Entering data into a cell can be as simple as selecting the cell, typing your data, then pressing Enter or moving the selection to another cell with one of the arrow keys. Depending on how you enter the data, KSpread will interpret it as a number, date, time or text:
Numbers are entered in the obvious way; 123
,
-123
, 456.7
or in scientific notation
-1.2E-5
.
Dates should be entered in your “System” format, as defined in
the TDE Control Center in ->-> dialog box. If, for example, you are using the DD/MM/YYYY form
you should enter 30/03/2002
for 30th March 2002.
Leading zeroes can be omitted from the day and month fields and only the last
one or two digits of the year need to be entered if the date is in the current
century, for example 9/1/2
for 9th January 2002.
Times should also be entered using the “System” format. For
example if you are using a 12 hour clock then enter times in HH:MIN am|pm or
HH:MIN:SS am|pm format such as 9:42 am
or
10:30:52 pm
.
KSpread defines any input data as “text” if it cannot recognize the data as being a number, date or time.
By default, KSpread right justifies numbers, dates and times within a cell and left justifies anything else. This can be a useful guide to whether you have entered a date or time in the correct format. But remember that how items are displayed can be changed by altering the cell format.
The main text entry box in the Formula toolbar provides an easy way of editing the contents of a selected cell. Press Enter or click on the green tick mark when you are happy with what you have entered, or click on the red cross to cancel your edits.
KSpread uses the “Generic” cell format as default. As long as this format is used, KSpread autodetects the actual data type depending on the current cell data. For example if you enter some text into a cell and later enter a number into the same cell, KSpread automatically interprets the new data as a number. If you want to define the type of data yourself, you can explicitly set it in the cell format. You can change the format back to “Generic” at any time.
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