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Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data

Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data

By : Bill Inmon
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Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data

Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data

By: Bill Inmon

Overview of this book

Spreadsheets are a popular way to store and communicate business data, but, although they are easy to create and update, they are not reliable enough to be used for making important corporate decisions. With this book, you can gain insight into how to maintain spreadsheets, how to format them, and then convert them into a database of reliable and useful information. Turning Spreadsheets into Corporate Data starts with a quick history of spreadsheet usage. You’ll learn the basics of formatting spreadsheets, including how to handle special characters and column headings, and how to convert the spreadsheet first into an intermediate database and then into corporate data. You will also learn how to utilize the mnemonic dictionary that is created along with the intermediate database. The later chapters discuss the immutability of data and the importance of organizational and political considerations during the data transformation. By the end of this book, you’ll have the skills and knowledge needed to convert your spreadsheets into reliable corporate data.
Table of Contents (16 chapters)
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1
Introduction
14
13: Case Study
15
Glossary
16
Index

In Summary

Spreadsheets can be understood at two levels: an external level and an internal level. It is necessary to understand spreadsheets at the internal level in order to grasp the scope of what kind of data analysis is possible.

There are three special characters that are found at the internal level: xlstab, linefeed, and eold. The spreadsheet as defined by the user is translated into a string of text that is formatted with the content of the spreadsheet.

Spreadsheets can and should be formatted by the end user in a “standard” format. Once the spreadsheet has been formatted as such, it can be converted into a corporate database.

In order to be converted into a corporate database, each value must have context. Context is determined by the intersection of the column name and the row identifier.

The row containing column names is identified manually by the end user and placed in a database called the ssdef table. A spreadsheet can have multiple column...

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