DATA PROCESSING This consists of data collection, data entry into a computer to form a file, and methods of file

manipulation.

Data
Data is defined as facts or observations about people, places, things, and events. Not long ago, data was limited to numbers, letters, and symbols recorded by keyboards. Now data is much richer and includes:
Audio captured, interpreted, and saved using microphones and voice recognition systems. Music captured from the Internet, from MIDI devices, and other sources. Photographs captured by digital cameras, edited by image editing soft-ware, and shared with others over the Internet.

 Video captured by digital video cameras, TV tuner cards, and WebCams

There are two ways or perspectives to view data. These perspectives are the physical view and the logical view. The physical view focuses on the actual format and location of the data. Data is recorded as digital bits that are typically grouped together into bytes that represent characters using a coding scheme such as ASCII.

 Typically, only very specialized computer professionals are concerned with the physical view. Logical view focuses on the meaning and content of the data. End users and most computer professionals are concerned with this view. They are involved with actually using the data with application programs.

Data Collection
data to be processed by the computer must be presented in a machine-sensible form. much data originates in a form that is far from machine sensible. a painful error-prone process of transcription must be undergone before the data is suitable for input to the computer. The process of data collection involves getting the original data to the "processing centre", transcribing it, sometimes converting it from one medium to another, and finally getting it into the computer. This process involves a great many people, machines and much expense.

 The process involved in getting the raw data from its point of origin to the computer in a form suitable for processing is called Data Collection. Data capture is the process of obtaining data in a computer-sensible form at the point of origin. If data is input directly into the computer at its point of origin the data entry is said to be on-line. If, in addition, the method of direct input is a terminal or workstation the method of input is known as Direct Data Entry (DDE).

Stages in data collection

Any number of the following stages may be involved 1) Data creation- There are two basic alternatives;
Source documents. A great deal of data still originate in the form of clerically prepared source documents. Data capture. Data is produced in a machine-sensible form at source, being read directly by a suitable device, e.g. a bar code reader

2) Data transmission. Either;

a) the documents is physically "transmitted", i.e., by the post office or a courier to the central point (e.g., posting batches of source documents). b) Data is transmitted by means of telephone lines to the central computer. A variant on this method is the use of FAXes.

3) Data preparation. This is the term given to the transcription of data from the source document to a machine-sensible medium. There are two parts; the original transcription itself and the verification process that follows. Note that Data Capture eliminates the need for transcription. 4) Media conversion. Very often data is prepared in a particular medium and converted to another medium for faster input to the computer, e.g., data might be prepared on diskette, or captured onto cassette, and then converted to magnetic tape for input. The conversion will be done on a computer that is separate from the one for which the data is intended.

5) Input The data, now in magnetic form, is subjected to validity checks by a computer program before being used for processing. 6) Sorting. This stage is required to re-arrange the data into the sequence required for processing. 7) Control. This is not a stage as such, because control is applied throughout the whole collection.

Data Processing Modes

I. On-line systems
The computer is linked directly to the source of the data. If this is not feasible then the next best thing is to "capture" the data as near as possible to its source and feed it to the computer with little delay. if the point of origination is remote from the computer, the computer is linked to the terminal point by a telecommunication line and data is transmitted over the line to the computer system. An example, used by the general public, is Automated Teller Machines ATMs, which are provided by many banks and building societies for cash dispensing and other services outside normal office hours.