Microsoft KB Archive/193330

XL98: Readme for Microsoft Excel 98 Date Fix Wizard

PSS ID Number: Q193330 Article last modified on 10-06-1998

MACINTOSH:98

MACINTOSH

================================================================ ==

The information in this article applies to:

 == Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition == 

= SUMMARY =

This article contains the text of the Date Fix Readme file that is included with the Microsoft Date Fix Wizard for Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition.

For more information about the Date Fix Wizard, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q193344 TITLE : XL98: Year 2000 Wizards for Microsoft Excel

= MORE INFORMATION =

--           MICROSOFT EXCEL 98 DATE FIX WIZARD September 1998 --             (c) Microsoft Corporation, 1998 Excel 98 allows you to enter dates using two digits for the year. When you enter a year using two digits, Excel 98 always assumes the century based on the digits you type: if you enter 00-29, Excel 98 assumes the years 2000 through 2029; if you enter 30-99, Excel 98 assumes the years 1930 through 1999. For example, when you enter the date 1/1/25, the date is displayed as 1/1/25 and stored as January 1, 2025. However, because the date only shows two digits for the year, it might be interpreted by users as January 1, 1925. You can use the Date Fix Wizard to quickly and easily change the date format or modify the century that dates fall within.

This wizard has three functions:


 * 1) To change all date formats that appear as 2-digit years to 4-digit years.
 * 2) To modify serial number dates so that they fall within a specific century.
 * 3) To create a report of saved workbooks that contain dates.

NOTE: While you can enter a text date in formulas and functions – that is, a date that has been entered within quotation marks (&quot; &quot;) – the Date Fix Wizard will not change these dates.

For more information about how Excel works with dates, see the Excel Help topics:

How Microsoft Excel performs date and time calculations

Tips on entering dates and times For more information about converting text-formatted dates to numeric- formatted dates, see the Excel Help topic:

Troubleshoot formatting numbers, dates, and times and then click:

Numbers aren't displayed or calculated as numeric values.

The best person to run the wizard and determine if dates within the workbooks are correct is the author of the worksheets or workbooks.

After you download the Date Fix Wizard from the Microsoft Software Library, you must copy the wizard to the proper folder and then load the wizard before you can run it.

To load the wizard

 * 1) Copy “Date Fix Wizard” to the “Microsoft Office 98:Office:Excel Add-ins” folder.
 * 2) Start Excel.
 * 3) On the Tools menu, click Add-Ins.
 * 4) Select the Date Fix Wizard check box.

To run the wizard
NOTE: For performance reasons, do not switch to another program while the Date Fix Wizard is running. You must leave Excel running in the foreground until the wizard is finished.

  On the Tools menu, point to Date Migration, and then click Date Fix Wizard.   In step 2 of the wizard, do one of the following:   Click “Modify date values in a selected workbook” to modify the century the dates fall within.   Click “Modify date formats in a selected workbook” to change dates that are formatted to display as 2-digit years to 4- digit years.   Click “Scan for dates in a selected folder” to create a report of all workbooks in a folder that contain dates, including the range of dates within each workbook.  </li>  In step 3 of the wizard, do one of the following:   If you selected “Modify date values in a selected workbook” or “Modify date formats in a selected workbook,” select the workbook you want to process, and then select either “Process entire workbook” or “Process only the selected range” to process a range of cells. </li>  If you selected “Scan dates in a selected folder,” select the folder you want to scan. To include any subfolders, select the “Include subfolders” check box. </li></ul> </li>  In step 4 of the wizard, do one of the following:   If you selected “Scan for dates in a selected folder,” click Finish to create a report. The length of time it takes to create a detailed report varies depending on the size of the folder. </li>  If you selected “Modify date formats in a selected workbook,” click Finish to convert the date formats to 4-digit years. When finished, the Date Fix Wizard creates a report that lists all changed cells and the changes to the formats in the cells. </li>  If you selected “Modify date values in a selected workbook,” do one of the following:   Click “Make all dates fall in the 20th century” to convert any dates in the 21st century to the 20th century. </li>  Click “Make all dates fall in the 21st century” to convert any dates in the 20th century to the 21st century. </li>  Click “Specify a cutoff year,” and then enter a 2-digit value for the year. If the last two digits of the year are equal to or greater than the cutoff year value, the year will fall in the 20th century. If the last two digits of the year are less then the cutoff value, the date will fall in the 21st century. </li></ul> </li></ul>

When finished, the Date Fix Wizard creates a report that lists all changed cells and the changes to the date values in the cells. </li></ol>

NOTE: While the Date Fix Wizard, Date Scan Wizard and Date Watch are helpful for year 2000 auditing, running these tools does not guarantee year 2000 compliance. See http://www.microsoft.com/y2k for more year 2000 auditing information.

= Additional query words: XL98 =

Keywords : kbfile kbdta kb2000 xladdins Version : MACINTOSH:98 Platform : MACINTOSH Issue type : kbinfo ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1998.