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Excel-represented dates vs. Human-readable dates in UDFs

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    Excel-represented dates vs. Human-readable dates in UDFs

    Hello

    When you punch in a native function like
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    you get a human-readable output, like 2/23/15. Yet a barebones UDF will spit out the excel representation of a date like 42058.

    Here's a brief UDF for the sake of example. What am I missing of get a human-readable date as output that will still behave like an Excel date?

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    Re: Excel-represented dates vs. Human-readable dates in UDFs

    I would suggest a tutorial such as this http://www.cpearson.com/excel/datetime.htm to understand how Excel and VBA represent dates as a serial number. Recognize that the "human readable" output is merely an appropriate number format code applied to a cell containing an appropriate serial number.
    Quote Originally Posted by shg
    Mathematics is the native language of the natural world. Just trying to become literate.

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    Re: Excel-represented dates vs. Human-readable dates in UDFs

    Quote Originally Posted by MrShorty View Post
    Recognize that the "human readable" output is merely an appropriate number format code applied to a cell containing an appropriate serial number.
    I suppose the heart of my question is why can a native formula like =TODAY() seem to know to change the number format code from "general" to "date" automatically, but my UDF requires me to change the number format code from "general" to "date" manually. My concern is for the general user of my UDF who will likely not realize that the serial number represents a date.

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    Re: Excel-represented dates vs. Human-readable dates in UDFs

    There are few things that native Excel functions can do that VBA UDFs cannot do, and I think this is one of them. Yes, with native functions, Excel will somehow "recognize" that a function's output should be date and will automatically format the cell for you. I don't think you can get VBA UDFs to do the same thing.

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    Re: Excel-represented dates vs. Human-readable dates in UDFs

    Not the answer I was hoping to hear, but thank you for the information. I'm marking this one SOLVED.

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