Formatting columns with either a date OR a numerical figure

[Terry Winter]

I need to be able to manipulate data, so that I have 1 column with either a
Date field, in dd/mm/yyyy format of a number to zero decimal points. I have
tried formatting this column to text and linking the column to two other
columns that are formatted in either date or numbers, but is simply pulls
back the date in the standard numerical value. I have a standard =If
formulae, which pulls back the data. Is there an precursor that can be added
to the IF statement that will pull back the data in the correct format...

 

[Ken Wright]

Not 100% sure I understand your data, but generally you either need to
format the cells that contain your formulas as date fields as well (assuming
you are pulling back real dates), or you can use the TEXT function to show
the format you want, eg:-

=IF(A1+B1=0,"",TEXT(A1+B1,"dd/mm/yyyy"))

--
Regards
Ken....................... Microsoft MVP - Excel
Sys Spec - Win XP Pro / XL 97/00/02/03

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