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Using the Format Cells Dialog Box 155
So that’s all you really need to know about making some sense of all those strange format codes that you see when you select the Custom category on the Number tab of the Format Cells dialog box.
Designing your own number formats
Armed with a little knowledge on the whys and wherefores of interpreting Excel number format codes, you are ready to see how to use these codes to create your own custom number formats. The reason for going through all that code business is that, in order to create a custom number format, you have to type in your own codes.
To create a custom format, follow this series of steps:
1. Open a worksheet and enter a sample of the values or text to which you will be applying the custom format.
If possible, apply the closest existing format to the sample value as you enter it in its cell. (For example, if you’re creating a derivative of a Currency format, enter it with the dollar sign, commas, and decimal points that you know you’ll want in the custom format.)
2. Open the Format Cells dialog box and use its categories to apply the closest existing number format to the sample cell.
3. Select Custom in the Category list box and then edit the codes applied by the existing number format that you chose in the Type list box until the value in the Sample section appears exactly as you want it.
What could be simpler? Ah, but Step 3, there’s the rub: editing weird format codes and getting them just right so that they produce exactly the kind of number formatting that you’re looking for!
Actually, creating your own number format isn’t as bad as it first sounds, because you “cheat” by selecting a number format that uses as many of the codes as possible that you need in the new custom number that you’re cre- ating. Then you use the Sample area to keep a careful eye on the results as you edit the codes in the existing number format. For example, suppose that you want to create a custom date format to use on the current date that you enter with Excel’s built-in NOW function. (See Book III, Chapter 3 for details.) You want this date format to display the full name of the current month (January, February, and so on), followed by two digits for the date and four digits for the year, such as November 06, 2013.
To do this, use the Function Wizard to insert the current date into a work- sheet cell; then with this cell selected, open the Format Cells dialog box and scroll down through the Custom category Type list box on the Number tab
Book II Chapter 2
Formatting Worksheets