ProVal supports the following Windows’ Regional and Language Options (found in the Control Panel). Since ProVal directly refers to the Windows settings, there is no need to explicitly modify any settings within ProVal. 

• The Decimal symbol and Digit grouping symbol determine how numbers are formatted outside ProVal. For example, the default English (United States) setting uses the period (.) as a decimal symbol and a comma (,) to group digits (e.g., “1,234.56”), while the German (Germany) default setting does just the opposite (e.g., “1.234,56”). ProVal uses these symbols to handle numbers in a few limited circumstances:

• When copying and pasting data between ProVal spreadsheets and other applications such as Excel;

• When importing census data from delimited text files (*.csv) or fixed width files;

• When importing custom Capital Market Simulation data from delimited text files (*.csv);

• When saving census data and output to delimited text files (*.csv)

For example, you can use Excel to open .csv files created with ProVal or to use ProVal to import .csv and fixed width files created with Excel, regardless of how your Regional and Language Options are set – as long as the same Regional and Language Options were in place when the file was created and opened. If you share files with users in other countries, Excel files are preferred over text files because they contain values, rather than formatted text strings, and thus they will avoid any issues with differing settings.

Although the Regional decimal symbol and digit grouping symbol are used in the situations above, numbers inside ProVal are always displayed using the period (.) as the decimal symbol and the comma (,) as the digit grouping symbol. Exception: The Spreadsheet Edit command displays numeric fields according to your Regional and Language Options.

• The List separator determines the symbol that appears between values on the same line in a delimited text file (*.csv). For example, the list separator might be a comma (,) or a semicolon (;). ProVal uses the list separator when saving output and exporting census data to delimited text files (*.csv). ProVal does not use the list separator when importing census data from delimited text files (*.csv), because this is specified directly in ProVal.

• The Short date format determines the order of days, months and years in a date constant. For example, under the English (United States) setting, dates are specified in month/day/year order, but under the French (Canada) setting, dates are specified in year/month/day order. ProVal uses the short date format when displaying and entering dates. This includes dates found in expressions, such as benefit formulas (in Benefit Definitions) and Selection Expressions.

Note that ProVal always uses the “forward slash” as the date separator symbol (/) for display purposes, regardless of the Regional and Language Options. When importing census data, ProVal tolerates any date separator symbol.

• The Short time format determines whether to display the time portion of a date using a 24 or 12 hour clock. For example, choosing “hh:mm” displays 2 o'clock in the afternoon using a 12 hour clock: 02:00 PM. Choosing “HH:MM” displays the time using a 24 hour clock: 14:00. Choosing “H:MM” omits the leading zero on the hour. One o'clock is shown as 1:00 instead of 01:00.

Notes: When using the 12 hour clock, the leading zero is always present in ProVal displays, regardless of choosing short time regional setting “h:mm” or “hh:mm”. In rare cases, some displays override the regional settings and always display the 12 hour clock format. The default United States short time regional setting is the 12 hour clock. Many European countries default to the 24 hour clock.