[Solved] Calc displays the date rather than number format

[unclebirt]

Hi,
I have come across this problem - and i have given the cell the number format but when i enter
2 i still get the 23rd August,
can someone tell me the precise way to stop this from happening.

thanks,
bert

[Zizi64]

Is there a date value in a row of the actual column?

Check the settings and functions:
- Autoinput
- Number recognition
- Cell style and/or the manual formatting properties

[Villeroy]

Somewhere in the same column there is a text value "23rd August". Turn off Tools>Cell Contents>Auto Input

[unclebirt]

Hi,

Thanks for both replies, i knew that there was the '23rd August' in the same column above -
i could see where it was coming from - i just wanted to stop that from happening.
I read elsewhere that if you specifically gave the cell a number format previously it would not
auto-input a date. I tried that and a date still appeared.
I have stopped the Auto-input and the problem has gone away - thanks to you both

bert

[Villeroy]

There are basically 2 types of values in a spreadsheet: numbers and text. You have a text in that cell and no number format will turn it into a number.
In order to enter this year's 23rd of August into a cell, you can simply enter "23/8" (or "8/23" in US context) into some cell. This enters a day number which can be formatted any way you want -- almost any way you want because ordinals 1st, 2nd, ..., 23rd are not supported by number formatting.

[unclebirt]

Hi,

My feeling was that if you had already specifically given a cell - a number format
- that calc would not auto-input a date into that cell.
In my case i don't mind having auto-input set to OFF.

But there may be a case where you wish to have auto-input set to ON
and in certain circumstances in the spreadsheet override that auto-input for certain cells.

Is there another way - to have auto-input set to ON, but still be able to enter '2' and not get
the '23rd August' being auto-inputted.

thanks,
bert

[Villeroy]

Yes. enter the day number of 23rd August into the cell. It will appear as "23 August" or "23/8" or "8/23" depending on your number format. Auto input ignores numeric values.

Other method:
menu:Data>Validity...
Allow: Cell Range and specify a single cell range with data to be suggested for input.
On tab "Error alert" you can specify if "invalid" values should be rejected or accepted with or without warning.