Microsoft fixes the Excel function that was wrecking scientific knowledge

World Courant

In 2020, scientists determined simply to transform the alphanumeric symbols they used to signify genes relatively than attempt to cope with an Excel function that was deciphering their names as dates and (un)helpfully reformatting them mechanically. Yesterday, a member of the Excel workforce posted that the corporate is rolling out an replace on Home windows and macOS to repair that.

Excel’s computerized conversions are meant to make it simpler and sooner to enter sure forms of generally entered knowledge — numbers and dates, as an illustration. However for scientists utilizing fast shorthand to make issues legible, it may spoil printed, peer-reviewed knowledge, as a 2016 examine discovered.

Microsoft detailed the replace in a weblog put up this week, including a checkbox labeled “Convert steady letters and numbers to a date.” You may in all probability guess what that toggles. The replace builds on the Computerized Information Conversions settings the corporate added final yr, which included the choice for Excel to warn you when it is about to get further useful and allow you to load your file with out computerized conversion so you possibly can guarantee nothing will likely be screwed up by it.

The up to date Excel settings. Picture: Microsoft

Microsoft’s weblog provides caveats, comparable to that Excel avoids the conversion by saving the information as textual content, which suggests the information could not work for calculations later. There’s additionally a recognized situation the place you possibly can’t disable the conversions when operating macros.

Microsoft fixes the Excel function that was wrecking scientific knowledge

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