Forms

• A common element of data entry tasks is the format presented to the computer user. An application presents a screen, or a series of screens, with both fixed text (called boilerplate) and data fields. The screen in which data is entered is called a "form" and it should be designed to group similar types of information together, for example, a form for customer data has the customer's personal details together (name, sex, age, etc.) and address details will be displayed together. Most fields in data entry forms contain validation, or a limit on the possible values that may be entered in each field.
  
  

Field Types

• High-volume data entry tasks use forms that closely correspond to the source document, like a questionnaire or an application form. Forms designers have different methods available to use for data entry fields, however, a high speed typist would be slowed down by anything other than a plain text field. The other types of fields that appear in data entry forms are pick lists (with a preset list of values in a drop-down box), radio buttons (where the user activates one of a limited set of alternatives) and check boxes (checking the box signifies "yes," leaving it blank means "no"). These all require manipulation with a mouse. Mixing the format of data entry fields (a plain text field is followed by a check box, then a few more plain text fields, then a radio button, then more text fields) is a bad design for high-volume systems. The operator's efficiency is impaired by task switching.
  
  

Mouse Actions

• Radio buttons, check boxes and and pick lists require data entry to be performed with a mouse. These systems are better suited to interactive data entry tasks, such as call center or help desk applications. This is also a preferable form of data entry task where the operator's primary skill lies in some other area, because ease of use becomes a greater priority than high speed copying of data.
  
  

Purpose

• Although the application of data entry task is varied, the purpose of the job is always the same: getting real-world data into a database. Databases are most powerful at sorting data and re-ordering it when they are organized as "relational tables." Relational tables divide a range of data into specific types, called "entities." Although each table contains a small section of all the fields in the database, those tables can be joined together to extract a wider range of data. Free text fields are the hardest to manipulate. Fields with a limited set of values or numeric data are easier to use, and the designers of the data entry screen try as much as possible to organize forms to get data into these formats. This is done either by restricting possible values in a field or by storing data as a code that is interpreted into meaningful information when displayed on the screen.