[mso] Re: Fractions and Excel 2000, how to force to *my* format?

Linda

Yep I looked at what it does.  Depends on what you need to see in the 
following use of the cell.

6/12 in the fractions format displays beautifully, but is stored as 0.5. 
This means that you have no way then of knowing whether it was 1/2, 6/12 or 
whatever.

In this case, of course, the denominator is being forced to 12, so the 
numerator can be deduced.  But that's holding you to a denominator of 12, 
which might be a bit limiting.

Text representation has its limitations, but retains the original numerator 
and denominator whatever they were.  Fractional formatting has different 
limitations, but certainly offers the number in decimal representation for 
use in later numeric calculations.

In the case of this example, it was my understanding that it was not 
actually a fraction - i.e. the 12 was not a denominator - merely an 
indication that months were being represented.  As such, it might or might 
not be reasonable to convert this to a decimal number.

Dunno.  Certainly both ways of doing it have their good points - and neither 
is without limitations.

Regards, Dave S

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Linda F. Johnson" <linda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mso@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 3:12 AM
Subject: [mso] Re: Fractions and Excel 2000, how to force to *my* format?


> HaHa ... where did you get the idea that I'm "young", Andrew?  I just 
> turned
> 59 a few months ago.
>
> And, Robert, tell that teacher of yours that I too am a college instructor
> AND I've written a book about Excel that was published by an International
> textbook publisher of note (John Wiley and Sons) ... and I've also used
> Excel for years in REAL LIFE scenarios ... many teachers can teach what
> they've learned from books, but if it's not in a book, they don't know how
> to do it cuz they have no real life experience.
>
> And David ... you too should try the format I posted ... your suggestion 
> of
> formatting the cell as text isn't  as flexible as mine ... my way, the 
> cell
> is a number and can be used in calculations, etc.
>
> *******************************
> Linda F. Johnson
> Linda's Computer Stop
> http://personal-computer-tutor.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From Andrew
>
> Robert and Linda:
>
> First, Linda, that format command is FANTASTIC. Your note to Robert didn't
> explain what it really does (and I was expecting it to be a variation of
> Text formatting) but it actually displays ANY fraction or decimal entered 
> as
> a quotient in that cell as an integer dividend with a divisor of 12. In
> other words (in case others wish to try it as I did), format the cell in
> that way and type any number into the cell, for example, 3.14159 and it
> displays '3 2/12'!
>
> Robert, I hope your college instructor (being a lady) has the grace to go
> home and try it for herself and admit that ALL versions of Excel must be
> serendiptiously 'corrupted' in that manner and that it is possible to 
> learn
> something from anybody, even from people as young as Linda! As an educator
> (and father and grandfather) myself, that was a lesson I had very early 
> on.
>
> Andrew
>
>
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