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Cell data types revert to previous

I formatted a column to 'date & time' but found the sum formula resulted in an error. So I changed the column cells, all of them, to 'duration'. Then the fun began.


When I deselected and reselected a cell, it had reverted to 'date & time' and it did so repeatedly. I couldn't make it change to 'duration'. So I deleted the column, formatted a new column to 'duration' and re-entered the numbers. Momentarily, the sum calculation worked, but then as soon as I clicked on a cell it changed to 'date & time' and the sum cell produced an odd result. Then I looked again and the cell was changing my entry '0:40' to '0.01', with the sum cell changing to match. After many attempts I failed to make the cell retain my '0:40' entry.


This is quite bizarre!


I copied the cells containing narratives and deleted all the rows I'd been working on. Then I pasted the narratives into new lines, formatted the next column to 'duration' and manually typed in the entries. Magically, by the time I entered the sum formula at the bottom of the column, the cell types had changed themselves to 'date and time' and nothing I did would make them change back to 'duration'.


What's going on? This feels like Microsoft, not Apple!

iMac 27", macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 17, 2019 10:39 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 18, 2019 3:49 PM

I mentioned that I was adding up the periods of time in the column. That's why I wanted to change the data type from 'data & time' to 'duration'.


The problem was that data types reverted to the previously selected type or changed to the data type of deleted cells.


But since I closed the file and reopened it later, the data types and function are working. I would still like to know why, but at least it's working now. Thanks for your interest, SG.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 18, 2019 3:49 PM in response to SGIII

I mentioned that I was adding up the periods of time in the column. That's why I wanted to change the data type from 'data & time' to 'duration'.


The problem was that data types reverted to the previously selected type or changed to the data type of deleted cells.


But since I closed the file and reopened it later, the data types and function are working. I would still like to know why, but at least it's working now. Thanks for your interest, SG.

Oct 18, 2019 5:37 AM in response to tupppi

Though they can be formatted to look similar, Date & Time and Duration are not interchangeable in Numbers.


Date & Time is a string that defines a specific point in time. Duration measures the time between two points in time.


So it would be helpful to understand what are you trying to do. Can you give some details, perhaps a screenshot?


SG




Cell data types revert to previous

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