When opening an Excel spreadsheet, you can specify how each column is imported. For example, the user might want a 'Date' column in Excel to be a Text column in MapInfo Pro.
When you import an Excel spreadsheet into MapInfo, a Set Field Properties window allows you to reset the name, type and properties of any field (column) that is imported from the Excel table. The top section of the Set Field Properties window shows the Fields (column names) and Type (character, date, etc.) from the Excel spreadsheet. When you select one of these fields, the bottom part of the window allows you to change the MapInfo field name, data type, number of characters (for character and decimal fields) or number of decimals (for decimal fields only).
If you click Cancel, the Excel table importing operation is canceled.