On 20 Aug 2008 at 10:05, Christopher Smith wrote: > I also notice that once I have entered a composer's or publisher's > name, Excel wants to complete the name the next time I start to type > it. I realize that this is not the same as a proper database, but it > does help prevent misspelled variants of composers' names (like > Tchaikovski, or Tchaikovsky, or Chaikovski, or Tchaikowski, etc...!)
It can help, but it can't prevent mis-typing. In a database, you can force the user to choose from a list of composers. In Excel, you can't do that. And Excel doesn't always provide the pick list -- it depends on how many records you have and whether you're in a field with a high density of filled-out fields or not. That is, if you have lots of blanks in the adjacent records, you may not get the pick list at all, so you really can't depend on this to make sure your data stays clean. It's helpful for keeping spreadsheets as clean as possible, but it's no replacement for a database, the entire function of which is to make sure that your data gets entered in a structured fashion with consistency in all records. -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
