DATETIME Function

Returns the date and time value represented by datetime or expression.

Syntax

DATETIME(" datetime "| expression [, lcid ])

Parameters

Name	Required/Optional	Data Type	Description
datetime	Required	String	Any string commonly recognized as a date and time or a reference to a cell containing a date and time.
expression	Required	String	Any expression that yields a date and time.
lcid	Optional	Number	Specifies the locale identifier to be used in evaluating a non-local datetime. The locale identifier is a number described in the system header files.

Return value

Datetime

Remarks

If datetime is missing or cannot be interpreted as a valid date or time, DATETIME returns a #VALUE! error.

The returned value is formatted according to the short date style and time style in the system's current Regional Settings.

The DATETIME function also accepts a single number value for expression where the integer portion of the result represents the number of days since December 30, 1899, and the decimal portion represents the fraction of a day since midnight.

Example 1

DATETIME("May 30, 1997")+5 ed.

Returns the value representing 6/4/1997.

Example 2

FORMAT(DATETIME("5/20/1997 14:30:45"),"C")

Returns the string "Tuesday, May 20, 1997 2:30:45 PM."

Example 3

DATETIME("1:30 PM July 19")

Returns the value representing 7/19/2001 1:30:00 PM (assuming the current year is 2001).

Example 4

DATETIME(35580.6337)

Returns the value representing 5/30/1997 3:12:32 PM.