Change of date format when syncing Excel 2007 to Excel Mobilw

[browniebodrum]

In my Excel 2007 files (on my laptop) I use the following date format:
dd/mm/yyyy but I've recently noticed that when I open the file on my PDA, the
format is changed to mm/dd/yyyy. I've checked 'Regional Settings' on my PDA
and the date format is set to dd/mm/yyyy there. So what causes the switch?
I'm running Vista Business SP2 and Office 2007 on the laptop and WM 6.1 on
the PDA which is a Sprint HTC Mogul. Suggestions and ideas gratefully
received.

 

[Dave Peterson]

I don't own a PDA, so I don't know the answer.

But have you checked the regional settings on your pc?

I'd format that date in an unambiguous format (dd-mmmm-yyyy) and then see what
happens on the PDA.

You may want to include the PDA that you're using and what software you're
running on that. It may help others give you an answer.

 

[browniebodrum]

Dave - I already included that information in the original post: WM 6.1 on
the PDA which is a Sprint HTC Mogul.

As for formatting the date on the PC, it's already formatted dd-mm-yyyy and
everything works fine on there. It's only after synchronising the file with
the PDA running Excel Mobile 6.1 that the date format changes, and it ONLY
changes on the PDA version.

It might be worth mentioning that the regional preference is set to UK on
both laptop and PDA, so dd-mm-yyyy is the default date format anyway, not
mm-dd-yyyy which is the default for the US region.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Yes, you did. I didn't notice it. Sorry.

But I suggested dd-mmmm-yyyy, not dd-mm-yyyy.

What happened when you tried that?

(I still won't have a guess, though.)

 

[browniebodrum]

Dave - I thought your suggestion to use dd/mmmm/yyyy was a misprint - how can
the numeric month eg 01 for January through to 12 for December be represented
by four characters? I think I must be missing something... I want the date
to look like this: 11/06/2009 (for 11 June 2009).

 

[Dave Peterson]

It's a temporary test. It'll show the date in an unambiguous format:

01-January-2009

Then you can actually compare/contrast the values in both platforms.

As long as I see something like 01/02/03, I'll never know if it's really a
date--and what that date really is.

After you test, you can change the numberformat to whatever you want.

 

[David Biddulph]

What Dave suggested was dd-mmmm-yyyy, which gives 12-June-2009.
He explained (but you snipped) that the reason why he suggested that format
is that it is unambiguous, whereas 12-06-2009 can easily be misinterpreted.

 

[browniebodrum]

Thanks, both, but I think we're getting a bit off the subject. The dates are
not ambiguous to me in this particular case, so there is no need for me to
change the format to something that might be clearer to see for anyone else
under different circumstances. I understand what you are saying but in this
particular case, there's only me using this file, and the dates in the
spreadsheet are consecutive dates in May and June 2009 so it's not difficult
to see what they really are. I'm not confused about the format and it's not
ambiguous to me. The point is, as per my original post, the format is set to
dd/mm/yyyy in the laptop version (as is the default in regional settings) BUT
syncing with the mobile (which also has the dd/mm/yyyy format as the default
in its regional settings) changes it to mm/dd/yyyy. Does anyone know why?

 

[David Biddulph]

What matters as far as solving your problem is concerned is not whether it
is ambiguous to you, but whether it is ambiguous to the machine. But if you
don't want to use Dave's suggestion you are welcome to continue with your
problem.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Wouldn't it take less time to actually change the format, test it, see the
results and change it back?

 

[browniebodrum]

Sorry I had no time recently to work through this methodically, but I've
attempted to do so now and here are the results:

Test 1: Format in PC version: Custom, dd-mmmm-yyyy -
Format on pda unchanged after sync

Test 2: Format in PC version: Date, *14/03/2001 - Format on pda changed to
mm/dd/yyyy after sync

Test 3: Format in PC version: Date, 14/03/2001 - Format on pda unchanged
after sync

Test 4: Format in PC version: Custom, dd/mm/yyyy - Format on pda changed
to mm/dd/yyyy after sync

Test 5: Format in PC version: Custom, dd/mm/yy - Format on pda unchanged
after sync

Regional settings (for all tests above): On the PC, the Locale/location =
English/UK, and Control Panel Regional & Language Options = English (UK) .
On the PDA the Regional settings are set to English (United Kingdom) and the
short date format is 28/06/09 or dd/MM/yy.

So now I know how to AVOID the format changing but I'd still like to
understand why the custom format 'dd/mm/yyyy' gets changed when I sync,
whereas the custom format 'dd/mm/yy' (with a two-digit year) does not.

Device: Sprint HTC Mogul 6800, WM6.1
PC: Windows Vista Business (32-bit) SP2, Outlook 2007, Windows Mobile
Device Centre 6.1.6965