Chart Returns Serial Number When Breaking Link to Worksheet

 Last reviewed: November 2, 1994
Article ID: Q74702

SUMMARY

Dates in a chart will change to serial numbers if the link between the worksheet and the chart has been removed.

Workaround

To keep the dates from reformatting to a serial number, enter the dates as text in the original spreadsheet as follows:

  1. Enter a space before the date.

    -or-

  2. Enclose the date within quotation marks. For example: 

          ="1/1/1991"

    -or-

  3. Use the text function to look like the following: 

          =text("1/1/1991","mmm/yy")

MORE INFORMATION

To remove a link between a chart and a worksheet, you must calculate the references within the chart's SERIES formula. Since the underlying value of any date is a serial number, calculating the references to produce values will show dates as their underlying serial values.

For information on how to remove a link between a chart and worksheet, query on: 

   removing and link and chart and worksheet

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Excel Function and Macros." Version 2.1, page 115.

"Microsoft Excel Function Reference." Version 3.0, pages 234-235.

KBCategory: kbother
KBSubcategory:

Additional reference words: noupd

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Last reviewed: November 2, 1994
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