Using Format Code for User-Defined Formats

[uncouthyouth]

Hello all,

I would like to know how to use the format code box in the Format dialog under user-defined to specify how to format a telephone number. For example, 5559931693 becomes (555) 993-1693 and so on. Any help would be much appreciated.

[huw]

Code: Select all

(###) ###-####

although that won't cope with leading zeros.

[uncouthyouth]

Perfect, thank you.

[acknak]

You should think carefully about using a numeric value for telephone numbers: you will never be able to store a number that starts with a 'zero' digit. That may not be a problem (e.g. telephone numbers may be restricted to never start with a zero), but in general, it's unwise to store something that's not a number as a numeric value.

It's also true that if you don't store them as a numeric value, you can't use the format code--you would need a formula to format the number. You have to decide based on your project.