On 5/4/2018 8:42 PM, GS wrote:
...

Ambiguities arise when *numeric representation* displays as opposed to
*textual representation* displaying. Auric's code determines whether the
1st element represents d or m. Isn't this what the OP wants to figure out?
...

Yeah, but it depends on what point it is in the process; is it the format of
the cell that determines or the data string going into the cell? I was
presuming it was the latter in which case how the cell is formatted is the
answer to a question as to how Excel interpreted the string but doesn't
_necessarily_ mean that was what the date was from whence it came.

That's not how it works! Dates aren't strings same as currencies arn't strings!

Excel uses the *system* date format by default to display the 'DateSerial' in
the cell to determine the dmy/mdy of a date based on that system's date format.
So.., when working with a file created in XP that has date cells, the
DateSerial is used to determine the datevalue in later OSs. This avoids all
ambiguity as to the true date being displayed.

The ambiguity for the user arises when the cell format is numeric (05/04/2018)
if/when the system date format isn't known. Using a textual format eliminates
the ambiguity because it displays the month name based on the DateSerial of the
value in the date cell. (What's important to remember here is that what cells
display isn't necessarily what they contain; -what we see is just how the cells
are/were formatted to display their contents.

--
Garry

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