date formatting in excel

[Guest]

I am trying to set up my date formatting so that I do not have to type in the
forward slashes when I input the date. I would like to be able to just type
in the date numbers: 083007

and have it automatically convert to: 08/30/07 when entered.

any tips?

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

Not possible without VBA (macro)


http://www.cpearson.com/excel/DateTimeEntry.htm

 

[Ron de Bruin]

See also
http://www.rondebruin.nl/qde.htm

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your response. I'm not sure what VBA is, but I did figure it out.
I highlighted the cells to format, clicked on format and then custom. Once
in custom, I typed 00\/00\/0000. This allowed me to type in the numbers only
and have the slashes automatically input like this: 08/30/2007. This can
also be done with telephone numbers and social security numbers. This is a
great option for me. Have a great week!

Kwood525

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

If the dates are just for display you can do that but Excel will never see
that as a date. So if you want to compare it with a real excel date entered
like 08/30/2007 it will not match or if you want to do calculations like sum
another column based on dates it won't work. Same goes for sorting if you
for instance enter 12312000 you would expect it to sort above 08302007 in
ascending order since 12/31/2000 is earlier than 08/30/2007 but since Excel
sees it as a number and not a date it will not since the number
12,312,000.00 is greater than the number 8,302,007.00

If I were you I would use the macro solution and get real dates



--
Regards,

Peo Sjoblom

 

[Guest]

Hey, thanks for the heads up! I'm glad you told me before it was too late.
I'll use the macro.