XL97: "am/pm" Changed to "AM/PM" in Custom Number Format (170617)

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Excel 97 for Windows

This article was previously published under Q170617

SYMPTOMS

If you open a workbook created in an earlier version of Microsoft Excel, and the workbook contains time data, the formatting for time data in cells or in charts may be changed from "am/pm" to "AM/PM". For example, if you create the time "1:00 am" (without the quotation marks) in cell A1 and you open the workbook in Microsoft Excel 97, cell A1 displays "1:00 AM" (without the quotation marks).

CAUSE

Microsoft Excel 97 does not support custom number formats that use "am/pm" in lowercase. For example, the following format is not supported:

   h:mm am/pm

RESOLUTION

To display "am/pm" in lowercase, change the number formatting to a format similar to the following

   h:mm a/p"m"

including the quotation marks.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

REFERENCES

For more information about custom number formats, click the Index tab in Microsoft Excel Help, type the following text

   number formats, in cells

and then double-click the selected text to go to the "Custom number, date, and time format codes" topic.

Modification Type:	Major	Last Reviewed:	10/21/2000
Keywords:	kbprb KB170617