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<sect1 id="sect-data-overview">
<title>Data in Gnumeric Cells</title>
<para>
The purpose of a spreadsheet is to manipulate data and perform
calculations on those data. In order to understand how to use
&gnum;, it is necessary to understand
what types of data are available and how these types can be
manipulated.
</para>
<para>
Because all of the data which are entered into a
&gnum; workbook can eventually be
stored in a file, the file contents define the kinds of data which
can be entered into the spreadsheet. A file contains:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
metadata about the file contents,
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
global data for the workbook,
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
the actual data contents of each worksheet in the workbook.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
The metadata include a brief document summary describing the file
contents and include the settings applicable to the data contents,
such as the settings for the printing of each sheet and any
settings for automatically saving the file. The global data for
the workbook include any names which are defined by the user and
attributes, such as the protected status of the workbook and
sheets. The actual data contained in the worksheets include the
contents of the cells, both data and formatting, and other objects
such as drawing and charts.
</para>
<para>
This chapter describes the information which can be stored in
spreadsheet cells. This includes the five types of data which cells
can contain and the formatting which can be applied to each
cell. The chapter first describes the five data types available,
then describes the formatting which can be performed on each cell,
then explains how data can be inserted into a spreadsheet and
finally describes how to copy and move data around a worksheet
along with the transformations which can be performed as the data
are moved. This chapter does not describe other types of data
which can be stored in a spreadsheet such as drawing elements and
graphs used to chart data. These are explained in later chapters.
</para>
</sect1>
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