Q1: There is a registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Jet/4.0/Engines/Excel/TypeGuessRows

This determines the number of rows ADO should scan to guess the data
type for a column. The value can be between zero and 16. If zero, ADO
should scan all rows before determining a data type.

"Karen S" wrote in message ...
I have two questions:

1. I have a multi tabbed workbook that I am using as a database.
In my queries, the tabs/tables are connected with three joins for
three data elements that are present on each tab. One of the data
elements is populated primarily with a year. We formatted the entire
column as text hoping to be able to populate some of the cells with
text. When executing the query, any cells that contained text in this
column (i.e.: 2xxx) either did not return or return as blank. Why is
this? Is there an auto formatting mechanism of which I am unaware
and, if so, can it be turned off?

2. Is there any way to maintain the original format of cells that have been returned to another worksheet via a query? I want to be able to maintain the original number format ($,%, etc.) and decimal places. How can I do this?

Any assistance or enlightening is very appreciated.

Karen S