Have formula treat value as text, not numeric - excel

Question

I have an Excel formula reading data from a column. The data in that column is sometimes a date-like format, such as "10-11". Despite the fact that I've ensured that column is text formatted -- and all values display correctly as plain text, not reinterpreted as dates -- the formula is basically reinterpreting them as dates in the reference.
I need a way to force the formula's cell reference to interpret the cell as text. I tried TEXT(A1, "#") but it doesn't work -- it gives the numeric value of the date.

Answer 1

Brian Camire's answer explains why, but here's a worksheet function that will work for you. Note that you have to create that numeric array in it based on how long the longest string will be. It's an array formula, so when you first enter it you have to hit CTRL-SHIFT-ENTER, then you can click and drag it down the column.
=LEFT(A1, MATCH(FALSE, ISNUMBER(VALUE(MID(A1, {1,2,3,4,5}, 1))),0) - 1)

Answer 2

Short answer: When referring to number-like (or date-like) text values in a formula, don't use them in a place in the formula where Excel is expecting a number.
Long answer: Even if the source column is formatted as text and the values in the source column are truly entered as text (and not numbers, including dates), Excel may automatically convert text values to numbers (including dates) when you reference them in a formula if you use them in a place where Excel is expecting a number (or date).
For example (assuming US date formats), in a blank worksheet:
Set the format for column A to Text.
In cell A1, enter the value 10-11.
In cell B1, enter the formula =T(A1). The T() worksheet function returns the supplied value if it is text. Otherwise, it returns an empty string. The result of the formula in cell B1 should be 10-11, indicating that the value of A1 is text, not a number or date (in which case the result would be an empty string).
In cell C1, enter the formula =A1.
In cell D1, enter the formula =T(C1). The result should also be 10-11, indicating that the value of the formula in C1 is text, not a number or date. This shows that you can (sometimes) use a text value that looks like a number (or date) in a formula and have Excel treat it as text (which is what you want).
In cell E1, enter the formula =A1+0. The result will be 40827. This is the numeric value of the date October 11, 2011. This shows that you can (sometimes) use a text value that looks like a number (or date) in a formula and Excel will automatically convert it to a number (which is what you observed) if you use it in a place (like on either side of the + operator) where Excel is expecting a number.

Answer 3

To insert a value into a cell and have it not be auto-formatted, and just treated as text, you can enter it like this:
=("cell data")
eg:
=("[phone]")

Answer 4

When you use &"", Excel converts the results of a formula to text (like *1 would convert to numbers).
Thus, you can use this formula:
=TEXT(A1;"jj-mm")&""

Answer 5

If you put a single quote in front of the text in the cell, it should be represented as text on all references:
'10-11

Answer 6

Just add zero to the input!
I was having a similar problem where I had a list of numbers with a text prefix (like FOO-1, FOO-25, FOO-979) but I just wanted the number part (1, 25, 979) so I could run another formula off of that. I was using SUBSTITUTE to replace the text portion with blank, but my other formula using these numbers was coming up with bogus results. I ended up making my formula like this:
=SUBSTITUTE(B1:B10,"FOO-","")+0, and now the ISNUMBER is saying TRUE where before it was saying FALSE.

Answer 7

In my case, I have a form worksheet that is used by dealers to ad parts and have it calculate the final cost; it references a locked "products" sheet. The problem is that I had no way of controlling what they entered.
Products can be like:
101 = A true number
7-2009 = Reads as date
7-5601-RT = TEXT/NUMBER reads as both number or text (NOT SOLVED YET)
CP6072CD = reads as plain text
I have most of this figured out; the only one that isn't is the one that reads as both text/Number.
In case anyone is looking for a similar solution, i did the following:
I created three additional columns to test and display the three different cases: "NUMBER", "DATE" , "TEXT".
DATE: =NOT(ISERROR(DATEVALUE(B42)))
ISOTHER: =(ISNUMBER(--(MID(B42,ROW(INDIRECT("1:"&LEN(B42))),1))))
NUMBER: =ISNUMBER(B42)
NUMBER/TEXT: =NOT SOLVED YET
I42 = DATE
J42 = NUMBER
K42 = OTHER
L42 = TEXT
M42 = THE RESULT OF THE QUERY BELOW
=IF(AND(I42 = FALSE, J42 = FALSE, K42 = TRUE), "NUMBER", IF(AND( I42 = TRUE, J42= FALSE, K42=TRUE), "DATE", "TEXT"))
This (ABOVE) tests all the true/false results and depending on what the value turns out to be, I format each of them using:
ISNUMBER = VALUE(B42)
DATE FORMATTED AS B42*1
ELSE TEXT - AS ORIGINAL
=IF(M42 = "NUMBER", VALUE(B42), IF(M42 = "DATE", B42*1, B42))
So now I just need to figure out how to test if something is both text and number because the 7-5601-RT tests out as the same as number: "FALSE, FALSE, TRUE, TRUE"