Freelog 65/Freelog065.iso/BAS/Bureautique/Gnumeric/gnumeric-1.3.92-rc1.exe/data-entry-advanced.xml

Text File | 2004-11-01 | 20KB | 542 lines

<sect1 id="sect-dataentryadv">
  <title>Advanced Data Entry</title>

  <para>
    This section describes advanced methods for data entry in
    <application>Gnumeric</application>. This includes techniques
    useful when adding large amounts of data, methods to automatically
    catch mistakes during data entry, using pre-defined templates to
    format data input, obtaining data from external sources and
    generating sequences of random numbers with defined distributions.
  </para>

  <sect2 id="sect-dataentryadv-large">
    <title>Entering Large Quantities of Data</title>

    <para>
      It is sometimes necessary to enter large amounts of data by hand
      into a spreadsheet. To facilitate this work,
      <application>Gnumeric</application> provides several techniques
      to facilitate the entry of large amounts of data.
    </para>

    <para>
      If data are to be entered into a series of rows or columns, this
      region can be selected ahead of time thereby modifying the
      behaviour of the data entry keys (the <keysym>Enter</keysym>,
      <keysym>Tab</keysym> and arrow keys).
    </para>

    <procedure>
      <title>Data entry into a region</title>

        <step>
          <para>
            Select the region with the mouse. For example, the region
            from cell C4 to cell E8 can be selected by clicking with
            the left mouse button on cell C4 and dragging the mouse
            cursor to cell E8. (More information on complex selections
            is presented below.)
          </para>
        </step>

        <step>
          <para>
            Enter data by typing the data and the the
            <keysym>Enter</keysym> key. If this is done repeatedly,
            the fifth time the <keysym>Enter</keysym> key is pressed,
            the selection will not move to cell C9 but will jump up to
            cell D4.
          </para>
        </step>

    </procedure>

    <note>
      <para>
        The <keysym>Tab</keysym> key can also be used instead of the
        <keysym>Enter</keysym> key to move sequentially through the
        selection.
      </para>
    </note>

  </sect2>




  <sect2 id="sect-dataentryadv-series">
    <title>Entering a Regular Sequence</title>

        <para>
          It is often necessary to enter a regular sequence of numbers
          or a repeated sequence of
          text. <application>Gnumeric</application> provides several
          ways to input series and sequences of this kind.
        </para>

        <para>
          The simplest way to fill a series with the same element
          repeated involves entering the element once and dragging the
          selection box to fill that element repeatedly. For example,
          the text "employee:" could be input into cell C2. That cell
          could then be selected. The selection box is a thick white
          rectangle which surrounds the cell. This selection box has a
          small white square at the bottom right hand corner. If the
          mouse cursor is placed above this square box, it changes to
          a thin cross. If the left hand mouse button is clicked and
          held, and the mouse dragged to cell C10,
          <application>Gnumeric</application> will automatically fill
          all of the cells with the identical string.
        </para>

        <para>
          An alternative way to enter data into a region involves
          first selecting the region, then typing the value and
          finally typing the
          <keycombo><keysym>Ctrl</keysym><keysym>Enter</keysym></keycombo>
          key combination. This will fill the whole region with the
          identical value which was originally entered.
        </para>

        <para>
          A similar method is available to fill sequences of
          integers. If the example just given was altered so that cell
          C2 had the number 14 and the <keysym>Ctrl</keysym> key was
          held during the dragging of the selection,
          <application>Gnumeric</application> will automatically fill
          the cells C2 to C10 with the series 14,15,16,...,22.
        </para>

        <para>
          More complex series and sequences of data can be entered
          with a similar mechanism.
        </para>

        <para>
          To do an autofill:
        </para>

        <procedure>
    <step>
      <para>
        Enter a value into the first cell you wish to
        autofill. For example, the cell C2 could have the number
        "24" entered.
      </para>
    </step>

    <step>
      <para>
        Enter a second value into the second cell you wish to
        autofill. This must be adjacent to the first cell. This
        sets the increment to use when autofilling the rest of
        your cells. For example, the cell D2 could have the number
        "28" entered.
      </para>
    </step>

    <step>
      <para>
        Select both the cells just entered. At the bottom-right of
        the selection should be a small box. Your mouse cursor
        will change to a cross-hair when placed over the box.
        Press and hold on the box. Drag in the direction, either
        vertical or horizontal, you wish to increment and release
        when all the cells are filled. For example, selecting
        cells C2 and D2, then dragging the bottom right of the
        selection to cell I2 will fill the cells with the sequence
        from 24 to 48 with each increment being 4.
      </para>
    </step>
        </procedure>

        <para>
          An alternative to the last step involves using the
          menus. Once the first two values have been input, the whole
          range to be filled can be selected using the mouse and then
          the <guimenuitem>Autofill</guimenuitem> selection can be
          made from the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> and
          <guisubmenu>Fill</guisubmenu>. This will automatically
          complete the series in the selected region.
        </para>


        <para>
      <application>Gnumeric</application> is able to increment
      several types of data beyond simple integers. The procedure
      is the same as described above but involves different
      starting values. <application>Gnumeric</application> can
      increment:
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Integers</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        1, 2, 3, etc.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Natural Numbers</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        1.03, 2.05, 3.07, etc.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Weekday Names</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        Monday, Tuesday, etc.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Weekday Abbreviations</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        Mon, Tues, etc.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Month Names</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        January, February, etc.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Month Abbreviations</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        Jan, Feb, etc.
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Strings with Numbers</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        Item1, Item2, etc
          </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
        <term>Dates</term>
        <listitem>
          <para>
        11/14/2001, 11/15/2001, etc.
          </para>
          <para>
        <application>Gnumeric</application> supports
        incrementing the date by month, date, or year.
          </para>
        <para>
          Note that, While <application>Gnumeric</application>
          will increment days of the month, if you do
          11/14/2001 and 12/14/2001, it will recognize it as
          the same day of the month and increment the month so
          the next value would be to 1/14/2002 instead of the
          day difference.
        </para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
        </para>

        <para>
          <application>Gnumeric</application> can be explicitly told
          the cells to autofill as in the examples above, but it can
          also guess the number of cells to fill based on the length
          of an adjacent column or row. For example, if the cells B2
          to B10 have information and cell C2 has the integer value
          "1", then selecting cell C2 and double clicking on the
          bottom rightmost box of the selection rectangle will fill
          the value "1" from cell C3 to cell C10.
        </para>

  </sect2>





  <sect2 id="sect-dataentryadv-autocorrect">
    <title>Automatically Correcting Simple Mistakes</title>

    <para>
      The entry of large amounts of data into a spreadsheet is tedious
      work which is prone to repeated
      mistakes. <application>Gnumeric</application> provides a tool to
      automatically correct commonly made simple mistakes. The
      corrections are configured and activated using the `AutoCorrect'
      dialog, available via <guimenuitem>Auto Correct</guimenuitem> in
      the <guimenu>Tools</guimenu> menu.
    </para>

       <figure id="fig-autocorrect-figure">
         <title>The Auto Correct dialog.</title>
         <screenshot>
           <mediaobject>
            <imageobject>
              <imagedata fileref="figures/dialog-auto-correct.png" />
            </imageobject>
            <textobject>
              <phrase>An image of the auto-correct dialog.</phrase>
            </textobject>
           </mediaobject>
         </screenshot>
       </figure>

  <sect3 id="sect-dataentryadv-autocorrect-init-caps">
     <title>Correct TWo INitial CApitals</title>

     <para>A common mistake is to hold down the shift key a little bit
     too long while typing initial letters.  When it happens, you will
     get two initial capitals instead of one.  If this correction rule
     is activated, the second letter of words beginning with two
     capital letters is automatically lowercased.  For example, if you
     type `TOtal' into a cell it is replaced by `Total'.  Note that if
     the word contains two capital letters only, it is not
     replaced.</para>

     <para>It is possible to specify exceptions to this tool.  For
     example, you do not want the tool to replace the word `PVbonds'
     when it is typed.  To specify exceptions, press the
     ``Exceptions...''  button in the dialog.  This should pop up the
     ``Auto correct exceptions'' dialog.  In this dialog, select the
     ``INitial CApitals'' page.  In this page, type `PVbonds' into the
     ``Do not correct'' entry, and press ``Add'' button.  Now the word
     should be included in the list of exceptions.  To remove a word
     from the list, select the word and press the ``Remove'' button.
     If you now press ``Ok'' the exceptions in the list are
     activated.</para>

  </sect3>

  <sect3 id="sect-dataentryadv-autocorrect-first-letter">
     <title>Capitalize the First Letter of Sentences</title>

     <para>If this correction rule is activated, the first letter of a
     sentence typed into a cell is capitalized, if it is a lowercase
     letter in the first place.  Only text that ends to a dot is
     considered a sentence.</para>

     <para>It is possible to specify exceptions to this tool.  For
     example, you do not want the tool to capitalize letters after
     acronym `i.g.'.  To specify exceptions, press the
     ``Exceptions...''  button in the dialog.  This should pop up the
     ``Auto correct exceptions'' dialog.  In this dialog, select the
     ``First letter'' page.  In this page, type `i.g.' into the ``Do
     not capitalize after'' entry, and press ``Add'' button.  Now the
     word should be included in the list of exceptions.  To remove a
     word from the list, select the word and press the ``Remove''
     button.  If you now press ``Ok'' the exceptions in the list are
     activated.</para>

  </sect3>

  <sect3 id="sect-dataentryadv-autocorrect-cap-days">
     <title>Capitalize the Names of Days</title>

     <para>If this correction rule is activated, the first letter of a
     name of a day is capitalized automatically.  For example, if you
     type `monday', it is automatically replaced by `Monday'.</para>
  </sect3>


  </sect2>




  <sect2 id="sect-dataentryadv-templates">
    <title>Using a Format Template</title>

    <para>
      This section has not yet been written.
    </para>

   </sect2>


  <sect2 id="sect-dataentryadv-random">
    <title>Generating Random Number Sequences</title>

  <figure id="random-tool-dialog">
    <title>Random Number Generation Tool Dialog</title>
    <screenshot>
    <mediaobject>
            <imageobject>
              <imagedata fileref="figures/analysistools-random.png"
                  format="PNG" />
            </imageobject>
            <textobject>
              <phrase>An image of the random number generation
              tool.</phrase>
            </textobject>
           </mediaobject>
    </screenshot>
  </figure>

     <para>Use the random number generation tool to generate random
     numbers.  This tool can generate random numbers from various
     probability distributions.</para>

     <para>Specify the number of variables in the
     <quote><guilabel>Number of Variables:</guilabel></quote> entry.
     This determines the number of columns of random values to be
     produced.</para> <para> Specify the number of random numbers for
     each variable in the <quote><guilabel>Size of
     Sample:</guilabel></quote> entry.  This determines the number of
     rows of random values to be produced.</para> <para> Specify the
     random distribution by selecting one of the items from the random
     distribution list.  The following random distributions are
     supported: Discrete, Normal, Poisson, Exponential, Binomial,
     Negative Binomial, Bernoulli, and Uniform.</para> <para> Specify
     the parameters of the selected distribution:</para>

     <variablelist>
     <varlistentry><term>Discrete Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
        <para>Specify the value and probability input range in the
        <quote><guilabel>Value and Probability Input
        Range:</guilabel></quote> entry box.  The value and
        probability input range is a table consisting of two columns
        and any number of rows.  The first column specifies the
        discrete random values and the second column the probabilities
        for them.  The discrete random values do not have to be
        numbers, for example, strings will do as well.  The sum of the
        probabilities in the second column should be one.  For
        example, if you have the values A, B, C, and D in A1:A4 and
        values 0.1, 0.4, 0.2, and 0.3 in B1:B4, you would specify the
        value and probability input range to be A1:B4.</para>

    <note><para>If the probabilities do not add to 1, they will be
    automatically scaled.</para></note>
     </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Normal Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
        <para>Specify the mean and the
    standard deviation.  The default values are 0 for the
    mean and 1 for the standard deviation.</para>
     </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Poisson Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
    <para>Specify the lambda in the
    <quote><guilabel>Lambda</guilabel></quote> entry. Lambda is
    the average number of events in a unit time interval.</para>
    </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Exponential Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
    <para>Specify <parameter>b</parameter> in
    the <quote><guilabel>b Value</guilabel></quote> entry.</para>
     </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Binomial Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
    <para>Specify the
    probability of success (<parameter>p</parameter>) in the
    <quote><guilabel>p Value</guilabel></quote> entry and  the
    number of trials (<parameter>n</parameter>) in the
    <quote><guilabel>Number of Trials</guilabel></quote> entry.
    The Binomial
    distribution is a discrete distribution in which the
    experiment consists of <parameter>n</parameter> identical trials.
    Each trial is independent of other the trials
    and has two possible outcomes, a success or a failure.  The
    probability of success <parameter>p</parameter> is constant from
    one trial to another.
    The mean of a random variable that has a Binomial distribution
    is <parameter>E(X) = np</parameter>, and the variance is
    <parameter>var(X) = np(1-p)</parameter>.</para>
     </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Negative Binomial Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
    <para>Specify the probability of success
    <parameter>p</parameter> in the <quote><guilabel>p
    Value</guilabel></quote> entry and the number of failures
    <parameter>r</parameter> in the <quote><guilabel>Number of
    Failures</guilabel></quote> entry.  Negative Binomial
    distribution is a discrete distribution in which the
    experiment consists of a sequence of independent trials.  Each
    trial has two possible outcomes, a success or a failure.  The
    probability of success <parameter>p</parameter> is constant
    from one trial to another.  The experiment continues until
    <parameter>r</parameter> failures are observed, where
    <parameter>r</parameter> is fixed in advance.  The mean of a
    random variable that has a Negative Binomial distribution is
    <parameter>E(X) = r(1-p)/p</parameter>, and the variance is
    <parameter>var(X) = r(1-p)/p^2</parameter>.</para>
    </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Bernoulli Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
        <para>Specify the probability of success
        (<parameter>p</parameter>) in the <quote><guilabel>p
        Value</guilabel></quote> entry. <parameter>p</parameter> is a
        probability value between 0 and 1. The Bernoulli distribution
        has two random values 0 and 1, and <parameter>p</parameter> is
        the probability to observe value 1.  The mean of a random
        variable that has a Bernoulli distribution is <parameter>E(X)
        = 1(p) + 0(1-p) = p</parameter>, and the variance is
        <parameter>var(X) = p(1-p)</parameter>.</para>
        </listitem></varlistentry>

     <varlistentry><term>Uniform Random Distribution</term>
     <listitem>
        <para>Specify the range of the continuous random variable with
        the <quote><guilabel>Between:</guilabel></quote> and
        <quote><guilabel>And:</guilabel></quote> entries.  The default
        values for these entries are 0 and 1.</para>
        </listitem></varlistentry>
     </variablelist>
   <figure id="random-example-1">
    <title>Some Example Data for the Random Number Generation Tool</title>
    <screenshot>
    <mediaobject>
            <imageobject>
              <imagedata fileref="figures/analysistools-random-ex1.png"
                  format="PNG" />
            </imageobject>
            <textobject>
              <phrase>An image of some example data for use with the
              random number generation tool.</phrase>
            </textobject>
           </mediaobject>
    </screenshot>
  </figure>
 <example id="usingrandomtool"><title>Using the Random Number Generation Tool</title>
     <para><xref linkend="random-example-1" /> shows some example data and
     <xref linkend="random-example-2" /> the corresponding output.
     </para>
</example>
  <figure id="random-example-2">
    <title>Random Number Generation Tool Output</title>
    <screenshot>
    <mediaobject>
            <imageobject>
              <imagedata fileref="figures/analysistools-random-ex2.png"
                  format="PNG" />
            </imageobject>
            <textobject>
              <phrase>An image of the output from the random number
              generation tool.</phrase>
            </textobject>
           </mediaobject>
    </screenshot>
  </figure>
  </sect2>


</sect1>