XL2000: TEXT(MONTH(NOW()),"mmm") Always Returns "Jan"

When you nest the TEXT(), MONTH(), and NOW() functions as in the following example Microsoft Excel will always return the result "Jan."

When you format a number using a date format (such as "mmm"), Excel interprets the number as the serial representation of the date. The number returned by the MONTH() function is always in the range of 1 through 12, representing the months of the year.

In the following example, the current date is assumed to be February 1, 1995.

On a worksheet, type the following formula in a cell: If the current date is 2/1/1995, the function MONTH(NOW()) correctly returns the value of 2. This is equivalent to MONTH(34731) because 2/1/1995 is the 34731st day after 1/1/1900. TEXT(MONTH(NOW()),"mmm") evaluates to the same value as TEXT(2,"mmm"), because 2 is the serial representation of 1/2/1900. Therefore, it returns "Jan."

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language being demonstrated and the tools used to create and debug procedures. Microsoft support professionals can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific needs.
If you have limited programming experience, you may want to contact a Microsoft Certified Partner or Microsoft Advisory Services. For more information, visit these Microsoft Web sites:

Microsoft Certified Partners - https://partner.microsoft.com/global/30000104

Microsoft Advisory Services - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/advisoryservice

For more information about the support options that are available and about how to contact Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-US;CNTACTMS To format a date as a month, do not use the MONTH() function in the formula, as illustrated in the following examples.

To enter the formula directly in a worksheet, type the following formula in a cell: The text string "Feb" is returned.

To use the formula in a Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications procedure (this particular example illustrates how to display the current month as a text string in a message box), type the following Sub procedure in a module: