From Ted French,
Your Guide to Spreadsheets.
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The DATE function, one of Excel's date and time functions has several uses for adding dates to a spreadsheet.

• It can be used to combine date elements from different locations.
• It can be used to convert dates to the computer's serial date.
• It can be used to ensure that imported dates are formatted correctly in a spreadsheet - such as a date or a number instead of text.

The syntax for the DATE function is:

= DATE( Year, Month, Day)

Year - enter the year as a four digit number or the cell reference where it is located.

Month - enter the year as a two digit number or the cell reference where it is located.

Day - enter the day as a two digit number or the cell reference where it is located.

Example Using Excel's DATE Function:

Note: To get the DATE function to return the computer's serial date, format the cell E1 as Number before entering the function.

• For help with this example, see the image to the right.

1. Enter the following data into cells D1 to D3: 2008 , 2 , 24.
   
   
2. Click on cell E1 - the location where the results will be displayed.
   
   
3. Click on the Formulas tab.
   
   
4. Choose Date & Time from the ribbon to open the function drop down list.
   
   
5. Click on DATE in the list to bring up the function's dialog box.
   
   
6. Click on the "Year" line in the dialog box.
   
   
7. Click on cell D1 to enter the cell reference into the dialog box.
   
   
8. Click on the "Month" line in the dialog box.
   
   
9. Click on cell D2 to enter the cell reference.
   
   
10. Click on the "Day" line in the dialog box.
    
    
11. Click on cell D3 to enter the cell reference.
    
    
12. Click OK.
    
    
13. The current date should appear in cell E1 in the format 2/24/2008.
    
    
14. When you click on cell E1 the complete function = DATE( Year, Month, Day) appears in the formula bar above the worksheet.

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