Formatting Date not working

[Chad]

Hi everyone,

One one of our computers the date is not working. Usually when you format a
cell as a date, when you type in a date it will display it as the format.

This one computer keeps the text as text, not a date. I know I am typing
the date in, in a way that it will reconize it, but it is not switching it
over to a date.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Chad

 

[David Biddulph]

Have you looked at Windows Regional Settings (in Control Panel)?
Perhaps it is expecting dd/mm/yyyy and you are giving it mm/dd/yyyy, or vice
versa?

If you've got a lot of text already in there, you may be able to translate
it with Data/ Text to Columns, if you select the relevant date format
appropriate to your input data at the last stage of the wizard.

 

[Chad]

Thanks, but that is not the problem.

If I format the cell to be dd-mmm-yy. I type in a date like Oct. 20, 2008.
On my computer the cell shows 20-Oct-08, and the formula bar (not sure what
it is called) shows 20/10/2008.. On this other computer it shows Oct. 20,
2008 in the cell and in the formula bar.

It's as if excel has forgotten what a date looks like.

Your second part will not work because we are always typing in the date, and
it screws up when it gets entered automatically into the database.

Chad

 

[Chad]

Hi David,

I am sorry, you are correct. The regional settings wanted dd mmmm yyyy for
the long format. I was typing mmm dd yy. I changed the settings to mmmm dd
yyyy and now the text seems to work (somewhat). It is very very picky on
how you type the date, unlike my computer which I can specify almost
anything and it accepts it.

I am guessing it is because they just reinstalled 2000 and I noticed that
they didn't install the service packs. I am going to get that updated
tomorrow and hope that helps.

Thanks for your help and sorry for doubting you.
Chad

 

[David Biddulph]

Thanks for letting us know, and glad to hear that you've found the
explanation.