How to use Date function in real life

[lezawang]

Hi
I want to know what Date() function is used for really in real life? I just read the website below and it does not make sense people put year, month, and day in different columns and expect someone to use date() function to combine them. It must be used more than that. Thank you.

DATE Function

The Excel DATE function creates a valid date from individual year, month, and day components. The DATE function is useful for assembling dates that need to change dynamically based on other values in a worksheet.

exceljet.net

 

[Saurabhj]

Date function can be used with other functions to convert any value in Date format. Sometimes we export data from an application and the date mentioned is not as per required format (mm/dd/yyyy) hence we can use Date function to convert into proper format in excel. (Check screenshot)

Check more examples here:

Book1
	A	B	C	D
1	Comments	Date when comment made	In Date Format	Ageing
2	24-01-2020 17:36:31 NZDT -	24-01-2020	01/24/2020	341
3	23-02-2021 15:29:25 NZDT -	23-02-2021	02/23/2021	59
4	21-01-2020 16:44:54 NZDT -	21-01-2020	01/21/2020	344
5	24-05-2020 14:13:03 NZDT -	24-05-2020	05/24/2020	255
6	23-07-2020 16:36:33 NZDT -	23-07-2020	07/23/2020	212
7	27-11-2020 18:12:56 NZDT -	27-11-2020	11/27/2020	121
8	24-01-2020 18:30:03 NZDT -	24-01-2020	01/24/2020	341
9	28-09-2020 16:49:09 NZDT -	28-09-2020	09/28/2020	165
10	22-12-2020 12:44:40 NZDT -	22-12-2020	12/22/2020	104
Sheet1

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
B2:B10	B2	=LEFT(A2,10)
C2:C10	C2	=DATE(MID(A2,7,4),MID(A2,4,2),LEFT(A2,2))
D2:D10	D2	=NETWORKDAYS(C2,TODAY())

 

[MARK858]

I want to know what Date() function is used for really in real life?

You can use it when you want to to increment or decrement by either Year, Month or day, for example in the below where we are calculating the number of absent dates in a rolling year.

Book3
	A	B	C
1	Days Absent	Date	Rolling
2	2	01/01/2010	2
3	3	02/02/2010	5
4	4	03/03/2010	9
5	2	07/06/2010	11
6	3	10/11/2010	14
7	4	31/12/2010	18
8	6	01/01/2011	24
9	2	02/02/2011	24
10	1	03/03/2011	22
11	3	07/06/2011	21
12	5	10/11/2011	24
13	2	01/01/2012	19
14	3	17/01/2012	16
Sheet1

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
C2:C14	C2	=SUMIFS($A$2:$A$14,$B$2:$B$14,"<="&B2,$B$2:$B$14,">="&DATE(YEAR(B2)-1,MONTH(B2),DAY(B2)))