XL98: Dates Created with AutoFill Wrong If Time Span Long

 Last reviewed: February 2, 1998
Article ID: Q178868
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, when you use the AutoFill feature to fill in a range of dates, some of the dates may appear incorrectly.

CAUSE

This problem will occur if the interval from the first date to the last date is greater than 32768 months, or approximately 2730 years.

WORKAROUND

If you need to fill a range of dates, and if the interval from the first date to the last date is greater than 2730 years, fill the data in two or more steps, with each step filling no more than 2730 years worth of dates.

For example, assume that you have a worksheet that contains the following dates 

   A1: 2/2/2000
   A2: 2/2/2005
and you want column A to be filled with dates at five year intervals, all the way down to 2/2/5000 (February 2, 5000 AD). Because the interval from the first date (2/2/2000) is more than 2730 years from the last date (2/2/5000), perform your AutoFill in two steps. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Select cells A1:A2.

  2. Using the mouse, drag the fill handle located at the lower-right corner of cell A2 down to cell A500, and release the mouse button.

    Cell A500 shows the date 2/2/4495. This is less than 2730 years from the start date, 2/2/2000.

  3. Select cells A499:A500.

  4. Using the mouse, drag the fill handle located at the lower-right corner of cell A500 down to cell A601, and release the mouse button.

Cell A601 shows the date 2/2/5000. This is fewer than 2730 years from the start date 2/2/4495.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, you can use dates that fall within the range January 1, 1900 to December 31, 9999. This is different from earlier versions of Microsoft Excel, which only allow dates from January 1, 1900 to December 31, 2078.

Additional query words: XL98 auto
Keywords : xlformula xlui kbprb kbusage
Version : MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type : kbprb

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Last reviewed: February 2, 1998
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