Microsoft KB Archive/106556

Microsoft Knowledge Base

XL: Non-English Months Incorrectly Interpreted as Text

Last reviewed: March 27, 1997
Article ID: Q106556

4.00 4.00a 5.00 5.00c 7.00 7.00a | 4.00 5.00 5.00a

WINDOWS                          | MACINTOSH

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The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Excel for Windows, versions 4.0, 4.0a, 5.0, 5.0c
• Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version, 4.0, 5.0, 5.0a
• Microsoft Excel for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a

SUMMARY

In Microsoft Excel, the names of months are diacritical sensitive. For example, if you are using a German version of Microsoft Excel, if you enter "10 Marz 1994" (March 10, 1994), Microsoft Excel will not accept it as a date. Instead, this value will be interpreted as a text string because in the German language version, the "a" in "Marz" is a diaeresis a. Without the diaeresis, the month is interpreted as regular text.

This applies to all language versions of Microsoft Excel where diacritical characters such as acute accent, a circumflex, a diaeresis, a cedilla, and so on, are contained in the names of months.

This does not generally affect American and other English-language versions of Microsoft Excel, since month names in English do not contain diacritical characters.

MORE INFORMATION

The following months may not be interpreted as expected in the indicated language versions of Microsoft Excel:

DUTCH            FR. CANADIAN     GERMAN           ITALIAN

januari    jan   Janvier    Jan   Januar     Jan   gennaio    gen
februari   feb   Fevrier(1) Fev   Februar    Feb   febbraio   feb
maart      maa   Mars       Mar   Marz(4)    Mar   marzo      mar
april      apr   Avril      Avr   April      Apr   aprile     apr
mei        mei   Mai        Mai   Mai        Mai   maggio     mag
juni       jun   Juin       Jun   Juni       Jun   giugno     giu
juli       jul   Juillet    Jul   Juli       Jul   luglio     lug
augustus   aug   Aout(2)    Aou   August     Aug   agosto     ago
september  sep   Septembre  Sep   September  Sep   settembre  set
oktober    okt   Octobre    Oct   Oktober    Okt   ottobre    ott
november   nov   Novembre   Nov   November   Nov   novembre   nov
december   dec   Decembre(3)Dec   Dezember   Dez   dicembre   dic

NORWEGIAN        PORTUGUESE       SPANISH          SWEDISH

januar     jan   janeiro    jan   Enero      Ene   januari    jan
februar    feb   fevereiro  fev   Febrero    Feb   februari   feb
mars       mar   marco(5)   mar   Marzo      Mar   mars       mar
april      apr   abril      abr   Abril      Abr   april      apr
mai        mai   maio       mai   Mayo       May   maj        maj
juni       jun   junho      jun   Junio      Jun   juni       jun
juli       jul   julho      jul   Julio      Jul   juli       jul
august     aug   agosto     ago   Agosto     Ago   augusti    aug
september  sep   setembro   set   Septiembre Sep   september  sep
oktober    okt   outubro    out   Octubre    Oct   oktober    okt
november   nov   novembro   nov   Noviembre  Nov   november   nov
desember   des   dezembro   dez   Diciembre  Dic   december   dec

Notes: (1) The first "e" in Fevrier contains an acute accent. (2) The "u" in Aout contains a circumflex. (3) The first "e" in Decembre contains an acute accent. (4) The "a" in Marz contains a diaeresis (umlaut). (5) The "c" in Marco contains a cedilla.

KBCategory: kbusage KBSubcategory: Additional reference words: 5.00 7.00 subsidiary foreign Keywords : kbusage Version : 4.00 4.00a 5.00 5.00c 7.00 7.00a Platform : MACINTOSH WINDOWS THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Last reviewed: March 27, 1997 ©1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Legal Notices.