combine 2 cells text into one cell as a whole text

[pre] A B C JAN 2001 JAN-2001 FEB 2001 FEB-2001
[/pre] thanks for the help

In C1 enter: =A1&"-"B1

Copy down as far as needed.

======================= : i need some helps in how to..combine for intance : [pre]

A B C JAN 2001 JAN-2001 FEB 2001 FEB-2001 thanks for the help

How are columns A & B formatted? As Dates, or as Text?
Do you need Column C formatted as Dates or as Text?

The formula you are trying to get is :-
C1= A1 & "-" & B1

But this will only work if A1 and B1 are formatted as general or text, and not as dates.
See Gyula's request for more info.

since "MMM" and "YYYY" are not among the available selection of date formats (in XL97 anyway*)wouldn't "JAN" and "2001" have to be general, text, custom, etc format, but in any case not a date format, so the extra info on format is not required?

* if later versions of excel do have these date formats I apologise and concede the point.

* if later versions of excel do have these date formats I apologise and concede the point.

As far as I know, dates CAN be formatted as "mmm" and "yyy" in Excel 97 (and later versions) by using Custom format.

Storm in a teacup?

Gan says having

A1 --> JAN
B1 --> 2001

& wants

C1 --> JAN-2001

It wouldn't make any sense having e.g.,

A1 --> 01-01-2001, custom-formatted as "mmm" to obtain "Jan", which has been set somehow in uppercase; and

B1 --> 01-01-2001, (or another date, for that matter) custom-formatted as "yyyy" to obtain 2001,

would it?

It's most plausible that A1 contains the text JAN & B1 text or number-formatted 2001.

The formula in C1 becomes on this interpretation simply:

=A1&"-"&B1

or equivalently:

=CONCATENATE(A1,"-",B1)

Cheers.

Most unlike you to be so presumptive !

Anon: I don't believe...

I was or intending to be "presumptive." I should have better used a smiley instead of a question mark on the subject line.

Aladin

=================

make that =a1&"-"&B1

:-) In C1 enter: =A1&"-"B1 Copy down as far as needed. =======================

Re: Anon: I don't believe...

I posted the original "not meaning to argue, but..." in reply to Josef.
Yes, as Zoltan says, cell entries that look like dates (eg JAN, 2001, JAN-2001, etc) can be formatted to whatever you like using a custom format, but if you do use a custom format it's no longer a date format, which was precisely my point - if you are using excel's custom format, you cannot be using excel's date format, which means that excel will not think it's a date, and therefore the formula =A1&"-"&B1 will work.
I hope you all have a nice day. )

Sorry, but you are absolutely incorrect .....

I posted the original "not meaning to argue, but..." in reply to Josef. Yes, as Zoltan says, cell entries that look like dates (eg JAN, 2001, JAN-2001, etc) can be formatted to whatever you like using a custom format, but if you do use a custom format it's no longer a date format, which was precisely my point - if you are using excel's custom format, you cannot be using excel's date format, which means that excel will not think it's a date, and therefore the formula =A1&"-"&B1 will work. I hope you all have a nice day. : )

Together with all the other people you mentioned, I'm also listening.

Please note that you CAN have a cell formatted as a date that shows "mmm" or "yyyy". All it would be is a custom formatted date.
Try it and you'll see. Format a cell as date and then custom format it.
Custom format is not a category on its own. It is just a user defined format of one of the main categories (text,date,number,etc.)

Re: Sorry, but you are absolutely incorrect .....