Microsoft KB Archive/92371

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Excel: Dates Entered into Lotus Files Appear as Serial Numbers

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel for Windows, version 4.0
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 4.0

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SUMMARY
In Excel, when you open a Lotus 1-2-3 Release 1 (WKS), Release 2.x (WK1), Release 3.x (WK3), or Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows (WK3) file, any date values you enter are displayed as serial numbers.

When you open a Lotus 1-2-3 file in Excel 4.0, a serial number is displayed because the Normal style number format is changed from &quot;General&quot; to &quot;General_)&quot;. To view the date values in date format, apply a date format to those cells.

Note: The &quot;General_)&quot; format is the default number format in Excel for imported Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets.

MORE INFORMATION
In Excel versions 3.0 and 4.0, if the number format of the Normal style is set to a custom format, Excel will not automatically apply formatting based on the value entered.

In Excel version 4.0, Lotus 1-2-3 worksheets are opened with the &quot;General_)&quot; number format for the Normal style. As a result, when you enter a date such as &quot;1/1/92&quot; (without the quotation marks), the serial value will be displayed instead of the formatted value. This cell can then be formatted to display a date in date format.

To automatically apply number formatting, follow the steps below to change the Normal style number format back to General (or to another built-in number format):


 * 1) Select Style from the Format Menu.
 * 2) Choose the Define button.
 * 3) Choose the Number button in the Change group box.
 * 4) In the Format Number dialog box, select General from the Format Codes box.
 * 5) Choose the OK button in the Format Number dialog box.
 * 6) Choose the OK button in the Format Style dialog box to apply the style change.

Reference(s):

&quot;Microsoft Excel User's Guide 1,&quot; version 4.0, pages 112, 245

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