On Tuesday 02 January 2007 2:23 pm, Alex Zachopoulos wrote:
> I've formatted a column in a Calc .ods file to contain dates in
> DD/MM/ YYYY format. What happens, unfortunately, is that if I enter
> a date for up to the 12th of any month, Calc formats it as
> MM/DD/YYYY.
>
> Example: I want to enter June 13, 2007, so I type in the cell:
> "13/6/07" or even "13/6". Once I hit Enter, Calc displays
> "13/06/2007" in the cell.
>
> But if I want to enter June 12, 2007, and I type: "12/6/07" or
> "12/6", after I hit Enter, Calc displays "06/12/2007" in the cell.
>
> I also notice that regardless of the date in the cells of that
> particular column, when I select one of them, the date appears as
> MM/ DD/YYYY in the edit bar at the top (is that what you call it?
> the field just above the column headings, to the right of the Σ and
> = icons?) Why is that? How can I ensure that dates will definitely
> enter and display the way I stipulate?
>
> Many thanks.
From the little playing around that I did with your cell format:
DD/MM/YYYY, I think I discovered what is happening and also a work
around.
To get what you want, format the column as you stated:
DD/MM/YYYY. However, when you enter the date in each cell, you need
to enter it in the form of MM/DD/YYYY. Calc will then interchange the
day and month. The date will be displayed as you desire the cells,
and you will be able to do calculations using these dates. In the
"Input line" (your "edit bar") the date will be listed as MM/DD/YYYY.
So, you enter June 12, 2007 (6/12/2007), and you will see 12/6/2007.
Enter June 13, 2007 (6/13/2007), and you get 13/6/2007.
The problem you are having is based upon the locale you are
using. When you format a cell, select the Numbers tab. There are
three columns: Category, Format, and Language. Language determines
the locale, and locale determines how dates are written.
In the US, dates are written as MM/DD/YYYY. So this is what Calc
expects for any dates entered. If I format a cell with Dutch as the
language, dates are written as DD/MM/JJJJ. ( J is the first letter
for the Dutch word for year.) Using English (Australian), dates are
written as DD/MM/YYYY.
So, for what you want to do, you need to change the Language to
one that had the format you want. Then when you enter June 12, 2007,
both the cell and the Input line will contain 12/6/2007.
Hope this helps.
Dan
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