Microsoft KB Archive/66064

Works 2.00: Numbers Display Instead of Dates in Database

PSS ID Number: Q66064 Article last modified on 06-12-1996

2.00 3.00

MS-DOS

= SUMMARY =

Works records dates as numbers. The starting day is January 1, 1900. If the field where a date has been entered displays a number, this number represents the number of days since Jan. 1, 1900.

When entering a date in a Works database, and the date appears as a number, use the following options for troubleshooting. These options can be tried in any order; however, the first option addresses the most common cause.

  Make sure these formatting steps have been executed from the List screen, as follows:   Move the cursor to the problem column.   Select the column (ALT, S, F).   Format the selected column as Time/Date (ALT, T, T).   Select the desired day/month/year format and press ENTER.    From the Options menu, choose Works Settings (ALT, O, W) to verify the desired country is selected. International date formats may be misinterpreted as corruption or a problem. 

Note: In some cases the date will not display properly, even though Step 1 above was properly executed. In these instances, the following procedure has proven effective:

  Make the List screen active (ALT, V, L). </li>  Activate the Query screen (ALT, V, Q). </li>  Move the cursor to the problem date field. </li>  Enter a query that will be true for ALL records, for example: "=‘1/1/00’"</li>  Press ENTER. </li>  Return to the List screen (ALT, V, L). </li></ol>

Works should display the dates in the correct format.

KBCategory: kbother KBSubcategory: dworkskb Additional reference words:

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