Cell Format

[Andrew]

I have come across a weird situation. I am running Excel 2000 and I have
come across this problem on both the XP and 98SE platforms. When I open a
spreadsheet report with several columns of data (sales, units, item numbers,
item category, etc...) one particular dataset an item category number set
comes in as General (in terms of Properties) and the number is aligned on
the left side of the cell. If I write a formula (ie vlookup) that
references this cell I get an N/A. If I overtype the number (a five digit
number beginning with 0, but only the last 4 digits are visible in the cell)
the properties stays on General but the number now aligns to the right, and
whatever formula references it can read it. The Format Painter does not
work nor does copy and paste. A friend of mine opened the same report using
Excel XP and the specific number opened formated as a number and aligned on
the right side.

Has anyone ever heard of such an issue? and if so any comments would be
appreciated.

Andrew

 

[Frank Kabel]

Hi
try formating the cell as 'Text' prior to importing values

 

[Andy B]

Hi

Maybe whoever created the sheet wanted the leading 0 to be displayed and
entered the 'number' with an apostrophe first ie '01234 This tells Excel
that the cell contains text, regardless of what's in it.
To force the data to become real numbers, copy a blank, unused cell. Select
the range you want to change and then Edit / Paste Special . . Add