Incorrect Handling of XLSX data

Incorrect Handling of XLSX data

Trying to import an XLSX schedule of bills into Zoho Books I ran across the problem of date formatting.

To replicate: Build a CSV file with bill dates in whatever format you like and import it  - this should work if you match the "dd/MM/yyy" etc. format drop down.

Save that same file as an XLSX and attempt to import it. The import will likely fail due to incorrect date formats. The reason this happens is Excel doesn't internally store dates as a string, rather as numeric value (number of days since 1/1/1970.)

The workaround is to explicitly set the date columns in your XLSX  as "Text" rather than "General" ( / "Date"). 

The problem with this approach is that if you wanted to do any date functions in your Excel sheet they will fail.

A much better solution would be to recognise that a file is an xlsx and allow the user to specify a format in the drop-down of "Excel Defined". The import the utility can then use the  raw "numeric" value stored in the spreadsheet, to correctly set the relevant fields date. Not only does this allow Excel date functions to be used, but it also removes the "Locale" challenges you encounter when relying on csv.





    Zoho Desk Resources

    • Desk Community Learning Series


    • Digest


    • Functions


    • Meetups


    • Kbase


    • Resources


    • Glossary


    • Desk Marketplace


    • MVP Corner


    • Word of the Day


      • Topic Participants

      • Simon

      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

        Zoho Books Resources


          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

            Zoho Projects Resources


              Zoho Sprints Resources


                Zoho Orchestly Resources


                  Zoho Creator Resources


                    Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                      Zoho Campaigns Resources

                        Zoho CRM Resources

                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                          CRM Community Learning Series


                        • Tips

                          Tips

                        • Functions

                          Functions

                        • Meetups

                          Meetups

                        • Kbase

                          Kbase

                        • Resources

                          Resources

                        • Digest

                          Digest

                        • CRM Marketplace

                          CRM Marketplace

                        • MVP Corner

                          MVP Corner




                          Zoho Writer Writer

                          Get Started. Write Away!

                          Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                            Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                              ご検討中の方

                                • Recent Topics

                                • Zoho Creator Upcoming Updates - December 2024

                                  Hi all, We're excited to be back with the latest updates and developments on the Creator platform. Here's what we're going over this month: Deluge AI assistance Rapid error messages in Deluge editor QR code & barcode generator Expandable RTF and multi
                                • Basic Price List Functionality Still Missing

                                  I am having a problem with the most simple imaginable pricing scenario - you buy cheap, add profit, then sell high. Or in less simplistic terms: business buys a product at a given cost, then adds predetermined percentage markup, and finally sells that
                                • How do I hire employees????

                                  Hi! I own a bookkeeping company, where a few of my clients use Zoho Books as their accounting platform . I started utilizing Zoho Practice to work on the books of my Zoho clients, some have Zoho One and some have Zoho Books plans. I just hired an employee,
                                • Advanced Framing Techniques

                                  I'm a construction professional passionate about optimizing building practices, and I want to share my insights on Advanced Framing Techniques with this forum. When I first learned about these methods, I was amazed at how much efficiency they bring to
                                • Automate data upload process like reports

                                  I'll start with the end in mind.  I want to basically keep certain creator tables updated with data that are in a sql database/tables in our office (employees, active jobs, employee positions) so I can reference that data and not have to duplicate it by hand every time someone adds a new job or employee in the office desktop software.  Here are some thoughts I had about how to do this, but am unsure as to whether any of them are actually possible and how to go about it from there: Is there any way
                                • Greylisted, try again after some time

                                  Can you check my ip, i send to duyna@vietlinkjsc.vn but have an error; my ip is 112.213.94.12 Here is log: 2018-01-09 09:40:29 H=mx.zoho.com [204.141.32.121] SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<duyna@vietlinkjsc.vn>: 451 4.7.1 Greylisted, try again after some time 2018-01-09 09:40:32 H=mx2.zoho.com [204.141.33.55] SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<duyna@vietlinkjsc.vn>: 451 4.7.1 Greylisted, try again after some time 2018-01-09 09:40:32 duyna@vietlinkjsc.vn R=lookuphost
                                • Zoho Sheet Custom function column showing Error #EVAL!

                                  Hello I have a custom function in Zoho Sheet developed to convert a date time from one time zone to another. The custom function takes date and time columns and then using subHour( ) converts the time to PST time. However, though the custom function works,
                                • Clear String field based on the value of other field

                                  Hello everyone, We would like to be able to clear a string field (delete whatever has been written and make it empty) when another field (picklist) is changed to a specific value. While I can empty other types of fields, I noticed that I can't do this
                                • Emails linked to Deal

                                  Hello everyone, I’d like to ask a question to see if someone can help me out. We are requesting availability from suppliers by sending emails directly from the Opportunity. These emails we send are logged within the Opportunity; however, when we receive
                                • How to transfer all my mails from Zoho to Gmail or Office 365

                                  is there any option to move my emails from zoho to gmail or office 365. i would like to export more than 25k emails from zoho to office 365 or gmail. can anyone help me to guide properly. this will help me to access my emails easily i have both account and can easily  do it with office 365 or gmail. i want two options. direct from zoho to office 365  or exported eml files from zoho to gmail. please suggest me both if possible 
                                • Inquiry Regarding Image Display Issue in Campaign Duplication

                                  We are currently using Zoho Campaigns for email distribution to our clients. I would like to inquire about an issue we encountered. When duplicating a previously created and sent campaign from the "All Campaigns" section, the images used in the header
                                • Make collecting payments from your customers in Bigin easier with payment links

                                  Greetings, Efficient payment collection is crucial for business success. Bigin already helps your businesses manage and sell products effectively, but we can further enhance this by making payment collection easier. This integrated payment feature lets
                                • New integrations for Bigin: Zoho Sign, SalesIQ, and Marketing Automation

                                  Greetings, We're excited to share new integrations that make Bigin more powerful and useful for your business! Zoho Sign for Bigin Zoho Sign now integrates seamlessly with Bigin, enabling you to sign, send, and manage contracts or agreements without leaving
                                • Add multiple users to a task

                                  When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman
                                • What is Attendee Status 0 and 1?

                                  Hi there, I recently stumbled upon the API to get the attendee list and in the return value, there is a parameter called "status", and 0 supposed to mean not_attending, and 1 means attending. I cannot find this representation anywhere in the attendee
                                • How to add a Data Updated As Of: dynamically in text?

                                  I need to add a "Data Updated As Of" in the dashboard to show when was the last date the data was updated. I tried to create a widget but it does not look really good, see below. Is there a way I can do this through the text widget and update it automatically
                                • ZOHO BackStage

                                  How to get list of events, using ZOHO BackStage APIs. Is it possible OR not?
                                • Email with attachments saving attachments into Zoho CRM from Zoho Mail

                                  Hi, I get a lot of emails from prospective clients asking if we would bid their project. Those projects usually have many documents associated with them that I link to.  I would like to have those documents be saved as an attachment in my Potential or Contact or Account. I don't see a way to do that that isn't multi-step. As of now I do the following: 1.) Open email 2.) If email sender isn't in my Zoho CRM database I enter them creating a Potential 3.) I download the attachment and save it to a different
                                • Directly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page

                                  Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevant
                                • Blueprint - Field Validation Criteria (During)

                                  When setting validation criteria elsewhere in Zoho, or even workflow criteria etc., there are Is Empty and Isn't Empty options.  Within the Field Validation Criteria within Blueprint, those options aren't available.  Is there a particular reason for this? 
                                • Request For Quotation (RFQ) module

                                  Hello, Do you have any plans to implement a RFQ module in to ZOHO Inventory? I would like to chose items that I require a price for, select a number of different suppliers to e-mail and have them submit there pricing online. I would then like to see a
                                • How to Customize Task Creation to Send a Custom Alert Using JavaScript in Zoho CRM?

                                  Hello Zoho CRM Community, I’m looking to customize Zoho CRM to send a custom alert whenever a task is created. I understand that Zoho CRM supports client scripts using JavaScript, and I would like to leverage this feature to implement the alert functionality.
                                • Client Script - mapping data from different module

                                  Dear ZOHO Team Firstly I need to describe the need - I need to have data from Contacts module based on lookup field - the 5 map limit is not enough for me because I have almost 20 fields to copy So I have decided to make a Customer Script - and from unknown
                                • Lookup Fields not Converting

                                  I manage holiday properties. I have a lookup to the Accounts (Properties) in the Leads module. The lookup is connected to the property address field. When I convert it the lookup field does not update in Deals, although the property address does. There
                                • Zoho Meeting iOS app update - Join breakout rooms, access polls, paste links and join sessions, in session host controls

                                  Hello, everyone! In the latest iOS version(v1.7) of the Zoho Meeting app, we have brought in support for the following features: Polls in meeting session Join Breakout rooms Paste link in join meeting screen Foreign time zone in the meeting details screen.
                                • Calculate hours between 2 date/time fields

                                  Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible to get the number of hours between 2 date/time fields in a zoho crm custom function? Thanks, Michael
                                • External ID validation.

                                  I added an external ID field as below in one of my custom modules: When creating records via the API using some value (eg: 762115b2-097e-43b2-bdba-f3924a5371a6) for this field, it works without any problem. I can create and even see the records on the
                                • Sales Order, what are the statuses under Confirmed and Closed

                                  Hi, I have to build a workflow in Deluge which should be triggered when Sales Order status is Confirmed or Closed. But these 2 states don't exist when you fetch a sales order. Which of the statuses are considered as Confirmed or Closed ? Here is a list
                                • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                  Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                • Not able to change colors help center

                                  Hi. How can I change the orange color in the help center? You can change everything besides this font color And how can I remove the part on the bottom?
                                • Remove Address from credit card payment

                                  I would like to remove the need to add address when paying by credit card. I only want the customer to have to add their credit card details.
                                • Copy Widget to another Dashboard

                                  I can see the option to clone a widget to the same dashboard but is it possible to copy it to another dashboard?
                                • Create a button that executes a customized function

                                  Hello, I have created a summary view in which I combine the data from my items table and suppliers table. I would like to know if there is the possibility of adding a button somewhere in the view to be able to execute a function when clicked on it. I
                                • Whatsapp reply not reflected under Tickets for offline agent

                                  Hi, We are encountering a situation where WA response from customer is not reflected under tickets (if the agent handling the case previously is not active due to off day/ MC). The ticket will remain in the offline agent's queue until agent is back to
                                • Custom field doesn't fill when converting sales order to invoice

                                  Hi, When I convert a Sales Order to an Invoice one of the custom fields on a product line names "Subsidie" does not seem to fill in automatically. I manually have to select the product again by clicking on the product name in the order line en re-select
                                • Can I use ZOHO calendar to schedule a Youtube video that is already in my youtube account, but listed as private or unlisted?

                                  I am creating Youtube videos and shorts and then uploading them to our Channel so others can view and approve. Once approved I would like to just schedule them over the next few days within Zoho. So far it looks like I have to re-upload the video to Zoho
                                • How to Display a Logo Image on a Public Form?

                                  I would like to display a logo image in the header of a form. To achieve this, I added an Add Notes field to the form. The code below works perfectly for Zoho users accessing the form. However, when the form is made public, the image does not load properly:
                                • Advice for my first project in Zoho

                                  Hello, how can I design and implement a customized ERP and CRM system using Zoho to automate and manage core business functions, including customer relationship management, property inventory, sales tracking, and financial processes. This is one of my
                                • Associate Email API Internal Error

                                  I am trying to associate an already existing email within a function using the Related Emails API. To provide more context, I also have admin permissions and have ensured that the fields are correct and that I have admin permissions when associating the
                                • Profit on Sales order

                                  Hi, would it be possible to implement a column at the Sales order overview of Purchase amount? So a field with the amount of all purchase related to this Sales order? This is very usefull so you will see the profit you made on this deal. I tried to get
                                • Next Page