Regnearkdata

Regnearkdata refers to data organized in tabular form within spreadsheet files, commonly produced by software such as Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice Calc. In Norwegian usage, regneark means spreadsheet, and regnearkdata describes data stored in such files. It typically consists of rows representing records and columns representing fields, with the first row often used for headers. A single file may contain multiple worksheets or tabs, each with its own table.

Spreadsheet data can be stored in native formats (XLSX, ODS) or in interchange formats such as CSV or TSV. CSV is widely used for data exchange because it is text-based and simple to parse; however, it lacks explicit data types, formulas, or formatting.

Contents vary from financial ledgers and survey responses to scientific measurements and inventories. Spreadsheet data are frequently used for data entry, quick analysis, and visualization, and serve as an intermediate format in data pipelines. They can include numeric values, text, dates, and logical values, with optional formulas and formatting.

Common issues include inconsistent schemas across files, missing or erroneous values, duplicate records, and manual entry errors. Proper metadata, data dictionaries, and validation rules help improve reliability. Version control can be challenging due to file-based storage and concurrent edits.

Data from spreadsheets are often cleaned and analyzed by scripting languages and statistical tools after conversion to CSV or more structured formats. Interoperability is aided by standard conventions for column names and units, as well as by documented data definitions.

See also: Spreadsheet, CSV (comma-separated values), Excel, Google Sheets.