written correctly; `[Bed length]` in brackets
• Value: `#VALUE!` - Usual cause: text in arithmetic (`"12 mm" * 2`), a wrong argument count, a lookup value not in the table - Fix: an input without a unit; `IFERROR(VLOOKUP(…), "")`; check the signature in the hint
• Value: `#NUM!` - Usual cause: division by zero, square root of a negative - Fix: guard it: `IF([Count] = 0, 0, [Length] / [Count])`
• Value: `#REF!` - Usual cause: a column or row index outside the table - Fix: row 1 is the first data row; columns from 1
• Value: `#NA!` - Usual cause: `LISTFINDITEM` did not find the item - Fix: it compares regardless of case but exactly — check spaces
• Value: `#CIRCULAR!` - Usual cause: a variable reads itself through another variable - Fix: the app prints the cycle; break it

Syntax errors (the editor turns red)

• Message: "Unterminated text" - Cause: the closing quote is missing; a quote inside text is written twice `""`
• Message: "Unterminated bracketed name" - Cause: a `]` is missing
• Message: "Missing closing bracket" - Cause: the number of `(` and `)` does not match
• Message: "AND and OR cannot be mixed without brackets" - Cause: `a AND b OR c` — write `(a AND b) OR c`
• Message: "Unexpected text in the formula" - Cause: most often a decimal comma: `1,5` is two arguments; write `1.5`

How to find the error

1. In the editor open Evaluation → Steps. Every intermediate step shows its value, and the first one where the error appears is the culprit.
2. Evaluation → Values shows what every name currently holds — and "no default value" on an input that lacks one.
3. Split a long formula: select a part, Extract variable (Ctrl+E), and test the variables separately.

A rule with an error value fails on an order and the order's status is Failed. A rule returning empty passes — which is why `IFERROR(…, "")` turns an error into "change nothing".