Calendar dates don't display properly

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#1

Calendar dates don’t sort or display correctly when importing CSV files. Example:

|31/10/2025|05:50:12|PDT|
|31/10/2025|05:50:12|PDT|
|31/10/2025|05:50:12|PDT|
|2025-03-11|08:57:41|PST|
|2025-10-11|18:45:29|PST|
|13/11/2025|09:53:13|PST|
|2025-03-12|15:55:14|PST|
|2025-03-12|15:55:14|PST|
|2025-03-12|15:55:14|PST|

This bug has been there for at least 10 years. Is there anyway that it can be sorted out properly? The end result works OK, but it’s really clumsy to work with (and doesn’t impress the clients!)

#2

I don’t think it’s a bug, but rather a matter of selecting the right options.

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#3

Thanks for the interest. The basic text import appears to be OK, all in correct order, everything in order - but in “MDY” format (which is in itself clumsy to work with). It’s after L/O “YMD” display format is selected that the resulting display is as you see it. In other words, L/O mucks it up after changing the display format. It appears to be that the underlying tools are mostly unchanged since OO/LO took over the application from Oracle/Sun 25 or so years ago. I’m guessing that since the Europeans never use ISO dates that perhaps they’ve never noticed that something’s out of date! FWIW, Excel can manage the task, but I prefer using L/O (except for this bug). I just don’t know how to bring it to the attention of the boffins in the back room.

My solution is to do all the work in L/O, save the file, and then open it in Excel so it displays correctly. But it should be fixed.

#4

One import step missaed… The date column is still in Text format

  • in the text import dialog find the date column in the import preview at the bottom.
  • select the date column and then select Column type: Date(D/M/Y) This converts the column data from text with format “dd/mm/yyyy” to the default date format (probably “mm/dd/yy”). You can change the date format using the regular “format cells” method after importing.

This can also be done after the import by selecting the date column then:

  • goto Data tab menu
  • select “Text to columns”
  • in the dialog window, follow the process described above

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