XL98: General Number Format Applied to Improper Time Entry

ID: Q178460

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Excel 98 Macintosh Edition, when you enter a time into a cell, the cell may change to the General number format, and display a decimal number.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs when you enter an improper time value, where the minutes are greater than or equal to 60. For example if you type "5:62" (without the quotation marks) the cell displays "0.25138889"

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, change the cell to the Time number format. To do this, follow these steps:

Click to select the cell.

On the Format menu, click Cells.

On the Number tab, click Time in the Category list, and then click the time format you want in the Type list. Click OK.

Note: The numbers will be converted to a proper time value. For example, if you typed 5:62 and then changed the number format; the value of 6:02 will show in the cell.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

REFERENCES

For more information about formatting, click the Index button in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

number

and then double-click the selected text. Click to select "Change the way Microsoft Excel displays numbers" and click Go To.

Additional query words: XL98

Keywords : xlformat
Version : MACINTOSH:98
Platform : MACINTOSH
Issue type : kbbug