date time problem

[mgm]

I would like to have a date cell that can have an input mask of __/__/__ so
that a user need only enter the numerics of a given date; i.e 052405. I
I tried setting the cell format to custom mm/dd/yy and I get a return date
of 10/1/43 !!!!!???? Why has excel lost the correct date? Regions
global show the correct year range, and Excel is set to 1900 time?
What do I need to do to correct this?

Thanks

 

[JE McGimpsey]

XL's parse engine and display engine are separate - the displayed format
has nothing to do with how the entry is parsed (other than Text entries
are not parsed at all). For a workaround, see

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

 

[mgm]

The cod is setting an input mask just great..thank you so much!
But why am I still getting 1/1/43 displayed for the input of 52405 ?

 

[JE McGimpsey]

XL stores dates as integer offsets from a base date. 52405 days after
12/31/1899 is 6/23/2043 (1/1/43 would be 52232).