Excel VBA: importing CSV with dates as dd/mm/yyyy - excel

Question

I understand this is a fairly common problem, but I'm yet to find a reliable solution.
I have data in a csv file with the first column formatted dd/mm/yyyy. When I open it with Workbooks.OpenText it defaults to mm/dd/yyyy until it figures out that what it thinks is the month exceeds 12, then reverts to dd/mm/yyyy.
This is my test code, which tries to force it as xlDMYFormat, and I've also tried the text format. I understand this problem only applies to *.csv files, not *.txt, but that isn't an acceptable solution.
Option Base 1
Sub TestImport()
Filename = "test.csv"
Dim ColumnArray(1 To 1, 1 To 2)
ColumnsDesired = Array(1)
DataTypeArray = Array(xlDMYFormat)
' populate the array for fieldinfo
For x = LBound(ColumnsDesired) To UBound(ColumnsDesired)
ColumnArray(x, 1) = ColumnsDesired(x)
ColumnArray(x, 2) = DataTypeArray(x)
Next x
Workbooks.OpenText Filename:=Filename, DataType:=xlDelimited, Comma:=True, FieldInfo:=ColumnArray
End Sub
test.csv contains:
Date
11/03/2010
12/03/2010
13/03/2010
14/03/2010
15/03/2010
16/03/2010
17/03/2010

Answer 1

I had the same problem with the .OpenText method. My Regional Settings are English - AU rather than NZ.
I found another thread that suggested using .open,
( http://www.pcreview.co.uk/forums/date-format-error-csv-file-t3960006.html )
so I tried that
Application.Workbooks.Open Filename:=strInPath, Format:=xlDelimited, Local:=True
and it worked.

Answer 2

I had the exact same problem. This is a function that coverts dd/mm/yyyy to mm/dd/yyyy. Just feed it one date at a time. Hope it helps.
Function convertDate(x As String) As Date
'convert a dd/mm/yyyy into mm/dd/yyyy'
Dim Xmonth
Dim XDay
Dim XYear
Dim SlashLocation
Dim XTemp As String
XTemp = x
SlashLocation = InStr(XTemp, "/")
XDay = Left(XTemp, SlashLocation - 1)
XTemp = Mid(XTemp, SlashLocation + 1)
SlashLocation = InStr(XTemp, "/")
Xmonth = Left(XTemp, SlashLocation - 1)
XTemp = Mid(XTemp, SlashLocation + 1)
XYear = XTemp
convertDate = Xmonth + "/" + XDay + "/" + XYear
End Function

Answer 3

At the end of your "Workbooks.OpenText" line, add Local:=True
Workbooks.OpenText filename:=filename, DataType:=xlDelimited, Comma:=True, FieldInfo:=ColumnArray, Local:=True
This worked on my pc when I changed my region to English(NZ).
EDIT: And now I see somebody else gave the same answer. :-)

Answer 4

Realise this is a little late, but if you combine the local and array qualifiers it should work correctly:
Workbooks.OpenText Filename:=FileName, _
FieldInfo:=Array(Array(1, 4), Array(2, 1)), Local:=True

Answer 5

I am trying to read in a txt file and use Australian date format dd/mm/yyyy but I do know if you are opening a text file with the Workbooks.Open function you can set the date to local.. by adding Local:=True
Ex
Workbooks.Open Filename:=VarOpenWorkbook, Local:=True
this works for me...

Answer 6

This seems to do the trick, but is still a hack. I will add a check that no dates in the range are more than one day apart, to make sure that data imported correctly as dd/mm/yyyy isn't reversed.
Question still open for a solution, rather than a method of patching up the problem.
Thanks to posts thus far.
Function convertDate(x As String) As Date
' treat dates as mm/dd/yyyy unless mm > 12, then use dd/mm/yyyy
' returns a date value
Dim aDate() As String
aDate = Split(x, "/")
If UBound(aDate) <> 2 Then
Exit Function
End If
If aDate(0) > 12 Then
d = aDate(0)
m = aDate(1)
Else
d = aDate(1)
m = aDate(0)
End If
y = aDate(2)
d = Lpad(d, "0", 2)
m = Lpad(m, "0", 2)
If Len(y) = 4 Then
Exit Function ' full year expected
End If
uDate = y & "-" & m & "-" & d & " 00:00:00"
convertDate = CDate(uDate)
End Function
Function Lpad(myString, padString, padLength)
Dim l As Long
l = Len(myString)
If l > padLength Then
padLength = l
End If
Lpad = Right$(String(padLength, padString) & myString, padLength)
End Function

Answer 7

The solutions i've used are;
Change the file name from .csv to .txt and then try importing again (but it sounds like this isn't appropriate
Change the region settings on your PC. If you're English, Australian, New Zealand etc and typically use dd/mm/yyyy then maybe Windows was installed incorrectly as US date formats etc.
Either import it all as text and then convert, or write some code to parse the file. Either way you'll need to ensure you're getting the right dates.This is where the Universal Date format and CDATE() can help you out.
The function below reads a string and changes it to a dd/mm/yyyy date. You'll have to format the cell as a date though. Please note that this will not help if you have imported the values as dates already.
You can use this in code or as a function (UDF) if you through it into a module.
Function TextToDate(txt As String) As Date
Dim uDate As String
Dim d, m, y As String
Dim aDate() As String
aDate = Split(txt, "/")
If UBound(aDate) <> 2 Then
Exit Function
End If
d = Lpad(aDate(0), "0", 2)
m = Lpad(aDate(1), "0", 2)
y = aDate(2)
If Len(y) = 2 Then ''# I'm just being lazy here.. you'll need to decide a rule for this.
y = "20" & y
End If
''# Universal Date format is : "yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss" this ensure no confusion on dd/mm/yy vs mm/dd/yy
''# VBA should be able to always correctly deal with this
uDate = y & "-" & m & "-" & d & " 00:00:00"
TextToDate = CDate(uDate)
End Function
Function Lpad(myString As String, padString As String, padLength As Long) As String
Dim l As Long
l = Len(myString)
If l > padLength Then
padLength = l
End If
Lpad = Right$(String(padLength, padString) & myString, padLength)
End Function

Answer 8

Here is the code... My first column is a DD/MM/YYYY date and the second column is text... The Array(1,4) is the key...
Workbooks.OpenText Filename:= _
"ttt.txt", Origin:=437, StartRow _
:=1, DataType:=xlDelimited, TextQualifier:=xlDoubleQuote, _
ConsecutiveDelimiter:=False, Tab:=False, Semicolon:=False, Comma:=True _
, Space:=False, Other:=False, FieldInfo:=Array(Array(1, 4), Array(2, 1)), _
TrailingMinusNumbers:=True
The value is recognised as a proper date... You need apply the format of DD/MM/YY to the first column after this.

Answer 9

What I just found out is, you have to assign your local date to variable type of Date. I don't understand why it helps, but it sure does.
dim xDate As Date
xDate = PresDate.Value ' it is my form object let say it has 03/09/2013
curRange.Value = xDate ' curRange is my cur cell
While transfering dd/mm/yyyy to xDate it remains dd/mm/yyyy and after putting it in excel doesn't change it. Why? I have no idea. But after many tries it helped. Hope it will help for many of people =)

Answer 10

Try this:
Workbooks.OpenText Filename:=Filename, DataType:=xlDelimited, Comma:=True
Excel should correctly interpret those date values as dates, even if you prefer a different formatting. After executing the OpenText method, determine which column contains the date values and change the formatting so that it suits you:
CsvSheet.Columns(1).NumberFormat = "dd/mm/yyyy"