I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!

Dragged and dropped a series of dates and now I can't convert them to sort
them properly. What to do??

Hi Paul,

"paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
> Dragged and dropped a series of dates and now I can't convert them to sort
> them properly. What to do??


With the date cells selected:

Data | Text to Columns | Next | Next | Select the Date option and Select
the DMY option in the dropdown box | Finish

---
Regards,
Norman

Hello Norman,

I followed your instructions to the letter several times without any
success. I've pasted the values as "values", without changing any format,
and I'm unable to reformat them at all. Would this have anything to do with
the "/"?

Thanks for your assistance, I think I'm getting closer....

"Norman Jones" wrote:

> Hi Paul,
>
> "paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
> > Dragged and dropped a series of dates and now I can't convert them to sort
> > them properly. What to do??
>
>
> With the date cells selected:
>
> Data | Text to Columns | Next | Next | Select the Date option and Select
> the DMY option in the dropdown box | Finish
>
> ---
> Regards,
> Norman
>
>
>

Hi Paul,

I copied 01/19/2004 from your posted line:

> I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!

into a number of cells in a column. I then :

1) Selected Text to Columns on the Data menu (with the cells selected!)
2) Checked the 'Fixed Width" option
3) Hit the 'Next' button
4) Hit the 'Next' button
5) Checked the 'Date' option
6) Selected 'MDY' in the dropdown
7) Hit the 'Finish' button

This converted the original text values to dates which I was then able to
format as desired.


---
Regards,
Norman



"paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello Norman,
>
> I followed your instructions to the letter several times without any
> success. I've pasted the values as "values", without changing any format,
> and I'm unable to reformat them at all. Would this have anything to do
> with
> the "/"?
>
> Thanks for your assistance, I think I'm getting closer....
>
> "Norman Jones" wrote:
>
>> Hi Paul,
>>
>> "paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
>> > Dragged and dropped a series of dates and now I can't convert them to
>> > sort
>> > them properly. What to do??
>>
>>
>> With the date cells selected:
>>
>> Data | Text to Columns | Next | Next | Select the Date option and Select
>> the DMY option in the dropdown box | Finish
>>
>> ---
>> Regards,
>> Norman
>>
>>
>>

Hello Norman,

Y'know, I think I've discovered the problem. You were absolutely right of
course, once I found out what else was going on.

It seems that the dates that I copied from an online source have a space
placed before and after the value (which I've been unable to eliminate
without going through each cell seperately and deleting it). For example,
"1/19/2004" is actually being pasted as " 1/19/2004 ". Once the space has
been removed from in front of the value (rear space doesn't seem to matter),
I'm able to follow your instructions and it works like a charm. Sorry for
doubting you!!!

By the way, if you happen to know, how can I get rid of these damn spaces
efficiently I'd be eternally grateful!

Thanks for your patience and persistence!

Paul

"Norman Jones" wrote:

> Hi Paul,
>
> I copied 01/19/2004 from your posted line:
>
> > I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
>
> into a number of cells in a column. I then :
>
> 1) Selected Text to Columns on the Data menu (with the cells selected!)
> 2) Checked the 'Fixed Width" option
> 3) Hit the 'Next' button
> 4) Hit the 'Next' button
> 5) Checked the 'Date' option
> 6) Selected 'MDY' in the dropdown
> 7) Hit the 'Finish' button
>
> This converted the original text values to dates which I was then able to
> format as desired.
>
>
> ---
> Regards,
> Norman
>
>
>
> "paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Hello Norman,
> >
> > I followed your instructions to the letter several times without any
> > success. I've pasted the values as "values", without changing any format,
> > and I'm unable to reformat them at all. Would this have anything to do
> > with
> > the "/"?
> >
> > Thanks for your assistance, I think I'm getting closer....
> >
> > "Norman Jones" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Paul,
> >>
> >> "paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >> news:[email protected]...
> >> > I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
> >> > Dragged and dropped a series of dates and now I can't convert them to
> >> > sort
> >> > them properly. What to do??
> >>
> >>
> >> With the date cells selected:
> >>
> >> Data | Text to Columns | Next | Next | Select the Date option and Select
> >> the DMY option in the dropdown box | Finish
> >>
> >> ---
> >> Regards,
> >> Norman
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Hi Paul,

> By the way, if you happen to know, how can I get rid of these damn spaces
> efficiently I'd be eternally grateful!

See David McRitchie's TrimAll sub at:

http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/join.htm - trimall

Additionally, if you are not familiar with macros, see David McRitchie's
introduction notes at:

http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/getstarted.htm


---
Regards,
Norman



"paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello Norman,
>
> Y'know, I think I've discovered the problem. You were absolutely right of
> course, once I found out what else was going on.
>
> It seems that the dates that I copied from an online source have a space
> placed before and after the value (which I've been unable to eliminate
> without going through each cell seperately and deleting it). For example,
> "1/19/2004" is actually being pasted as " 1/19/2004 ". Once the space has
> been removed from in front of the value (rear space doesn't seem to
> matter),
> I'm able to follow your instructions and it works like a charm. Sorry for
> doubting you!!!
>
> By the way, if you happen to know, how can I get rid of these damn spaces
> efficiently I'd be eternally grateful!
>
> Thanks for your patience and persistence!
>
> Paul
>
> "Norman Jones" wrote:
>
>> Hi Paul,
>>
>> I copied 01/19/2004 from your posted line:
>>
>> > I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
>>
>> into a number of cells in a column. I then :
>>
>> 1) Selected Text to Columns on the Data menu (with the cells selected!)
>> 2) Checked the 'Fixed Width" option
>> 3) Hit the 'Next' button
>> 4) Hit the 'Next' button
>> 5) Checked the 'Date' option
>> 6) Selected 'MDY' in the dropdown
>> 7) Hit the 'Finish' button
>>
>> This converted the original text values to dates which I was then able to
>> format as desired.
>>
>>
>> ---
>> Regards,
>> Norman
>>
>>
>>
>> "paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>> > Hello Norman,
>> >
>> > I followed your instructions to the letter several times without any
>> > success. I've pasted the values as "values", without changing any
>> > format,
>> > and I'm unable to reformat them at all. Would this have anything to do
>> > with
>> > the "/"?
>> >
>> > Thanks for your assistance, I think I'm getting closer....
>> >
>> > "Norman Jones" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi Paul,
>> >>
>> >> "paulonline66" <[email protected]> wrote in
>> >> message
>> >> news:[email protected]...
>> >> > I can't format 01/19/2004 to read January 19, 2004, please help!!
>> >> > Dragged and dropped a series of dates and now I can't convert them
>> >> > to
>> >> > sort
>> >> > them properly. What to do??
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> With the date cells selected:
>> >>
>> >> Data | Text to Columns | Next | Next | Select the Date option and
>> >> Select
>> >> the DMY option in the dropdown box | Finish
>> >>
>> >> ---
>> >> Regards,
>> >> Norman
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>