In the earlier posting, the concept of entity was explained. An entity is a thing of importance about which we need to know some information.An employee, a department, sales order, delivery items(by courier), supplies received(in a store) etc. Each entity is linked with a table(two dimensional chart) where you fill in the data. In MS Excel you create the table on a spread sheet.
Each entity may have a number of attributes, characteristics or qualities linked with it. An employee entity may have attributes like name, age, gender, date of birth, father's name, mother's name etc.
When you create a table for an entity, the column heads should be based on different attributes you can think of, based on the data you want to enter.
Let us say you want to enter name and address of some employees. Having only two column names like NAME and ADDRESS will not serve the real purpose. If NAME="PRITHVI" and ADDRESS=" No 450, 10th cross, 6th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore -560038" do not enter the complete address under the ADDRESS column. But Excel will allow you to enter the complete address in one cell under the ADDRESS column. Instead we need to split and create different columns for address like, HOUSE-NO, STREET, CROSS,AREA, CITY-TOWN and PIN-CODE.
The right column names could be NAME, HOUSE-NO, STREET, CROSS,AREA, CITY-TOWN and PIN-CODE.
The simple rule is: If it is a different attribute, give it a separate column name. In case you still feel at a later date, the data entered in two separate columns are actually required to be under a single column we can always merge it. But if you enter data which should ideally go under different column heads under a single column it will prove to be a real pain to put the data, separated under different columns.
Each entity may have a number of attributes, characteristics or qualities linked with it. An employee entity may have attributes like name, age, gender, date of birth, father's name, mother's name etc.
When you create a table for an entity, the column heads should be based on different attributes you can think of, based on the data you want to enter.
Let us say you want to enter name and address of some employees. Having only two column names like NAME and ADDRESS will not serve the real purpose. If NAME="PRITHVI" and ADDRESS=" No 450, 10th cross, 6th Main, Indiranagar, Bangalore -560038" do not enter the complete address under the ADDRESS column. But Excel will allow you to enter the complete address in one cell under the ADDRESS column. Instead we need to split and create different columns for address like, HOUSE-NO, STREET, CROSS,AREA, CITY-TOWN and PIN-CODE.
The right column names could be NAME, HOUSE-NO, STREET, CROSS,AREA, CITY-TOWN and PIN-CODE.
The simple rule is: If it is a different attribute, give it a separate column name. In case you still feel at a later date, the data entered in two separate columns are actually required to be under a single column we can always merge it. But if you enter data which should ideally go under different column heads under a single column it will prove to be a real pain to put the data, separated under different columns.
A piece of guidance you must follow while entering data into Excel is that follow a particular style through out the file. If you are entering the name, it is better you enter the name first and the initial after the name. Do not include salutations like Ms/Mr/Mrs/Sri/Smt along with the name under the NAME column. If you think this piece of information is important, create a seperate column and enter the data under that column. If you are entering house no, if the typical data of different houses is like 540, 45-A, 12/3, No 2345, # 302 etc, better follow an uniform style. Enter only the house number with out prefix like No, No. , Num, # etc. If you are entering the city name of say, Bangalore, do not keep changing between Bangalore and Bengaluru. To enter the PIN code, as a six digit number enter it as 560098, not as 560 098. Entering mobile numbers again, do not changing between entering the 10 digit number, adding a prefix 91 or +91.Follow an uniform style. If you need to enter data having City, State and Country details, create three separate column for them.
One more line of guideline we must bear in mind is, if more than one person are entering data into the same file, all of them must follow the same style and format.Otherwise we are waiting for trouble.
The reason we are giving so much importance to this concept is because this is the foundation to build your database file. If you do no take enough care at this stage it is going to be trouble some later. Always remember that data entered is meant for use and used repeatedly over long period. The data is going to accumulate and the file size will grow with every passing month or year.
Data should be in a readily usable format like in MS Excel. The same data available in a text format or as hard copies will not be readily usable because of the lack of ease in retrieving such data, using it and storing it for later use. If you do not follow the above guidelines, the data you have entered cannot be used to its full potential.
REAL LIFE USE OF DATA
If you want to see people from one or more areas only, you can filter it under the AREA column. If you want to see people from a particular CITY, STATE or COUNTRY you can filter it under the corresponding column.
If you want to sort the data based on the NAME, AREA, CITY, STATE etc you can do all those activities with ease, provided the data was properly entered under different column heads.
Similarly if you want to search for a person named "RAJIV P" and if you are searching with the search key word as "P RAJIV" or "MR P RAJIV" or "MR RAJIV P" you will face problems. This is where adopting an uniform style in entering data will really prove to be helpful.
One more line of guideline we must bear in mind is, if more than one person are entering data into the same file, all of them must follow the same style and format.Otherwise we are waiting for trouble.
The reason we are giving so much importance to this concept is because this is the foundation to build your database file. If you do no take enough care at this stage it is going to be trouble some later. Always remember that data entered is meant for use and used repeatedly over long period. The data is going to accumulate and the file size will grow with every passing month or year.
Data should be in a readily usable format like in MS Excel. The same data available in a text format or as hard copies will not be readily usable because of the lack of ease in retrieving such data, using it and storing it for later use. If you do not follow the above guidelines, the data you have entered cannot be used to its full potential.
REAL LIFE USE OF DATA
If you want to see people from one or more areas only, you can filter it under the AREA column. If you want to see people from a particular CITY, STATE or COUNTRY you can filter it under the corresponding column.
If you want to sort the data based on the NAME, AREA, CITY, STATE etc you can do all those activities with ease, provided the data was properly entered under different column heads.
Similarly if you want to search for a person named "RAJIV P" and if you are searching with the search key word as "P RAJIV" or "MR P RAJIV" or "MR RAJIV P" you will face problems. This is where adopting an uniform style in entering data will really prove to be helpful.
All the concepts explained above may not be clear at the first reading, you need to work on some database. If you are not clear about any concept, post a query in the comment window provided below or email to itooexcel@gmail.com . We shall provide the clarification.
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