Int() formula issue - English to French

[piper6]

Hi

I've been having issues reading a date in a specific cell when the workbook is opened on a computer with French language settings.
The source data is in a XML file format, and the date is in this format 03/01/2011 12:52:01 PM. I'd like to remove the time and just have the date so I've used the INT() function which works fine when the workbook is opened on a PC with English settings, but generates a #Value! error when opened on a PC with French settings.

Any thoughts on potential causes/solutions to this?

I've tried saving the XML file as a Excel Workbook so that the data is no longer just a text string, but the same problem exists.

Thanks

 

[AlphaFrog]

How is the cell receiving the date? User input, formula, imported ?

My guess is the problem is not with the INT function, but maybe with the date format of the inputted date.

Is the date on the English computer entered with say mm/dd/yy and also done the same on the French computer? On the French computer, it would expect dd/mm/yy. That means any English style date after the 12th day in any month would cause a #Value error in French.

e.g. This date in English 03/14/11 (March 14, 2011) would cause an error on the French computer as it would expect the 14 to be the Month.

 

[Gerald Higgins]

Just for the record, standard practice in ENGLAND (and the UK) is DD/MM/YY (or YYYY), 14/03/11 or 14/03/2011 for 14th March.

Alphafrog may be thinking of the USA, or AMERICAN ENGLISH.

 

[piper6]

The data is imported from a database that logs transactions and date/time stamps each transaction.
I've tried to manually change the date format in excel to the French version as a test, though the same problem exists.
Are there other formula's that would accomplish what I'm after; removing the time from the date/time data?

 

[AlphaFrog]

As a test on the French computer, is the Date-Time recognized with out the INT function? I know you want to strip the time. I just want to know if the date-time is imported properly without the INT function.

 

[Gerald Higgins]

There are other ways to strip the time, such as...
=rounddown(a1,0)

Question - do they use different separators for day and time in France - where English uses

/

and

:

do the French use something else ? If they do, that could be your problem.

 

[barry houdini]

Perhaps try DATEVALUE function, that won't work on a "real" date but returns the date from TEXT, as long as it's recognised as a date.....