Hi all,

I've searched the 'net high and low for a solution to this problem and "still haven't found what I'm looking for" (as U2 would sing).

The problem is the US/UK date conflict and it's easy to replicate (at least if you're on a UK Regional Setting - I haven't tried it on US settings for obvious reasons). Here's how to replicate the problem:

create a new s/sheet;
enter dates like this '01/01/2001' through to '01/02/2001' (dd/mm/yyyy) so you'll have 32 records in total;
save the s/sheet as a CSV file and close;
open the CSV file in Notepad and note the date values - all as expected;
now open the s/sheet once inside Excel - note the date formats;
and now open from Windows Explorer - note the date format is different;

This is the problem. As an aside you can see what's happening to some fields if you use the ISTEXT() function - some fields are not being recognised as dates. This is because Excel is being a prat and is trying to format data into a US date format even when I haven't asked it to.

Does anyone know how to turn off this feature. I know it's possible because it used to work on another pc I used (for another employer). And I know about all the other workarounds, e.g. .txt extension, Clarion date format, etc, etc. I just want the feature turned off.


Regards - RC

Have had the same problem with date in US/UK

what I have done is put the month as the name

'01 jan 2001' not 01/01/01