How to Manage Dates and Times

How to store Dates and Times in Excel

Dates and times are stored in cells as numbers. Thus, the values of cells that contain dates and times are numeric. A number that specifies a date and time consists of the date (integer part) and time (fractional part) components. The Cell.DoubleValue property returns this number.

How to Display Dates and Times in Aspose.Cells

To display a number as a date and time, apply the required date and time format to a cell via the Style.getNumber() or Style.Custom property. The CellValue.DateTimeValue property returns the DateTime object, which specifies the date and time represented by the number contained in a cell.

How to switch two date systems in Aspose.Cells

MS Excel stores dates as numbers that are called serial values. A serial value is an integer that is the number of elapsed days from the first day in the date system. Excel supports the following date systems for serial values:

1. The 1900 date system – The first date is January 1, 1900, and its serial value is 1. The last date is December 31, 9999, and its serial value is 2,958,465. This date system is used in the workbook by default.
2. The 1904 date system – The first date is January 1, 1904, and its serial value is 0. The last date is December 31, 9999, and its serial value is 2,957,003. To use this date system in the workbook, set the WorkbookSettings.getDate1904() property to true.

This example shows that the serial values stored on the same date in different date systems are different.

Output result:

A1 is Numeric Value: 45253  
use The 1904 date system====================  
A2 is Numeric Value: 43791  

How to Set DateTime Value in Aspose.Cells

This example sets a DateTime value in cells A1 and A2, applies a custom format to A1 and a number format to A2, and then outputs the value types.

Output result:

A1 is Numeric Value: True  
Cell A1 contains a DateTime value.  
A2 is Numeric Value: True  
Cell A2 contains a DateTime value.  

How to Get DateTime Value in Aspose.Cells

This example sets a DateTime value in cells A1 and A2, applies a custom format to A1 and a number format to A2, checks the value types of both cells, and then outputs the DateTime value and the formatted string.

Output result:

A1 is Numeric Value: True  
Cell A1 contains a DateTime value.  
A1 DateTime Value: 11/23/2023 5:59:09 PM  
A1 DateTime String Value: 11-23-23 17:59:09  
A2 is Numeric Value: True  
Cell A2 contains a DateTime value.  
A2 DateTime Value: 11/23/2023 5:59:09 PM  
A2 DateTime String Value: 11/23/2023 17:59