Re:Cursed Excel: "1/2"+1=45660
by recursive on Monday April 07, 2025 @02:23PM
(#43614399)
I would not make any default determination until and unless there was a proactive user action. If there is any value that doesn't round trip through string serialization, don't allow it to be coerced without the user deciding to allow it, explicitly.
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You know that many users of Excel enter numbers into the cells and then do arithmetic calculations with them right?
No, but I think it's a lot. I'd bet that the vast majority of those round-trip through string serialization, requiring no further user action based on my recommendation.
Disagree, the most common way for an experienced user to type a date into Excel is as a partial date if it is this year, eg 4-Apr, which is instantly converted to 04/04/2025 or whatever.
The vast majority of dates I personally type into Excel would be in this form.
Format the column as date. Or turn on the global option for loose type insanity.