Excel Beginners

Data Types and Formatting: Step 2 To Mastering Spreadsheets

The Four Outputs You Can Expect

What Is A Data Type?

A data type can be defined as the way a computer is told to interpret information it is given. There are dozens of these types, and they all instruct programs to handle values in specific ways, such as limiting the number of characters that can be stored, or if decimal places are accepted within a submission. Excel does not take this level of granularity when interpreting information (at least – not at a level which users are exposed to).

Excel has simplified the types of data which it interprets into four main categories: Boolean (Logical) values, error values, numerical values, and text values. These categories encompass the more granular data types which are otherwise present, and Excel will automatically assign the appropriate sub-type based on the content it is given.

All programs use data types to store, call, modify, and interact with information. Everything from the 4-digit code used to access your phone, to your email address, are stored and interpreted under different data types. Granted some go under more complex manipulations to make them secure, at their base they are stored based on the type of information they are presented. This is how it is possible for online services to ask that your passwords contain a minimum of one number or special character, and then validate that these requirements are being met.

Keeping this in mind, we will be looking at the different properties each data type has, how they differ from one another, and how to know which data types you are dealing with under different circumstances.