Editing data

Getting Started with OpenOffice.org 3.x

Chapter 5: Getting Started with Calc

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• Parts of the main Calc window
• Starting new spreadsheets
• Opening existing spreadsheets
• Saving spreadsheets
• Navigating within spreadsheets
• Selecting items in a sheet or a spreadsheet
• Working with spreadsheets
• Viewing Calc
• Entering data using the keyboard
• Speeding up data entry
• Editing data
• Formatting data
• Autoformatting cells and sheets
• Formatting spreadsheets using themes
• Hiding and showing data
• Sorting records
• Printing from Calc

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Editing data is done is in much the same way as it is entered. The first step is selecting the cell containing the data to be edited.

Removing data from a cell

Data can be removed (deleted) from a cell in several ways.

Removing data only

The data alone can be removed from a cell without removing any of the formatting of the cell. Click in the cell to select it, and then press the Backspace key.

Removing data and formatting

The data and the formatting can be removed from a cell at the same time. Press the Delete key (or right-click and choose Delete Contents, or use Edit > Delete Contents) to open the Delete Contents dialog. From this dialog, the different aspects of the cell can be deleted. To delete everything in a cell (contents and format), check Delete all.

Delete Contents dialog

Replacing all the data in a cell

To remove data and insert new data, simply type over the old data. The new data will retain the original formatting.

Changing part of the data in a cell

Sometimes it is necessary to change the contents of cell without removing all of the contents, for example if the phrase “See Dick run” is in a cell and it needs to be changed to “See Dick run fast.” It is often useful to do this without deleting the old cell contents first.

The process is the similar to the one described above, but you need to place the cursor inside the cell. You can do this in two ways.

Using the keyboard

After selecting the appropriate cell, press the F2 key and the cursor is placed at the end of the cell. Then use the keyboard arrow keys to move the cursor through the text in the cell.

Using the mouse

Using the mouse, either double-click on the appropriate cell (to select it and place the cursor in it for editing), or single-click to select the cell and then move the mouse pointer up to the input line and click into it to place the cursor for editing.