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Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

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Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#11

Post by netsharc »

graypegg wrote: post #5
mywacaday wrote: post #2

I got 45690

Probably MM/DD (2 Jan) vs DD/MM (1 Feb) since Excel uses it's current locale for parsing. (=SUM in en-US, =SOMME in fr-CA for example... making any SaaS app in Canada that exports xlsx files is always rough.)

> any SaaS app in Canada that exports xlsx files

Why would you need to localize it there? I'm sure it's the Excel the user has is the one doing the localization, so I can email my French colleague an Excel file and the formula in B5 which is =SUM() on my machine will be =SOMME() on hers.

There's even sites for the dictionary of the function names, but googling "Excel french dictionary" gives you the top result that "That word in French is 'exceller'!"

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#13

Post by netsharc »

criddell wrote: post #7

I've never understood why they don't let you turn off automatic date parsing. That one feature has caused me more grief than anything else in Excel.

Or at least have the option to disable any auto-"correct"...

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/6/21355674/human-genes-renam...

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#14

Post by nabilhat »

criddell wrote: post #7

I've never understood why they don't let you turn off automatic date parsing. That one feature has caused me more grief than anything else in Excel.

This is supported in Excel. Select options > Data > Automatic Data Conversions > untick the boxes.

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#15

Post by throwaway519 »

MiddleEndian wrote: post #8
psychoslave wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only HN readership might take an iso order as normal I guess :D

ISO order is the correct order. 2025 April 7 or 2025-04-07 or whatever. Human-read numbers are big endian and dates should be big endian to maintain that consistency. Also, America uses ISO order, we just use a comma. 2025 April 7 is the same as April 7, 2025. Just like Bill Gates is the same as Gates, Bill.

Username checks out.

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#17

Post by matsemann »

nabilhat wrote: post #14
criddell wrote: post #7

I've never understood why they don't let you turn off automatic date parsing. That one feature has caused me more grief than anything else in Excel.

This is supported in Excel. Select options > Data > Automatic Data Conversions > untick the boxes.

How does it then work if I send the file to others. Is it saved in the file or will it just crash there?

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#18

Post by graypegg »

netsharc wrote: post #11
graypegg wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably MM/DD (2 Jan) vs DD/MM (1 Feb) since Excel uses it's current locale for parsing. (=SUM in en-US, =SOMME in fr-CA for example... making any SaaS app in Canada that exports xlsx files is always rough.)

> any SaaS app in Canada that exports xlsx files Why would you need to localize it there? I'm sure it's the Excel the user has is the one doing the localization, so I can email my French colleague an Excel file and the formula in B5 which is =SUM() on my machine will be =SOMME() on hers. There's even sites for the dictionary of the function names, but googling "Excel french dictionary" gives you the top result that "…

(For good reason) Language is a picky thing in Canada, it's very important (when selling to the federal government or Québec) that both English and French localizations have equal footing.

To open a en-US XLSX file in a fr-CA copy of Excel, you will need the en-US language pack. If you make this a requirement for a Québec government entity... you will not get that contract.

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#19

Post by ryandrake »

thesuitonym wrote: post #16

It really bugs me when computers try to figure out what you mean. What I mean is what I typed, and if I typed it incorrectly, I would delete it and type it again.

It's probably the most pervasive and irritating recent (last two decades) trend in all of computing. "Did you mean?" NO IF I MEANT THAT I WOULD HAVE TYPED IT. "It looks like you are..." NO. "Are you sure?" YES.

Computers need to stop second guessing users.

Re: Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660

#20

Post by SamBam »

thesuitonym wrote: post #16

It really bugs me when computers try to figure out what you mean. What I mean is what I typed, and if I typed it incorrectly, I would delete it and type it again.

What do you mean when you type in '"1/2" + 1'?

Unless you just want to keep that text as plain text, it's going to be doing some interpreting.

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