DATEVALUE
returns the date-time serial number, from a date given as text.
Syntax:
DATEVALUE(datetext)
datetext is a date, expressed as text. DATEVALUE returns the date-time serial number, which may be formatted to read as a date.
Example:
DATEVALUE("2021-12-15")
returns 44545, the date-time serial number for 15 Dec 2021 (assuming the default date-time starting date)
Application:
Imagine you are a small business owner and you've exported a list of customer orders from your e-commerce platform. The "Order Date" column has been exported as text, and you want to calculate the number of days between the order date and the shipping date.
Problem: The "Order Date" column is stored as text, so you can't perform simple subtraction to find the difference between two dates.
Solution: Use the DATEVALUE function to convert the text dates into serial numbers.
Table:
Order ID | Order Date (Text) | Shipping Date | Order Date (Serial) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1001 | 1-Jan-2025 | 1/5/2025 | 45658 | |
1002 | 15-Jan-2025 | 1/18/2025 | 45672 | |
1003 | 28-Jan-2025 | 2/1/2025 | 45685 |
For the first row, the formula would be:
DATEVALUE("1-Jan-2025")
This formula would convert the text string "1-Jan-2025" into its corresponding serial number, which is 45658.
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