Funky Time formatting!

[SalukiTD]

Hello,

I am trying to enter "stopwatch" times from a swim race into a
spreadsheet...I use the custom format of mm:ss.0

So...for example...if I have a time of 01:31.7, it displays correctly,
UNTIL I select the cell then it shows, 12:01:43 AM. This in and of
itself is not bad, but what is problematic, is that I'd like to merge
this info to a Word file and it doesn't merge 01:31.7, but 12:01:43
AM.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get around this one!

HELP!

SalukiTD

 

[Bernie Deitrick]

Saluki,

Excel is simply handling times the way that Excel handles times.

So, anyway, you have some choices:

1) Format the cell for time with decimal seconds
2) Preformat the cells as text
3) Enter the value with a single quote before the time (to keep the time
string a string)
4) Enter it as seconds only - 91.7

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP

 

[Dave Peterson]

Debra Dalgleish posted this:

There's an article on the Microsoft web site that might help you:

Answer Box: Numbers don't merge right in Word
http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/assistance/HA011164951033.aspx

And if you prefer the old Mail Merge helper, Word MVP Suzanne Barnhill
has instructions here:

http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/CustomizingWord2002.htm

about half way down the page.

==========
I often cheat instead of racking my brain.

I'll insert another column (probably hidden!) and use:
=text(a2,"ddmmyy")
or
=text(a2,"mm:ss.0")
(or whatever format I want)
and use that field in the mailmerge.

(Cheating doesn't bother me anymore <vbg>.)

 

[SalukiTD]

Thanks to all who suggested solutions! I ended up having the minutes,
seconds, hundreths as their own columns, then put together in the Word
merge!

Thanks again!

S-TD