<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
    <application>Gnumeric</application>, 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
    <application>Gnumeric</application> 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>
