Data Entry Operations (336): Public Exam Study Guide

A computer is an electronic device that accepts data, stores it, processes it as instructed, retrieves it when required and gives the result as meaningful information. It is fast, accurate, diligent and versatile, and it can store a large amount of data.

Draw the block diagram above: Input → CPU (CU + ALU) → Output, with the Memory Unit connected to the CPU.

1. Input unit enters data and programs into the computer (keyboard, mouse).
2. Memory unit stores data and instructions.
3. ALU performs arithmetic (add, subtract, multiply, divide) and logical operations (comparison).
4. Control unit supervises and coordinates all operations: when to receive data, where to store it, and the step-by-step processing.
5. Output unit gives the processed results to the user (monitor, printer).

The ALU and CU together form the CPU, the brain of the computer.

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube): the typical desktop monitor that looks and works like a television. It uses a large vacuum tube, so it is bulky and heavy.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display): a flat-panel monitor that uses liquid crystals to form the image. It is thin and light, and used in notebooks. LCDs are very popular today.

A monitor's quality is described by its resolution in pixels, e.g. 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×1024.

(a) Laser printer: gives high-quality, publishing-standard print. It is very fast (up to 200 ppm mono, 100 ppm colour), quiet, loads paper automatically and does not smudge.

(b) High-level language: uses English-like statements. It is machine independent and easy to learn. Examples: BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, C, C++. It needs a compiler to convert it into machine language.

(c) Compiler: software that translates a whole program written in a high-level language (the source program) into machine language (the object program).

(d) Plotter: an output device for large drawings such as building plans and blueprints. A robotic arm picks up coloured pens and draws lines between coordinates. Its two designs are flat-bed and drum.

A computer language is a means of communicating with the computer. Each has grammatical rules called its syntax. Languages are classified as:

1. Low-level languages (close to the machine, machine dependent):
(a) Machine language: 0s and 1s, understood directly by the computer, difficult to write.
(b) Assembly language: uses mnemonics (symbolic codes) and is easier than machine language. It needs an assembler.

2. High-level languages (English-like, machine independent, easy): BASIC, COBOL (business), FORTRAN (scientific), C, C++ (object-oriented). They need a compiler.

1. Select the text to be moved.
2. Click Cut (Home → Clipboard) or press Ctrl+X. The text goes to the clipboard.
3. Place the cursor where the text should go.
4. Click Paste or press Ctrl+V.

Difference: copying makes a duplicate and leaves the original unchanged (Ctrl+C). Moving removes the text from its original place (Ctrl+X).

1. Place the cursor in the paragraph (or select it).
2. Home tab → Paragraph group → click the small arrow at the bottom-right to open the Paragraph dialog box.
3. On the Indents and Spacing tab, choose from the Line spacing drop-down: Single (12 pt), 1.5 lines (18 pt), Double (24 pt), At least, Exactly or Multiple.
4. Check the Preview and click OK.

A font face is the basic typeface in which the characters are displayed. Examples of font families: Times New Roman and Arial. Font size is measured in points (1 point = 1/72 inch).

Word checks while you type. Spelling errors get a red wavy underline and grammar errors a green one. To check the whole document press F7. The Spelling and Grammar dialog shows each error:

• Ignore / Ignore All if the word is correct.
• Choose a suggestion and click Change / Change All.
• Add puts the word (e.g. your name) in the dictionary.
• Untick “Check grammar” to check spelling only.

A header is text (title, date, page number) printed in the top margin of every page. A footer is printed in the bottom margin.

Steps: Insert tab → Header & Footer group → Header (or Footer) → choose a design → type the text → close the Header & Footer view.

Page numbers: Insert → Page Number → Top of Page / Bottom of Page. To start from another number: Page Number → Format → Start at → OK.

1. Click the Bullets (or Numbering) button in Home → Paragraph.
2. Type the first item and press Enter. A new bullet or number appears.
3. Use Shift+Enter to go to a new line without a bullet.
4. Press Enter twice to end the list.

Alternatively, type the items first, select them and click Bullets/Numbering. To change the style, right-click → Bullets/Numbering and choose a style, a Picture bullet or a symbol. Increase Indent creates multi-level lists.

Format Painter (Home → Clipboard group) copies the formatting (font, size, style, colour) of one piece of text to another. 1) Place the cursor in the formatted text. 2) Click Format Painter (the pointer becomes a brush). 3) Drag over the target text. Double-click the button to apply it to several places, and press Esc to turn it off.

Page Layout → Page Setup → Margins: Normal, Narrow, Moderate, Wide, Mirrored and Office 2003 Default. For your own values click Custom Margins, type the Top, Bottom, Left and Right values, set “Apply to: Whole document” and click OK. Margins can also be dragged on the ruler, where the white area meets the grey.

(a) Main document: the document whose text and graphics stay the same in every copy, such as the body of a form letter, an envelope or a label. It also contains the merge fields.

(b) Data source: a file containing the information that varies with each copy, such as names, addresses and cities, arranged as fields and records. It can be a Word table, an Excel sheet or an Access database.

(c) Merge document: the new document produced when the main document is merged with the data source. It holds one personalised copy per record and can be sent to the screen, the printer or e-mail.

• Send the same letter to many people, each with their own name and address.
• Insert variable information (fields) anywhere in a letter.
• Print mailing labels and addresses directly on envelopes.
• Produce directories, invoices and address lists, or send personalised e-mail.
• It saves a lot of typing time and avoids errors.

1. Mailings → Start Mail Merge → Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.
2. Step 1: select Letters → Next: Starting document.
3. Step 2: select Use the current document (or start from a template or an existing document).
4. Type the letter, leaving 6–7 blank lines below the date for the address. Type the body of the letter and save it.
5. Step 3: select the recipients (existing list or type a new list).
6. Step 4: put the cursor in the blank space and insert the Address Block or merge fields (e.g. «Name», «Enrolment_No»). Save.
7. Step 5: preview with << >>. Step 6: complete the merge and print.

Word table: 1) Insert → Table. 2) Type the field names (Name, Address, City, PIN) in the first row. 3) Type one record per row from the second row. 4) Save as a Word document. The data source is ready.

Excel: 1) Open Excel. 2) Type the field names in the top row. 3) Type the records from the second row. 4) Save the workbook. 5) In the wizard choose Use an existing list → Browse to select it, or copy the data and paste it into a Word document as a table.

1. In step 3 of the wizard choose Use an existing list → Browse.
2. Locate the data file and click Open.
3. Click Edit Recipient List.
4. Move to the record (arrow keys or record number), or use Find to search for it.
5. Change the entries and save.

1. Open a new document. Mailings → Start Mail Merge → Labels.
2. In Label Options choose the printer type and label product (New Label for a custom size) → OK.
3. Mailings → Select Recipients → Use Existing List → Browse → Open (or Type New List).
4. Edit Recipient List if needed.
5. Write & Insert Fields → Insert Merge Field: insert Name, Address, City, PIN on the first label. Update Labels copies them to all the labels.
6. Preview Results and check them with < >.
7. Finish & Merge → Print Documents.

Charts present worksheet data visually. They make large sets of numbers easy to understand at a glance, show comparisons, trends and proportions clearly, highlight important points and make reports and presentations attractive. A chart updates automatically when the data changes, and it can be copied into Word and PowerPoint. Graphics such as SmartArt, shapes and clip art explain ideas and processes visually.

1. Chart title: the heading of the whole chart.
2. Axis titles: labels for the X (category) and Y (value) axes.
3. Legend: shows the colour or pattern used for each data series.
4. Data labels: the actual values shown on the bars or points.
5. Gridlines: horizontal or vertical lines at major intervals that help read the values.
6. Tick marks: small marks that show the scale on each axis.

1. Enter the data in the worksheet.
2. Select the data range with the mouse.
3. Click the Insert tab and choose a chart type in the Charts group (Column, Line, Pie, Bar…).
4. Select the sub-type. The chart appears and Chart Tools (Design, Layout, Format) is added to the ribbon.
5. Add a title: Layout → Chart Title → type it.
6. Add axis titles: Layout → Axis Titles → Primary Horizontal / Vertical.
7. Set the legend, data labels and gridlines from the Layout tab, then resize or move the chart.

(If the question says “Chart Wizard”, write these steps and add that Excel 2007 replaced the wizard with the Insert tab.)

(a) Bar chart: shows comparisons between individual items using horizontal bars. The data is arranged in rows and columns.

(b) Pie chart: shows the share of each part in a whole as slices of a circle. It uses only one data series, works best with 5–6 slices, and all values should be positive.

Column vs bar: a column chart uses vertical bars with categories along the horizontal axis. A bar chart uses horizontal bars with categories along the vertical axis.

• =SUM(B3:E3) adds all the numbers in the range.
• =AVERAGE(B3:E3) gives the arithmetic mean.
• =MAX(B3:E3) gives the largest value.
• =MIN(B3:E3) gives the smallest value.
• =SUMIF(range, criteria, sum_range) adds only the cells that meet the condition, e.g. =SUMIF(B3:E3,">99").

Each can take up to 255 arguments. All functions start with “=”.

Click the chart to select it → Home → Copy (Ctrl+C) → open the Word document (or a PowerPoint slide) → place the cursor → Paste (Ctrl+V).

Lines, Connectors, Basic Shapes, Block Arrows, Flowchart, Stars and Banners, Callouts (Insert → Illustrations → Shapes). For a flowchart: the Flowchart shapes (process box, decision diamond, terminator) joined with Connectors/Lines and arrows.

SmartArt is a visual representation of information and ideas used to communicate a message quickly and effectively. Types include Process, Cycle, Hierarchy and Relationship, each with several layouts. Insert → Illustrations → SmartArt → choose a type → OK → type the text. The Design tab applies effects.

Clip Art: Insert → Illustrations → Clip Art → choose a collection → Go → click a clip. Picture: Insert → Illustrations → Picture → browse to the file → Insert. Click it to edit with the Format tab.

1. Several ways to create a presentation: installed templates, themes (design templates) or a blank presentation.
2. Multimedia: clip art, pictures, charts, tables, sound, music and video clips make slides attractive.
3. Easy to arrange and present: slides can be reordered in Slide Sorter, given transitions and timings, and run as a slide show. Slides can also be printed as handouts or saved as a web page.

Using a design template (theme): Office Button → New → Installed Themes → preview the designs → select one → Create. The first slide appears with the theme's background and fonts. Choose a layout (Home → Layout), click the placeholders and type the text. Add slides with Home → New Slide. Save with Office Button → Save As.

Or, blank presentation: Office Button → New → Blank Presentation → Create. Choose layouts and design yourself.

1. Click the Slide Show button at the bottom-right of the window.
2. View tab → Slide Show (or the Slide Show tab → From Beginning).
3. Press F5 (from the start) or Shift+F5 (from the current slide).

1. Select the slide.
2. Insert tab → Text Box.
3. Drag with the mouse on the slide to draw the box.
4. Type the text.
5. Resize it with the 8 handles. Move it by dragging its border.
6. Format it with Format Shape (fill, line, shadow, 3-D).

Line spacing: select the text → Home → Paragraph → Line Spacing → choose 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 or Line Spacing Options (1 = single, 2 = double).

Picture bullets: select the text → Home → Bullets arrow → Bullets and Numbering → Picture… → choose a picture → OK. (Customize picks a symbol from Wingdings or Webdings. Size % and Colour can also be set.)

In Normal view, click in the notes pane below the slide (“Click to add notes”) and type. Notes are not shown during the slide show. To print them: Office Button → Print → Print What: Notes Pages, which prints one slide with its notes on each page.

Normal view: the main working view, with three panes: the current slide, the outline/slides pane on the left and the notes pane at the bottom. Panes are resized by dragging their borders.

Slide Sorter view: shows small images of all the slides. Used to reorder, delete or duplicate slides and to add transitions.

Slide Show view: runs the presentation full screen with all its sounds, animations and hyperlinks working. Used to preview or deliver the show.

1. Contrasting colours for the text and the background.
2. A font of 24 pt or more so it can be read from the back of the room.
3. Short phrases, not long sentences.
4. Simple, consistent transitions.
5. No clutter: limited text and graphics on each slide.
6. Few text effects or fonts on one slide.

1. Dial-up: the computer dials a telephone number given by the ISP and connects to the ISP's server, through which it reaches the Internet. It is cheap, slow and suits a single PC.

2. ISDN: like dial-up but over digital phone lines. It gives up to 128 Kbps (2 × 64 Kbps channels), and you can talk on the phone at the same time.

3. Leased line: a permanent, dedicated, always-on (24×7) connection to the Internet through a router. It is fast and used by large organisations.

4. DSL / broadband: an always-on, high-speed connection over the normal telephone line. The phone can be used at the same time.

5. Wireless (Wi-Fi): needs a Wi-Fi card and no wiring.

WWW: a collection of electronic documents (web pages) linked like a spider's web and stored on servers around the world.

Hyperlink: an element (underlined text or a graphic) in a document that links to another place in the same document or to another document or resource.

Web page: an electronic document written in HTML that can contain text, pictures, sound and video. Each has a unique URL.

Website: a group of related web pages of a company, institute or person. The first page is the home page.

URL: Uniform Resource Locator, the unique address of a web page, e.g. http://www.nios.ac.in.

Every computer (host) on the Internet has a unique number called its IP address, written as four numbers from 0 to 255 separated by dots, e.g. 192.100.8.56. Numbers are hard to remember, so each host is also given a domain name, e.g. www.nios.ac.in, where www = World Wide Web, nios = the host, ac = academic and in = India.

The rightmost part is the top-level domain: an organisation type (.com, .edu, .gov, .org, .net, .ac) or a 2-letter country code (.in, .uk, .us, .jp, .au).

DNS (Domain Name System) is the system that converts a domain name into its IP address, so users can type names while computers use numbers.

A search engine is a program that helps find information stored on the World Wide Web. You type a word or phrase and it returns a list of matching pages. Examples: Google and Yahoo (also MSN Search, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista).

Tips: use specific keywords; put an exact phrase in “quotes”; use more than one keyword; check the spelling; and try different words if the results are poor.

E-mail is a paperless method of sending messages, letters, pictures and video from one person to one or many people over the Internet. It is fast, cheap and available 24×7.

Working: the sender's computer passes the message to an SMTP server, which reads the address and forwards it through mail servers to the recipient's mail server. There it is stored in the mailbox until the recipient downloads it with POP.

Address sksharma@yahoo.com: sksharma = user ID (the mailbox), @ = at, yahoo = the domain or host name of the mail server, .com = the top-level domain (the type of organisation).

Cc (carbon copy): a copy is sent to these people, and every recipient can see who received it. Bcc (blind carbon copy): a copy is sent, but these addresses are hidden from the To and Cc recipients and from each other.

Telnet: a network protocol that connects your PC to a remote server. After logging in with a username and password you can type commands that run on the server as if you were at its console. It is used to control web servers remotely.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): a protocol for exchanging files over TCP/IP networks. An FTP client connects to an FTP server to upload, download, rename or delete files. It promotes file sharing and transfers data reliably and efficiently.

The data is broken into small packets. Each gets a header with its source, destination and sequence. The packets travel through different computers, possibly by different routes. At the destination, missing packets are requested again and the packets are reassembled. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is the software on every Internet computer that sends, receives and checks the packets: “the glue of the Internet”.

Password (Word 2007): 1) Office Button → Save As. 2) Click Tools → General Options. 3) Type a Password to open (and/or a Password to modify). 4) OK → re-enter the password to confirm → OK → Save. (Or: Office Button → Prepare → Encrypt Document → type the password → OK.)

Read-only: in the same General Options box tick Read-only recommended (or set only a Password to modify) → OK → Save. The file then opens read-only, so it cannot be changed without the password.

To modify or remove the password: open the file → Save As → Tools → General Options → change or delete the password → OK → Save.

• Show/hide the ruler: View tab → Show/Hide group → tick/untick Ruler (or click the View Ruler button at the top of the vertical scroll bar).
• Gridlines: View tab → Show/Hide → tick Gridlines.
• Print: Office Button → Print (or Ctrl+P) → choose the printer, pages and copies → OK.
• Start Word: Start → All Programs → Microsoft Office → Microsoft Office Word 2007.

Header/Footer: text printed in the top / bottom margin of every page, such as the title, date or page number.

Quick Access Toolbar: the small customisable toolbar next to the Office Button holding frequently used commands such as Save, Undo and Redo.

End-of-document marker: the short horizontal line that marks where the document ends; you cannot type below it.

Font face: the basic typeface in which characters are displayed, e.g. Times New Roman or Arial.

Change Case (Home → Font → Aa button, or Shift+F3) changes the capitalisation of selected text without retyping: Sentence case, lowercase, UPPERCASE, Capitalize Each Word and tOGGLE cASE.

Title Case (Capitalize Each Word) capitalises the first letter of every word and makes the rest lowercase, e.g. “data entry operations” → “Data Entry Operations”.

AutoCorrect automatically corrects common typing and spelling mistakes as you type (e.g. “teh” → “the”, a lowercase first letter of a sentence) and can expand abbreviations. Set it in Office Button → Word Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options, where you can add your own entries.

Page formatting means designing the page layout of a document: how the text sits on the paper. The options are on the Page Layout tab: margins, paper size, orientation, columns, page breaks, headers/footers and page numbers.

Margins: the blank space between the text and the edges of the paper. Page Layout → Margins → choose Normal, Narrow, Moderate, Wide, Mirrored or Office 2003 Default, or Custom Margins to type the Top, Bottom, Left and Right values. They can also be dragged on the ruler.

Orientation: Page Layout → Orientation → Portrait (vertical, taller than wide) or Landscape (horizontal, wider than tall).

Paper size: Page Layout → Size → Letter, Legal, A4 or More Paper Sizes.

Page numbers: Insert tab → Header & Footer group → Page Number → Bottom of Page → choose a style (left, centre or right). Use Format Page Numbers → Start at to change the first number.

Delete a page break: switch to Draft (Normal) view or click Show/Hide ¶ → click the dotted “Page Break” line → press Delete.

In SUMIF, range = the cells tested, criteria = the condition (12, ">12", "mangoes"), sum_range = the cells to add (optional). Blank and text cells are ignored.

Bar chart compares individual items with horizontal bars. Area chart shows the amount of change over time as a filled area, drawing attention to the total.

Surface chart is used when both categories and series are numeric, to find the best combinations; colours show ranges like a topographic map. Area chart shows change over time.

AutoFill fills a series (1, 2, 3… or Jan, Feb…) or copies a formula by dragging the fill handle. AutoFormat applies a ready-made design (fonts, borders, colours) to a whole table at once.

Pivot table: an interactive table (Insert → PivotTable) that summarises a large list of data, e.g. totals by region or month. Fields can be dragged to rows, columns and values to view the data in different ways without changing the original.

AutoFormat: applies a predefined professional format (number formats, fonts, borders, colours, alignment) to a selected range in one step. In 2007 the equivalent is Format as Table / Cell Styles on the Home tab.

(a) =SUM(B2:E2) or =B2+C2+D2+E2 → 290. Drag the fill handle down to F4 for the others (Ravi 277, Meena 323).
(b) =AVERAGE(E2:E4) → 77.67
(c) =MAX(D2:D4) → 92
(d) =MIN(C2:C4) → 65

(a) =B3*C3
(b) Select D3 and drag the fill handle down to D7 (or copy D3 and paste into D4:D7). The references change to B4*C4 and so on.
(c) =SUM(D3:D7)
(d) Right-click the column A heading → Insert (or Home → Insert → Insert Sheet Columns). Type “S.No.” and 1, 2, 3… (AutoFill by dragging).

=(C1/2*D1)/A1 → (6/2×2)/10 = (3×2)/10 = 6/10 = 0.6 (/ and * go left to right).
=((A1−B1)+C1)/((C1/2)+B1) → (6+6)/(3+4) = 12/7 = 1.71

(a) A web server is a computer that stores web pages and is connected to the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is responsible for accepting requests from users (browsers) and serving them with web pages. Two web server programs: IIS (Internet Information Server) and Apache.

(b) A web page is an electronic document written in HTML, with a unique URL. It can contain text, graphics, video, animation and sound, interactive features such as data-entry forms, and hyperlinks to other pages.

A web browser is the client software used to access the World Wide Web. It sends requests to web servers and displays the pages it receives. Examples: Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator (today also Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox).

A search engine is a program that helps find information on the web: you enter a word or phrase and it lists matching pages. Examples: Google, Yahoo.