# Microsoft Office Application Help - Excel Help forum > Excel Formulas & Functions >  >  roadway station format

## kc27315

In my engineering work, I need to display the distance along a roadway curve as follows:  2537.43 feet along the arc from the beginning will be displayed as 23+37.43.  The red plus sign is a bit misleading.  What 23+37.43 really means is 23*100+37.43, where the black plus sign is the usual addition.

Is there a way to format a cell so that if I type in, say, 913.28 and hit enter, the cell displays "9+13.28" (quotations removed of course)?

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## oldchippy

Just add a single ' before the number then Excel will treat it as text, or Format the cell to TEXT first, then enter your "numbers"

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## shg

Format the cells as #"+"#0.00

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## kc27315

Perfect.  Exactly what I was looking for.  I want the cells to be user friendly so that others using my spreadsheet won't have to type a ' symbol each time they enter a station.  

Thank you both for responding.

kc

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## kc27315

If I enter 46.73, I want it to display as 0+46.73.  Is there a way to modify the format #"+"#0.00 to make it work this way for numbers less than 100, also?

kc

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## shg

0"+"#0.00 or 0"+"00.00, as you prefer.

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## kc27315

Sweet!  It works great.  Thank you so much.

kc

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## shg

You're welcome  :Smilie:  

Pretty arcane notation ...

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