Entering text, numbers, and dates The data that we enter into the worksheet cells can be text, numbers, or dates. Excel's action after we type the data depends on the key that we use to complete our entry. If we type the enter key or click on the green check mark, Excel will make the cell below our entry the active cell. If we type the tab key, Excel will make the cell to the right of our entry the active cell. In addition, we can type arrow keys or click the mouse on another worksheet cell. If Excel interprets our entry as text, the entry will be left justified in the cell. If Excel interprets our entry as a number, it will be right justified in the cell. We can force a number to be treated as text by preceding it with an apostrophe. Excel will warn us that we may have made a mistake by displaying an error indictor in the cell. Excel attempts to be flexible in accepting date entries to accommodate the various formats for dates. Sometimes its flexibility is problematic as it may accept a partial date entry as legitimate by filling in the omitted parts with parts from the current date. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 1Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering text To enter text into the active cell, type the text. For example, we can type Name in cell A1 as the column header for a list of names. As the text is typed, it appears in the formula bar as well as the active cell. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 2Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Navigating after entering text When all of the text for the data item is entered, press the Enter key to complete the entry and make the cell below the entry (A2) the next cell. If you wanted the cell to the right of the entry (B1) to become the active cell, press the Tab key instead of the Enter key. In addition to pressing keys to complete a cell entry, you can click the mouse on another cell, e.g. E8. The text entry will be completed and the cell clicked on (E8) will become the active cell. Clicking on the green check button on the formula bar is another way to complete a cell entry. If you click on the green check, the entry is completed but the active cell does not change. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 3Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering text for two more entries Entering text as data is the same as entering text for headers. Click on cell A2 to make it the active cell and type John as the name of the first person in our list. Click on cell A3 to make it the active cell and type Mary as the name of the second person in our list. Click on cell A4 to make it the active cell and type Sue as the name of the third person in our list. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 4Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering text as header for second column Type Age in cell B1 as the column header for the age of the three people in the list. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 5Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering a number Typing in numbers is the same as typing in text: select an active cell, type the characters for the entry, and press a key to complete the entry and navigate to a new active cell. Type John's age of 19 in cell B2. When Excel determines that the contents entered in the cell is a number, it right justifies the number in the cell to contrast it with the left justification for text entries. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 6Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering a number as text We can force Excel to treat a number as text instead of a number by preceding it with an apostrophe ('). In cell B3, type the age for Mary as '17. Excel lets us know that it has accepted our request that this cell's contents be treated as text by left justifying the contents in the cell. Excel also places a green error indicator in the upper left corner of the cell. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 7Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Error indicator for ambiguous entry To understand the error indicator, click on the cell containing it. When the cell with the error indicator is selected, an information icon appears next to the error indicator. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 8Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Correcting the error When the cell with the error indicator is selected, an information icon appears next to the error indicator. When you click on the information icon, a drop down menu of choices appears. Since we only entered the apostrophe to demonstrate what would happen, we select the Convert to Number command to correct the entry. When you click on the information icon, a drop down menu of choices appears. Since we only entered the apostrophe to demonstrate what would happen, we select the Convert to Number command to correct the entry. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 9Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

The corrected error When we correct the error, the error indicator disappears from the cell and the number is right justified like other number. To complete our entries for age, enter 18 as the age for Sue in cell B4. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 10Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering text as header for third column Type Birthday in cell C1 as the column header for the birthdays of the three people in the list. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 11Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering a date Excel tries to be as flexible as possible in accepting dates. If it can interpret an entry as a date, it will, even if it has to fill in missing parts. Type 3/13/1985 as John's birthday in cell C2. This is a legitimate date entry and will be accepted. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 12Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Entering a partial date Suppose, however, that we accidentally omitted the year, 1987, when entering Mary's birthday of 5/30/1987 in cell C3. Excel accepts the date, but as we see in the formula bar, it substituted the current year for what we omitted. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 13Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Correcting the partial date To correct the date with the erroneous year and show the flexibility of Excel in accepting date entries, enter the correct date as May 30, Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 14Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

The corrected date Excel accepts the date entry, though it translates the data for the cell to the 5/30/1985 format, as shown in the formula bar. The cell format is displayed in the default short form for dates. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 15Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin

Completing the date entries Enter 6/5/84 as the birthday for Sue. This completes our entries for dates. Entering text numbers and dates, Slide 16Copyright © 2004, Jim Schwab, University of Texas at Austin