On 9/26/07 9:16 PM, in article
67D8702F-4583-45B3-9F38-1560B48D417E@microsoft.com, "Chris Lee" <Chris
Lee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> excellent this seems to work great on a per file basis, but every single file
> I get from a windows computer my mac opens it up and the 1904 button is
> checked, and every single file I have to uncheck it to get the dates to work.
>
> is there a way to make this setting permanent ?
This setting is set by the FIRST file to be opened by excel. If you start
Excel and then open the file from windows, the 1904 date will probably be in
effect from the "workbook template." You can change the date format in the
default workbook template. Search Help for "template" for instructions.

Signature
Bob Greenblatt [MVP], Macintosh
bobgreenblattATmsnDOTcom
Chris Lee - 28 Sep 2007 02:42 GMT
This may be how its supposed to work, but its not.
dates are fine in windows, open the file in osx and their wrong. if I open
each file and uncheck 1904 then my dates are right.
now when you get 10 excel files a day, this is really anoying to have todo
this to each and every file.
so either windows is not setting the date paramater (I bet it is setting it)
or osx is not reading that setting from the file (most likley the case)
Chris Lee
> On 9/26/07 9:16 PM, in article
> 67D8702F-4583-45B3-9F38-1560B48D417E@microsoft.com, "Chris Lee" <Chris
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> effect from the "workbook template." You can change the date format in the
> default workbook template. Search Help for "template" for instructions.
JE McGimpsey - 28 Sep 2007 03:38 GMT
> This may be how its supposed to work, but its not.
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> so either windows is not setting the date paramater (I bet it is setting it)
> or osx is not reading that setting from the file (most likley the case)
Read what Bob wrote again - the setting is determined by the FIRST
workbook opened. If you have a workbook template file in your Startup
folder (by default:
HD:Applications:Microsoft Office 2004:Office:Startup:Excel
but you may set an Alternate Startup File in Preferences/General) then
that will set the date system.
If you have a Personal Macro Workbook set, THAT will set the date system.
Once XL starts, the date system will stay the same.
Chris Lee - 24 Jan 2008 21:40 GMT
ok so Ive got the template working, when I create a new file it uses the 1900
date system. but when opening files that came from a windows computer, I
still have to uncheck 1904.
how does this macro work ? Ive never used macro's before.
I was hoping ms would have fixed this issue in 2008, but it apears they
havent... :(
> > This may be how its supposed to work, but its not.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Once XL starts, the date system will stay the same.
JE McGimpsey - 31 Jan 2008 14:50 GMT
> ok so Ive got the template working, when I create a new file it uses the 1900
> date system. but when opening files that came from a windows computer, I
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> I was hoping ms would have fixed this issue in 2008, but it apears they
> havent... :(
Well, there really isn't anything to fix - both date systems are valid,
and you can have workbooks using both systems open at the same time. And
since dates are just numbers to XL, and users can rely on doing math
with those numbers, there's no way of automatically converting between
systems without breaking user models.
Don't worry about macros - they don't work in XL08.
You shouldn't have to uncheck the 1904 checkbox when opening files from
a Windows computer, unless they're using the 1904 system too (or they've
used a workbook that originated on a Mac).
Bottom lines with dates is you need to be careful when you copy from one
workbook to another. Otherwise they're usually not an issue.