Different data base applications have different limits on things like the number of records you can keep, the number of fields, and the length of each field. Figure out what you want to do with the data base application and make sure the application lets you do it. Here are some things you can do with data base applications:

• Sort records alphabetically (A to Z or Z to A).
   
• Sort records numerically (High to low or low to high).
   
• Perform calculations on numerical fields (so you can figure out, for example, your area's total sales or your class's average score on the last test).
   
• Check errors automatically. Of one of the fields is social security number, for example, some applications can check to be sure you've entered a nine-digit number.)

If the information you want to keep track of doesn't fall into neat categories, you can get a free-form data base. With a free-form data base, you enter data in paragraph form and designate certain words as key words that you can search for later.

Spreadsheet applications are for working with numbers—most often with numbers attached to dollar signs. The traditional spreadsheet application starts you off with a blank screen laid out in rows and columns like a ledger. The rows in a spreadsheet are numbered; the columns are lettered. The intersection of a row and a column is called a cell. You describe different locations on the spreadsheet the way you describe locations on a map-for example, Al is the intersection of column A and row 1; B12 is the intersection of column B and row 12, and so on.

With a paper ledger, you fill in your assets and liabilities in pencil, and then you add, subtract, and otherwise manipulate the numbers to arrive at a total—the bottom line. If any of the numbers change, or if you want to change one of the numbers to see how a different pricing strategy would affect the bottom line, you have to recalculate all the numbers "by hand."

Figure 5-5
Computer as number cruncher

Spreadsheet

73