N8n spreadsheet node date string being converted to digits

[paul2000]

Hi All, I have a date value as a string that I want to pass into the spreadsheet node. The issue is after being put into the spreadsheet the date is being changed from a string like this 06/11/2024 13:01:26 into a format like this 45454.31154. My question is how do I stop the date from being changed from the original string value. Thank you, Paul

[n8n]

It looks like your topic is missing some important information. Could you provide the following if applicable.

• n8n version:
• Database (default: SQLite):
• n8n EXECUTIONS_PROCESS setting (default: own, main):
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[barn4k]

hello @paul2000

Can you please share a workflow?

The value 45454.31154 is actually a date 06/11/2024 in excel

[paul2000]

Hi barn4K, Thank you for your reply, I can’t really drop in the workflow as I have live customer data in it, but I can share a screenshot.

I can include an edited version of the output from the set node. To get over the issue in the short term I have added a " ’ " to make the date string remain as text and not digits. I then have removed the ’ with inline regex when I need to read the data. Here is the set node output: `

[
{
"key": 
"2280147",
"buyerid": 
"XXXXXXXX",
"sellerid": 
null,
"fullname": 
"Mrs XXXXX",
"date_hit": 
"'06/11/2024 13:40:35",
"url": 
"https://www.XXXXX"
}
]

[barn4k]

Where did you get the Spreadsheet node? n8n doesn’t have such a built-in node. Use the Extract from File node with Extract from XLSX operation instead.

[paul2000]

Thanks barn4k, The spreadsheet node came from previous versions of n8n. I guess it as been updated to the node you mentioned. For the write part of my flow, which node should I use to replace the spreadsheet write node. This is the the one after the merge?

[barn4k]

For writing there is a node Convert to File

[paul2000]

Thanks barn4k, I will update my workflow to use the new nodes.

[paul2000]

Hi barn4k, I was wonder why you recommended the XLSX file type, but having test with CSV as well I think I can see why. CSV seems to be a big buggy. I tried really hard, but the first column seems to produce irregular results, but when I switched to XLSX exactly the same workflow seems to keep count just fine. Is there a known issue with CSV files in n8n please? Thank you

[barn4k]

CSV should also work