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How to Change Date Format

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:17 am
by Da80th
hi Stan,

I export WNH Sum to Excel for further analyze and I need to change the current date format from EL:

03/05/07 Mon
03/06/07 Tue
03/07/07 Wed
03/08/07 Thu
03/09/07 Fri

to:

03/05/07
03/06/07
03/07/07
03/08/07
03/09/07

I searched but coudn't find any information on this topic. Any idea how to change to this standard format so that Excel can recognize it?

Thanks,


Da80th

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:30 am
by PadawanLotto
[quote=Da80th]
hi Stan,

I export WNH Sum to Excel for further analyze and I need to change the current date format from EL:

03/05/07 Mon
03/06/07 Tue
03/07/07 Wed
03/08/07 Thu
03/09/07 Fri

to:

03/05/07
03/06/07
03/07/07
03/08/07
03/09/07

I searched but coudn't find any information on this topic. Any idea how to change to this standard format so that Excel can recognize it?

Thanks,


Da80th
[/quote]
The Text Import Wizard is the greatest and I suggest that it be one of the first things to learn how to work with when starting out with MS/Excel.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 12:40 am
by PadawanLotto
You will have to rename your headers but you won't have to edit tons of data.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:00 am
by PadawanLotto
Working even further with Excel.

Found the Answer

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:04 am
by Da80th
Thanks PadawanLotto,

I did tried that but you must go throught same steps each time you export the file, so I am thinking Stan must think of this ahead of time when he put this program together and there must be some setting hiding somwhere.

Anyway, I found the setting for those who interested. There are two ways to change this setting:

Open the folder of your lotto game, e.g. Fantasy5_CA, open the Properties file of your lotto game, e.g. Fantasy5_CA and scroll down to near the middle of the file and find:

!settings.property.wn.day.count!
wn.day.count=7

Short draw day label (1)
wn.day.label.short.1=Sun

Short draw day label (2)
wn.day.label.short.2=Mon

Short draw day label (3)
wn.day.label.short.3=Tue

Short draw day label (4)
wn.day.label.short.4=Wed

Short draw day label (5)
wn.day.label.short.5=Thu

Short draw day label (6)
wn.day.label.short.6=Fri

Short draw day label (7)
wn.day.label.short.7=Sat


just delete the Date (in Bold) and save the file. Restart your ExpertLotto and new setting will show just standard date format.

Second way is longer so I won't mention it here, but you can also change your lotto setting from Lottery -> Manager -> Edit Settings......


Da80th

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 1:25 am
by PadawanLotto
You need to explain more as I can't open the property file, it asks for the program that created the file. I can view the file with WinRAR and do what you suggest.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 3:29 am
by Da80th
[quote=PadawanLotto]
You need to explain more as I can't open the property file, it asks for the program that created the file. I can view the file with WinRAR and do what you suggest.
[/quote]


hi PadawanLotto,

You can use Notepad to open the Properties file, it just a text file format. Right click and select Open with...., then use Notepad to open the file.


Da80th

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 4:01 am
by Da80th
You can also make changes from Lottery -> Manager -> Edit Settings -> Edit labels and color settings -> Next. Under Show settings for: select Winning Numbers.

Scroll down to near the bottom and delete the date (Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri, Sat) on the right side.

Short draw day label (1) Sun
Short draw day label (2) Mon
Short draw day label (3) Tue
Short draw day label (4) Wed
Short draw day label (5) Thur
Short draw day label (6) Fri
Short draw day label (7) Sat



Save your setting and restart EL.


Da80th

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:24 pm
by stan
there are a couple for date format fields in your lottery settings file.

the following two properties define the date format. see here for field descriptions: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api ... ormat.html
[m]
wn.pattern.date.short=MM/dd/yy

wn.pattern.date.long=MMMM d, yyyy
[/m]

then they are combined together with 'day' names to create the full draw date label:

[m]
wn.pattern.description.short=%SHORT_DATE% %SHORT_DAY%

wn.pattern.description.long=%LONG_DATE% %LONG_DAY%
[/m]

so try modifying the fields above to get the format you're looking for

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:32 pm
by stan
btw, you shouldn't modify the <lottery name>.properties file unless you know what you're doing. always make a backup file first, as the lottery may fail to load after changing some property value!

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:34 pm
by Da80th
[quote=stan]

there are a couple for date format fields in your lottery settings file.

... so try modifying the fields above to get the format you're looking for
[/quote]


Thanks Stan for the tips.

Honestly I like the original date format, but I regularly export WHN-Summary file to Excel and that's when I need to modified the date column so that Excel can understand it.

Anyway, is there a way to modify the setting so that when export to excel it shows standard date format but still show the original date format within ExpertLotto?

Thanks again,


Da80th

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:38 pm
by Midas
Why such unnecessary complexity, keep it simple and consistent please.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:39 pm
by stan
[quote=Da80th]
[quote=stan]

there are a couple for date format fields in your lottery settings file.

... so try modifying the fields above to get the format you're looking for
[/quote]


Thanks Stan for the tips.

Honestly I like the original date format, but I regularly export WHN-Summary file to Excel and that's when I need to modified the date column so that Excel can understand it.

Anyway, is there a way to modify the setting so that when export to excel it shows standard date format but still show the original date format within ExpertLotto?

Thanks again,


Da80th
[/quote]

i'm afraid that all 'table' exports from expert lotto just use whatever values are displayed in table cells...