Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Excel 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Excel, click here: Converting Coded Dates into Real Dates.

Converting Coded Dates into Real Dates

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 27, 2018)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


Luis receives dates in the format "04A09" where the first two digits are the day, the letter in the middle is the month (A is January, B is February, C is March, etc.), and the last two digits are the year. He needs to transform these coded dates into regular date values that he can work with in Excel.

The biggest thing that makes this date format non-standard is the use of the alphabetic character for the month. So, the first thing to do is to figure out how to convert that character into a numeric month. This is where the CODE function can be helpful; it returns the ASCII code for the character. The letter A returns the value 65, B returns 66, and so on. So, all you need to do to convert the letters into the numbers 1 through 12 is to use something like this:

=CODE(UPPER(MID(A1,3,1)))-64

The UPPER function is used to convert the month character to uppercase, just in case the code allows lowercase letters for months.

Another way of converting the months is to use the FIND function, in this manner:

=FIND(UPPER(MID(A1,3,1)),"ABCDEFGHIJKL",1)

This technique finds the character within the alphabetic string and returns the offset within that string, 1 through 12.

Either method of converting the months can then be used inside a DATE function to return a date based upon a year, month, and day. This example uses the CODE method, but you could just as easily use the FIND method:

=DATE(2000+RIGHT(A1,2),CODE(UPPER(MID(A1,3,1)))-64,LEFT(A1,2))

If there is the possibility that the coded dates could include some dates prior to 2000, then using the DATEVALUE function to put together the date will produce more accurate results:

=DATEVALUE(CODE(UPPER(MID(A1,3,1)))-64&"/"&LEFT(A1,2)&"/"&RIGHT(A1,2))

If you use the DATEVALUE approach, understand that the formula returns a date serial number and that you will need to format the cell to display the date as you would like it displayed.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (7163) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Excel (Excel 2007 and later) here: Converting Coded Dates into Real Dates.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Missing Top and Bottom Margins

You get your document set up just the way you want it, and then notice that all of a sudden Word doesn't show any top or ...

Discover More

Protecting Bookmarks

Bookmarks are a great boon in developing and working with documents--"until someone deletes them. When it comes to ...

Discover More

Changing Formatting for a Portion of Found Text

The Find and Replace capabilities of Word are quite powerful. If you want to change the formatting of just a part of text ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Deciphering a Coded Date

It is no secret that Excel allows you to work with dates in your worksheets. Getting your information into a format that ...

Discover More

Determining Month Names for a Range of Dates

Given a starting date and an ending date, you may want to generate the names of all the months between those two dates. ...

Discover More

Calculating Weekend Dates

Do you look forward to the weekend? Well, you can use Excel to let you know when the next weekend begins. Here's how you ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is one less than 9?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.