Dates displaying 1900 in chart when charting 1994 vs 2002

  • Thread starter Thread starter Arline Liegel
  • Start date Start date
A

Arline Liegel

I have some very simple data that I need to compare in an
XY scatter plot. There are about 10 data points (2 digits
with one decimal) from 1994 and the same from 2002. When
I select them and go to chart it, the dates display as
1900. I'm on Excel 2002 (10.5815.4219) sp-2. I did not
find anything with a search of the knowledge base. This
is for a presentation that happens end of this week to our
village council.
 
Arline -

At first I thought it was #1, but as I think further, I've decided it's
probably #2:

1. This might be the difference between the Mac calendar (which starts
in 1904) and the PC one (which starts in 1900), combined with a problem
with not knowing 1900 from 2000. Check what calendar you're using by
choosing Options from the Tools menu, and clicking the Calculation tab.

2. If what look like dates to you and me are interpreted by Excel as
text strings, they will be treated as counting numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. 1
corresponds to 1-Jan-1900, 2 corresponds to 2-Jan-1900, etc. If you
remove the alignment of the cells (if one of the buttons is clicked in
the command bar, click it again to unselect them all), is the date left
aligned? Then it's seen as text. Check for goofy characters in the
cells, and make sure the chart knows these are its X values. Right click
the chart, choose Source Data, click on the Series tab, select the
series, and see what's in the X Values box. If it's blank, Excel again
also defaults to 1, 2, 3, etc.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Peltier Technical Services
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
http://PeltierTech.com/
_______
 
Back
Top