What does bb or bbbb represent in an EN-US TEXT function or Custom Number format mask?

Question

On a EN-US regional system, what does B or b represent in a format mask? While it does nothing in VBA\'s Format function, both the TEXT fun

Answer 1

bb and bbbb appear to be formatting codes for the Buddhist calendar year, which are in use in Thailand and are simply the Gregorian year plus 543. bbbb is 4 digits and bb is two digits, as for yyyy and yy.

Excel has a date representation which consists of the count of days beginning with Jan 1 1900 (except when it's Jan 1 1904). So 1 == Jan 1 1900, which is Jan 1 2443 Buddhist, and you're formatting the year, 2443.

Answer 2

Buddhist Era date. It should be bb or bbb, I think.