Disable Auto Format

hello all... as my first post i would like to ask for your help...
i need to Disable all and any kind of auto-Format the reason follows:
im developing a app and im trying to read a date from the worksheet... the Auto-Format screws up the reading making it impossible to read the date... i need the cell to be in "General" format (text format also bugs it)... so if u guys could pls tell me how to Disable the auto-format...