Importing Dates from Excel

Q: We are having a few issues with customers filling the [spreadsheet] properly for the date. Like 827/12 and it imported as 12/1/287. Is there any way to have the fields automatically demand the appropriate format to work with LIMS?

A: To ensure realistic dates are imported from Excel you can update your workbooks and add data validation to the date cells. Select the date cells in the workbook and use Data | Validation, set the Allow field to Date then enter an acceptable date range. You can also use formulas in the date range fields. For example, if the date should always be within the last 30 days use the formula =TODAY() – 30 in the Start date field and =TODAY() in the End date field. Add your own messages on the Input Message and Error Alert tabs.