thanks Ron Coderre :) and community for the explanation much appreciated

--
oldLearner57


"Ron Coderre" wrote:

According to the below website, the "[$-409]" seems to be part of a custom
international number format.

http://office.microsoft.com/assistan...01 0272491033

Note: that is one continuous URL.

Does that help?
***********
Regards,
Ron

XL2002, WinXP


"tikchye_oldLearner57" wrote:

hello community

can anybody in the community please tell me what is this square bracket with
dollar symbol follow with a dash inclusive the number "409" at the front the
the custom format.........example:

[$-409]h:mm:ss AM/PM;@.......

when I wanted to make the "AM/PM" to "a/p", I need to delete away the
"[$-409]" and replace the "AM/PM" with "a/p", then it works.
however
if the do not delete the [$-409] away, the "AM/PM" would not be replace by
"a/p"...why is it so ?

thanks everybody for the kind explanation :)
--
oldLearner57