How NeuralTools Treats Dates in the Dependent Column

Applies to: NeuralTools, all releases

Question:
Does NeuralTools treat dates in the dependent column as Category or Numeric? Are there any restrictions when using dates as the dependent variable?

Answer:

• Dates are treated as numeric values.

  • In Excel, dates are stored as numbers: the integer part represents days since 1900‑01‑01, and the fractional part represents the time of day.

  • NeuralTools reads these underlying numbers, not the formatted date, and standardizes them like any other numeric variable.

• Restrictions:

  • There are no restrictions on using dates as dependent variables.

  • You may choose to transform dates (e.g., differencing) if it makes sense for your analysis, just as you would with any numeric variable.

Tip: If you want NeuralTools to treat a date as a category, convert it to a text or categorical variable in Excel before importing.