[Solved] Change in 'Default Date Format'...

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itmustbemy
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 2:03 pm

[Solved] Change in 'Default Date Format'...

Post by itmustbemy »

Hi,

I've been working on a spreadsheet with dates, quantities, and ratings in separate columns.

Decided to change the 'Default Date Format' from MM/DD/YY to DD/MM/YY instead and hit save without checking the document. I found to my horror that all quantities (0, 1, 2 etc.) were changed to random dates such as 12/30/99, 12/30/99, 01/01/00. Likewise for the ratings. I immediately tried to restore the document by editing the 'Default Date Format' back to MM/DD/YY but the strange dates that replaced my quantities and ratings remained. I'd really like to recover the information.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Last edited by itmustbemy on Thu Sep 08, 2016 3:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
OpenOffice 4.1.2 on Windows 8.1
FJCC
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Re: Change in 'Default Date Format' Led to Change in ALL Num

Post by FJCC »

I think you set all of your cells to have a date format. The value 2 corresponds to the date 1/1/1900, which you are displaying as 01/01/00. Try selecting the cells that you do not want to be dates and then choosing the menu item Format -> Default Format.
OpenOffice 4.1 on Windows 10 and Linux Mint
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itmustbemy
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Sep 08, 2016 2:03 pm

Re: Change in 'Default Date Format' Led to Change in ALL Num

Post by itmustbemy »

I did that and it didn't work, but extrapolated from what you said and selected the cells columns, right-clicked and formatted the cells back to number instead of date. Yes! I'm so glad. Thanks so much for your help. Cheers x
OpenOffice 4.1.2 on Windows 8.1
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