Thanks Andreas; I finally got it working by using several different contortions. Your solutions are naturally more correct and elegant.
On Wed, 2006-09-08 at 00:28 +0200, Andreas Saeger wrote: > William Case wrote: > > For now, I just have to get a base date value which I can manipulate. I > > expected DATEVALUE(B5) to return 38937. Instead I keep getting errors. > > Using single and double quotes doesn't help. > > > > Help get me started on this, please? What am I doing wrong? Or, do you > > have a better suggestion? > > > > By now, I probably have my brain stuck in double-think loop and can't > > break out! > > > TODAY() returns a number of days since null-date, which is 1899-12-30 by > default (see Menu:Tools>options>Calc>Calculation). Unfortunately this > number is shown formatted, even if the cell is unformatted. Change the > format of B5 to "00000" or use =N(TODAY()) in order to show the real > numeric value. DATEVALUE(dateString) expects a string as argument. > Simply use B5 rather than DATEVALUE(B5). Or use =N(B5) in order to see > the integer representation of B5. It makes no difference. My problem was caused by two fixable things: 1) Nowhere can I find reference to the need to use =N() in spite of the formatting as you suggested. In fact, examples of functions in Help look like Help is using ' or " to turn references into dateStrings (à la Bash). 2) I tried to make experimental changes in the formulae in the formula window of the formula tool bar. As it turns out, OO Calc didn't effect these changes after Entering. However, when I later wiped out all my formulae and retyped the whole formula anew for each experiment in a cell , the changes where read quickly. Same when I started over using the Formula Wizard. So, -- are the above two problems a reportable bug or my stupidity? -- Regards Bill --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
