4.8.1.2 The (Column Properties)Properties Tab

Accepts only numeric values.

Accepts any alphanumeric characters. Values in a text column are treated as text, and cannot be used in calculations, except in some circumstances, when additionally setting a column as Categorical.

By default, a Text cell holds 49 characters, but this is increased to a maximum of 799 characters (a) as more characters are entered in the cell or (b) by changing the value of wks.col.tWidth. By contrast, a Text & Numeric cell can hold up to 3799 characters.

Origin stores Time data internally as days where the fractional part of a number represents the fraction of a day. The display of this data in a column is controlled by the Display control setting. Input of data to a Time column or conversion of Text data to Time should match the formatting in the Display control.

Origin stores Date data internally as days since January 1, 4713 BCE where the fractional part of a number represents the fraction of a day. Just how this number displays in the column is controlled by the Display control setting. Input of data to a Date column or conversion of Text data to Date should match the formatting in the Display control. Direct entry of Dates may use Window's Short Date and Long Date formats with some flexibility - e.g. 1/28/86, 1-28-1986, 1.28.1986, Jan 28 86, Tuesday January 28 1986 are all accepted. Origin will also resolve ambiguities using the current date - e.g. enter Jan and Origin would use the current day and year to complete the entry.

Note that beginning with version 2019, Origin supports two alternate date-time systems -- one a true, unadjusted Julian Day system and the other, a "2018" system in which "time-zero" = Jan 1 2018 00:00.

Accepts only month values. You can enter months as numeric values (1 - 12) or text values. The text may be abbreviated as long as the character(s) represents a unique month. For example, N for November, but Jun for June to differentiate from Jul for July.

Accepts only days of the week. Enter day as:

• numerical value 0 - 6, Sun = 0 and Sat = 6.

Or

• text values. The text may be abbreviated as long as the character(s) represents a unique day. For example, M for Monday, but Tu for Tuesday to differentiate from Th' for Thursday.

This is the default data type for all column designations except for "label". Accepts any alphanumeric characters. However, the text values are treated as missing values for all worksheet operations (such as plotting data points and performing mathematical operations), except where cell values are retrieved as text (such as plotting a data label).

Notes:

• The default column type in post-Origin 6.0 worksheets is Text & Numeric, whereas the default column type in previous versions was Numeric with an internal data type of Double(8).
• If you would prefer that columns in new worksheets to be Numeric type instead of Text & Numeric, select the Use Numeric as Preferred Column Type box in the Options dialog box (Preference: Options: Miscellaneous).

Set Column Format to Color:

• If fill 1-24 munber to the cells of this column, cell background color will show the corresponding color in the Origin default color list.

• If fill HTML color code to cells of this column, cell background color will be changed to the corresponding color.

• If cell is invalid value, it shows white.

When you have shown the cell background color, you can check the Display Color Value check box to show the color values as text in the column. By default, the text color is Auto which means automatically show complementary color of the cell color. You can also use the Font Color toolbar to choose another color.

Only two values (1 and 0) is allowed. By default,

• If you enter numeric data, "0" will still display as 0, and "1" still 1. Any values other then 0 and 1 will display as missing(“--”).
• If you enter text, “yes” and “true” will display as 1, “no” and “false” display as 0. Any other texts will display as missing.

Note that you can change value of system variable @DBL to 1 to limit the binary values to 1 and 0 only (no missing).

(1, 1000, 1E6, 1E9)

Note: The threshold for conversion to scientific notation is controlled on the Numeric Format tab of the Options dialog box (Preference: Options).

(1E0, 1E3, 1E6, 1E9)

Note: A Labtalk system variable (@ETE) can be used to hide the leading zero in scientific notation. By default it is set as 0, the values display as (1E+00, 1E+03, 1E+06, 1E+09). Setting @ETE=1 to hide the leading zero in scientific notation, then the values display as (1E+0, 1E+3, 1E+6, 1E+9). Select Preference: System Variables to change the value of @ETE.

(1.0, 1.0k, 1.0M, 1.0G)

Note: Prior to Origin 2019, you could force a Text & Numeric column to treat engineering notation entered directly, as a numeric. You did this by setting the value of @EF = 1. In Origin 2019 and later versions, you can directly enter engineering notation into a Text & Numeric column, then change the Format to Numeric. Consult the table of supported metric suffixes listed at the bottom of this page.

For information on setting the value of a LabTalk system variable, see this FAQ.

(1, 1,000, 1E6, 1E9)

Note: The threshold for conversion to scientific notation is controlled on the Numeric Format tab of the Options dialog box (Preference: Options).

When you choose Format = Custom, you have more options as to how you display your data in the worksheet. See the next section Origin Custom Display Options for more information.

Note: Any custom format is saved in your project and should display the same regardless of who is logged in or what computer is in use.

If none of the built-in time formats meets your needs, choose Custom Display and build a custom string using
Origin's Origin's Date and Time Format Specifiers.

If none of the built-in date formats meets your needs, choose Custom Display and build a custom string using
Origin's Origin's Date and Time Format Specifiers.

Display all digits in a worksheet cell as determined by the Number of Decimal Digits combination box value on the Numeric Format tab of the Options dialog box (Preference: Options).

The number of digits that display after the decimal place (overrides the Number of Decimal Digits setting on the Numeric Format tab of the Options dialog box).

Type the decimal place value (n) in the associated text box. This value = the maximum number of digits displayed after the decimal point. If the field is blank, the default value is used (value = 5 for Double (8) internal data types).

The number of digits displayed. Type the value in the associated text box.

Allocates eight bytes of storage space to each value. Range of values is ±1.7E±308 (15 digits).

Allocates 4 bytes of storage space to each value. Range of values is ±3.4E±38 (7 digits).

Allocates 2 bytes of storage space to each value. Range of values is -32,768 to 32,767.

Allocates 4 bytes of storage space to each value. Range of values is -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647.

Allocates 1 byte of storage space to each value. Range of values is -128 to 127.

Allocates 1 byte of storage space to each value. Range of values is 0 to 255.

Allocates 2 bytes of storage space to each value. Range of values is 0 to 65,535.

Allocates 4 bytes of storage space to each value. Range of values is 0 to 4,294,967,295.

Allocates 16 bytes of storage space to each value, where 8 bytes is for the real part and the other 8 bytes is for the imagenary part. Range of values is ±1.7E±308 (15 digits).