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From: boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Excel, Dates, and SYLK
Keywords: Excel, Dates, SYLK
Message-ID: <1990Aug30.211454.12945@world.std.com>
Date: 30 Aug 90 21:14:54 GMT
References: <3626@tellab5.tellabs.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die
Lines: 58

wiseman@Tellabs.COM (Jeff Wiseman) writes:


>OK you spreadsheet hackers. I need to get this straight once and for all!

>I enter a whole bunch of dates in an Excel v2.2a column formated to mm/dd/yy
>(more rows than you want to know!).

>I want to export this whole sheet to SYLK format and import it to another
>spreadsheet, in this case Wingz.

>When I get it to Wingz, the dates are wrong, not because the mm/dd/yy entries
>are wrong but because Excel exported the serial dates based on its default 1904
>base (or whatever) and Wingz don't use that. I can't even convert the current
>Excel sheet because it converts its internal value (the serial date) instead of
>the value I ENTERED (eg. my 5/3/89, etc.).

>NOW...

>What is wrong:

>1) Excel is not exporting correctly to SYLK (ie. writing out its internal cell
>values -- the serial date -- instead of its presented values -- the formatted
>date),

>2) Wingz is not importing correctly from SYLK (ie. it's using the wrong base
>date value),

>3) The SYLK standard is screwy because it doesn't standardize on how dates
>should be handled in the first place.

>4) Something else that I haven't thought of...

>Also, one other question:

>In order to properly export/import these spreadsheets, am I going to have to
>SLYK 'em first and go back to just the Date columns, export the date columns as
>TEXT ONLY (in order to FORCE the mm/dd/yy format) and then import the values
>overtop of the newly imported SYLK files in Wingz?

>Could someone set me straight on this so that I can get rid of Microsoft
>software from my system forever! :-)


>-- 
>Jeff Wiseman:	....uunet!tellab5!wiseman OR wiseman@TELLABS.COM

Starting with ver. 2.2, Excel allows you to choose between its default 1904
date system and the 1900 date system used by Lotus 1-2-3 and WingZ.  The choice
is made via a checkbox in the Calculation dialog under the Options menu.     
                                                                             
Boris Levitin                                                                  
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