Steve,

If I format - custom - 00000000 and go out of the cell, then go back to it
and check the format has been retained it has changed from "Custom" to
"Special" "Greek" and shows AM with an odd symbol in between. It would be
so simple if the formatting stayed as I'd set it.

Any suggestions ? Is it worth trying to get an answer from a microsoft guru ?

"SteveW" wrote:

When I format some cells to 00000000, save it, and re-open it
It all works fine.

So, first what is the exact problem you get when you open the saved file?

Steve

On Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:10:01 -0000, Argghhhh <Argghhhh
wrote:

I've tried all manner of formatting options but none seem to help my
particular problem. Custom 00000000 would be superb but when I format
cells
to this, save the file and reopen it the format has switched to Greek ?
Is
there a fix for this ?

What I need is an eight digit number in each cell in the column. This
number
is made up of a date code such as 011106 for 1st November 2006 followed
by 2
further digits to denote sequential production up to 99 entries per day
so
the first entry for the above date would be 01110601. I then use a
simple
=A1+1 in the cell below copied and pasted for all cells relevant to that
date
giving me a column adding by one at each step. That works fine for
dates
where the day is 10 or above but if it has a leading zero it falls over
if
formatted as a number. If formatted as text the simple formula doesn't
work.

I need to be able to save the excel file and use the data when merging
to: a
sheet as a test report then to labels, then to a delivery note so you
can see
why having all the data entered just once on my spreadsheet really helps
(if
it works that is)