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Posted: **Fri Dec 12, 2025 1:42 pm**

Hello everyone,

Is it possible to import an Excel file without having to hardcode the start date? For example, if I have the following code

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import(page=DATA) %data range ="Sheet1" @freq q 1980

My question is this: Is there a way to get around having to add 1980 and automatically detect the start and end dates of the sheet?

For reference, the data looks like this (note the second and third series begin in 1990)

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quarter	sales	laborforce	household 
Q1-80	813038		
Q2-80	795216		
Q3-80	815587		
Q4-80	850848		
Q1-81	856297		
Q2-81	902501		
Q3-81	899384		
Q4-81	890007

Posted: **Sun Dec 14, 2025 3:17 pm**

Not with the non-standard date format you have. If the dates are written in a standard format, EViews will generally interpret it just fine.

A possible work around would be to import the file into a new EViews page, completely undated, then create a date series based on the date format you are using, and then copy from that new page to your actual destination page.

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2025 9:49 am**

Thanks, Gareth.

Is there a standard format that would work quarterly dates?

1980Q1? 1980-Q1? etc.

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2025 11:44 am**

1980Q1 should work. But also just the date of the first day of the quarter.

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2025 11:59 am**

You could also probably get away with this, with your initial format:

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import(page=data) %data @id @date(@dateval(quarter,"[Q]Q[-]YY")) @destid @date

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2025 2:19 pm**

Thanks, Gareth!

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Automatic date selection from Excel import

Automatic date selection from Excel import

Re: Automatic date selection from Excel import

Re: Automatic date selection from Excel import

Re: Automatic date selection from Excel import

Re: Automatic date selection from Excel import

Re: Automatic date selection from Excel import