Date Formatting (*)

J

jbc

Hi,

I have a question about formatting dates with options that have the *. Why
would you use it or not use it? There doesn't seem to be a lot of help for
these options.

Thanks.

jbc
 
D

Dave Peterson

This means that excel will use the windows regional settings for that format.

For me, the first sample in that format|cells|number tab|date category|type box
looks like:

*03/14/2001

I use this as my short date format in Windows regional settings: mm/dd/yyyy
(I like leading 0's and a 4 digit year.)

This setting doesn't mean much until the workbook is shared with others. If you
use m/d/yy (no leading 0's and 2 digit years) for that windows setting and
format a cell using that date format, you'd see:

3/14/01

But when I opened that same workbook on my pc, I'd see: 03/14/2001

This can be a problem if the column isn't wide enough to support all those
characters. I may see ####'s. And if you protect the worksheet or I don't know
how to widen the column, it can become a pain.

But if you never open the workbook on another pc (and never change that windows
setting), it won't mean much to you.
 
J

jbc

Thanks Dave. Now it makes sense!

Dave Peterson said:
This means that excel will use the windows regional settings for that format.

For me, the first sample in that format|cells|number tab|date category|type box
looks like:

*03/14/2001

I use this as my short date format in Windows regional settings: mm/dd/yyyy
(I like leading 0's and a 4 digit year.)

This setting doesn't mean much until the workbook is shared with others. If you
use m/d/yy (no leading 0's and 2 digit years) for that windows setting and
format a cell using that date format, you'd see:

3/14/01

But when I opened that same workbook on my pc, I'd see: 03/14/2001

This can be a problem if the column isn't wide enough to support all those
characters. I may see ####'s. And if you protect the worksheet or I don't know
how to widen the column, it can become a pain.

But if you never open the workbook on another pc (and never change that windows
setting), it won't mean much to you.
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