My fractions show as dates. Can you advise on this, please? I appreciate
this newsgroup. Dick Ross

When you first enter it put a 0 before the fraction, i.e. to enter 7/16 enter
it exactly like this:
0 7/16

This will tell excel you're entering a numerical fraction instead of a date.
--
Regards,
Dave


"ross" wrote:

My fractions show as dates. Can you advise on this, please? I appreciate
this newsgroup. Dick Ross

First select a cell or cells
Pull-down:
Format Cells... Number Fraction then select a type

Then enter the value.
--
Gary's Student


"ross" wrote:

My fractions show as dates. Can you advise on this, please? I appreciate
this newsgroup. Dick Ross

"ross" wrote in message
...
My fractions show as dates. Can you advise on this, please? I appreciate
this newsgroup. Dick Ross



From the Excel 2000 help system - see below. As with some other cell
formats, this one seems to only work (or work most often) if the formatting
is done before the data is entered.

Show numbers as fractions
1.. Select the cells you want to format.


2.. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Number tab.
Show Me

3.. In the Category list, click Fraction, and then click the type of
fraction you want to use.

When you enter a fraction in an unformatted cell, you'll need to enter
the = sign before the numbers. If you enter 1/2 by itself, Excel
assumes you mean to enter a date, and "helpfully" formats the cell for
you as a date. To enter the fractional amount "one half" you enter a
formula, =1/2 to have Excel represent a numerical value.

Since your cells may be inadvertently formatted as dates, you may need
to reformat them to show numeric values. You can format the output to
read as "1/2" instead of "0.5" as well.

Additionally, you can format the cells in advance as Fractions and
after that you can enter 1/2 (without the = sign), and the entry will
be numeric.

Thanks for the great response. I have found that if I add an ' before the
fraction that I have what I need. Thanks again, Dick Ross


"ross" wrote in message
...
My fractions show as dates. Can you advise on this, please? I appreciate
this newsgroup. Dick Ross

That will absolutely work- as long as you need it for screen display
purposes only. If you try to convert that back to a numeric value
using a formula such as =VALUE(A1) where the value in A1 is '1/2 Excel
converts it to a date again, and you're back to the original problem.