Got it.

Thanks.



"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...
It isn't formatting in the same sense as cell formatting; it is a prefix
character that is used to control the justification of a text string when
Lotus 1-2-3 compatability is in effect. In Excel itself it is interpreted
more as a signal to treat the entry as a string. You can use the format
command to right justify it and the apostrophe is still there. I can't
say about the paste special = format. I would say, what happens
happens - not sure there is a deeper meaning.

--
Regards,
Tom Ogilvy




"Josh Sale" <jsale@tril dot cod wrote in message
...
Thanks Tom. I have a follow-up question:

If the apostrophe is seen as formatting, why doesn't it get copied when I
do a Copy from a cell that contains the apostrophe and an Edit | Paste
Special | Format to a cell that doesn't have one? If its truely a
"format" it seems like it should especially since the reverse is true
(i.e., when I do a Copy from a cell that doesn't contain an apostrophe
and an Edit | Paste Special | Format to a cell that does, the apostrophe
is removed from the target cell).

Thanks again,

josh




"Tom Ogilvy" wrote in message
...


from Excel help:

An apostrophe ('), a caret (^), or a quotation mark (") appears in the
formula bar but not in the cells.
These characters are formatting codes, which may be displayed in
documents created in Lotus 1-2-3 or if you are working with keys that
are used for navigation in Lotus 1-2-3. In Lotus 1-2-3 formats, an
apostrophe (') indicates left-aligned text, a quotation mark (")
indicates right-aligned text, and a caret (^) indicates centered text.

To remove the codes, click Options on the Tools menu, click the
Transition tab, and then clear the Transition navigation keys check box.

----------------------------------------

From VBA help for the PREFIXCHARACTER property of a range object:



Returns the prefix character for the cell. Read-only Variant.

Remarks

If the TransitionNavigKeys property is False, this prefix character will
be ' for a text label, or blank. If the TransitionNavigKeys property is
True, this character will be ' for a left-justified label, " for a
right-justified label, ^ for a centered label, \ for a repeated label,
or blank.

--

Regards,

Tom Ogilvy