East Asian Full-Width Formula Input

SpreadJS supports formula input with East Asian full-width characters. When users enter or paste formulas that contain supported full-width formula characters, SpreadJS normalizes them to the corresponding half-width formula characters where applicable.

This behavior helps users enter formulas with Japanese or Chinese input methods while preserving valid SpreadJS formula syntax.

For example:

Supported Input Scenarios

Formula character normalization applies to user input scenarios, including:

• Formula input in cells

• Formula input by copy and paste

• Formula input in the FormulaTextBox

• Formula input in Designer conditional formatting rules

• Formula input in Designer data validation rules

• Formula input in Designer range selectors

Formula input can also start with full-width ＝, ＋, or － where formula entry is supported.

Normalized Formula Characters

SpreadJS normalizes common full-width formula characters to their half-width equivalents.

The following examples show typical conversions:

SpreadJS also normalizes full-width letters and numbers when they are used in supported formula syntax, such as cell references and built-in function names.

For example:

Some East Asian punctuation characters that are commonly used as quotes, periods, brackets, or comparison symbols are also normalized where applicable. For example, smart quotes such as “ ” can be normalized to formula double quotes.

Function Names

Built-in function names entered with full-width letters are normalized to half-width letters.

For example:

=ＳＵＭ(A1)

is saved as:

=SUM(A1)

For custom functions, the behavior depends on how the custom function is defined:

• If a half-width custom function is registered globally, full-width input can be normalized to match it.

• Custom functions with full-width names retain their original names and are not converted.

Cell References and Ranges

Cell references can be normalized when users enter formulas with full-width letters or numbers.

For example:

Range-related formula characters can also be normalized.

For example:

Custom Names and Structured References

Custom names are not normalized automatically. If a workbook contains a custom name, users should enter the exact custom name or select it from the autocomplete list.

For example, if a custom name is defined with full-width characters, SpreadJS preserves the full-width name.

Structured references also require exact table and column names. SpreadJS does not normalize table names or column names inside structured references.

For example, if the table name is SalesTable, the following formula does not match the table name:

=SUM(ＳａｌｅｓＴａｂｌｅ[Amount])

Use the exact table name instead:

=SUM(SalesTable[Amount])

Similarly, if the column name is Amount, the following formula does not match the column name:

=SUM(SalesTable[Ａｍｏｕｎｔ])

Use the exact column name instead:

=SUM(SalesTable[Amount])

Full-width structured reference symbols, such as brackets and structured-reference operators, can be normalized where applicable.

For example:

=SUM(SalesTable［Amount］)

is treated as:

=SUM(SalesTable[Amount])

Strings and Wildcards

Formula character normalization does not change full-width characters inside string values.

For example:

=＂（）＂

is saved as:

="（）"

The formula result is:

（）

Full-width wildcard characters are treated as normal characters, not as wildcard operators.

For example:

=COUNTIF(A1:A10,"a？c")

matches the literal text a？c. It does not match values such as abc or axc.

Use half-width wildcard characters when wildcard behavior is required.

API and File Behavior

Formula character normalization applies to user input. It does not change formulas when they are read from a file, and it does not automatically normalize formulas set through APIs.

For example:

sheet.setFormula(0, 0, "=Ａ１");

In this case, the full-width input is preserved. Ａ１ is treated according to the normal formula parsing rules, such as a custom name if applicable.

If you need normalized formula text when setting formulas through APIs, normalize the formula string before calling the API.

Limitations

• Formula character normalization applies to user input scenarios only.

• Formula character normalization does not apply to formulas set through APIs.

• Formula character normalization does not change formulas when reading from files.

• Full-width characters inside string values are preserved.

• Custom names, table names, and structured-reference column names require exact matching.

• Full-width wildcard characters are treated as literal characters.

• TableSheet column formulas are not supported by this normalization behavior.