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Archiver > SOUTH-AFRICA > 2004-06 > 1086272056


From: "Jack WRIGHT" <>
Subject: RE: Sorting by date order in MSWord and Excel
Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2004 16:14:16 +0200


Older Microsoft Excel works on the 1900 (Apple / Mac on 1904) date
system - whereby the year 1900 is set to value 1 (try entering
"@DATE(1)" into a cell - it should return the year 1900). The problem
is that it does not know how to manage dates prior to this base year.

Two options exist:

Option 1 (For XP) : Change all dates to 4-digit year format - use
Control Panel / Regional & Language options and set Regional Preference
to English UK. Then select "Customise" and change the Short date format
to yyyy/MM/dd. This should now allow you to sort correctly - if you are
using Windows XP.

Option 2 is for non-XP versions: Change your date format to yyyy-MM-dd
(use right click / format cells / date) and then copy these dates and
paste them back into the spreadsheet using "Paste Special" - pasting
them as VALUES. You can then use the SORT feature against these
data.

Jack WRIGHT

-----Original Message-----
From: Eileen & Marty Russell [mailto:]
Sent: 03 June 2004 15:43
To:
Subject: Sorting by date order in MSWord and Excel

Hi
I am trying to put some lists in date order and I can't get either Word
or Excel to do it properly, there is probably a trick but I can't find
any clues in the Help facility or in the book I've got.

Here's what happens, if I type the dates in the style 6 Oct 49 or
10/5/56 it works fine. As soon as I put the year in full e.g. 6 Oct
1849 or 10/5/1856 it doesn't work any more. This, of course, is
totally useless for my needs as I must have the century. Can any one
help me?

Many thanks
Eileen
Richards Bay


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