Archive Magazine 1995/ARCHIVE95.iso/discs/pipeline/abacus/p_line/Sheets1/ReadMe

Text File | 1993-08-04 | 11KB | 205 lines

%OP%VS4.13 (28-Apr-92), Gerald L Fitton, R4000 5966 9904 9938
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%OP%PDPipeLine
%OP%WC834,2070,192,1620,0,0,0,0
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%C%Spreadsheets from the Beginning - Part 1
%C%by Gerald L Fitton
Keywords:
Beginners Spreadsheet Mileage Fitton

What is a Spreadsheet?
When I am asked 'What are microcomputers used for most?' I reply
either 'Playing Games' or 'Word Processing' depending on the age and
interests of the questioner.  A word processor is an application which
lets you enter text into your computer from a keyboard, edit it, check
your spelling, move words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs around
and, when you are satisfied, print the result.  A spreadsheet is an
application into which you type numbers and formulae; in a flash the
spreadsheet calculates and displays the result of substituting your
numbers into the formulae you have provided.  Any sum that you can do
on a scientific, business or statistical calculator can be done on a
spreadsheet.  Spreadsheets are particularly useful if you have to do
the same or a similar calculation many times.

Possibly the reason that spreadsheets are less popular than word
processors is that the average microcomputer owner can't see an
immediate use for 'doing sums' to the same extent as they can see uses
for writing words.  I think another reason is that being non-numerate
is more acceptable socially if not educationally than is being
illiterate.  The uses of 'sums' range from simple Percentages and
Ratios such as VAT and miles per gallon through Financial Calculations
such as finding the book value of an asset amortized through a sinking
fund, Statistical Analysis of say, the annual pattern of sunshine or
new car registrations, to the Engineering Design of a new suspension
bridge or Forecasting the effects of widening the M25 motorway or
annihilating a rain forest.

What Spreadsheets are Available?
Pencil and paper spreadsheets were used by engineers and accountants
long before they were 'computerised' (computerisation of spreadsheets
was an invention of the late 1960s, ten years before the
microcomputer).  The software engineers who created these early
spreadsheet programs, to their everlasting credit, took into account
the centuries of expertise hard won by their predecessors.  That is
one reason why it is so very hard to improve on the main features of
spreadsheets.  Without doubt, at the moment, the most popular and
definitive spreadsheet for microcomputers is one which runs under MS
DOS on PCs, ATs and the like called Lotus 1-2-3.  Another, Excel, is
the biggest seller on the Apple Mackintosh and it has built up a head
start on 1-2-3 under Windows and, because it is more powerful than
1-2-3, it is set to overtake the Lotus spreadsheet in the 1990s.

For the old BBC B and Master, Acorn's Viewsheet, Computer Concepts'
Intersheet and BBC Soft's Ultracalc were popular and they will run on
the Archimedes under BBC emulators.

However, if you are to do justice to the Archimedes, then you need
software which is multi-tasking under RISC OS.  As I write (it is
Decemberá1991) the only multi-tasking spreadsheets available for the
Archimedes are PipeDreamá3 and PipeDreamá4 from Colton Software and
Clares' Schema.  PipeDream is available for the Archimedes, for PCs
under MS DOS and for the portable Z88 (the keystrokes are identical
and the files can be transferred between machines).  Excel has many
features that Lotus 1-2-3 does not.  PipeDreamá4 is more like the
powerful Excel than it is like the now old-fashioned Lotus.

Getting Started
The objective of this series of articles (continued on the PipeLineá4
discs) is to bridge the gap between the User Manual provided by the
Colton Software and Specialist Training Courses for the use of
spreadsheets in Accountancy, Geography, Engineering, Management,
Science, Statistics, etc, by experts in these fields.  I hope that
later issues of PipeLine will include articles by industrial,
commercial and business experts who use Pipedream.

I shall assume that you are able to start up the Archimedes and that
you have successfully installed PipeDream and that you are familiar
with using the mouse to control the WIMPS environment at least so far
as understanding the meaning of phrases such as 'click the mouse
select button' and 'drag a file from the directory viewer into the
PipeDream spreadsheet'.  Apart from this, everything you need to do
will be explained in plain English (no unexplained technical jargon)
and you will learn by working through structured examples.

The Example
In this directory is an example called [Mileage].  Load it now and, if
you can, take a printout.  Rather than use the [Mileage] file on this
disc I suggest that you try to make your own from scratch following
the instructions below, however, if you have a problem then you might
find it useful to 'cheat' a little by loading the finished version.

Creating a New Blank Spreadsheet
Open a directory viewer containing the !PipeDream application and
double click using the mouse 'select' (left) button on the !PipeDream
icon and PipeDream will be installed on the icon bar. Click the mouse
menu button over the installed icon and use as your template the file
AtoF from the Templates directory of this disc.  Enlarge it to fill
the screen.  Now hold down <Ctrl> and tap 'FC' (for Filename Change).
Type the new filename [MyMileage] (a different name from [mileage] so
that PipeDream doesn't get confused) into the Name file dialogue box
and click on OK (or press <Return>.

Moving Across the Sheet
The sheet you have consists of six columns (A to F) and one row
(number 1).  You will see the caret in column A and (of course) row 1.
In the top left corner of the sheet (above the row of letters) you
will see A1 confirming that you are 'in' the cell or slot called A1.
Move the caret from column A to column B by tapping the <Tab> key (on
the left of the keyboard) and you will see the A1 change to B1.  Go
back to column A by holding down <Shift>, tapping <Tab> again and then
releasing the <Shift> key.  Now move the cursor directly into the last
column (column F) by holding down the key marked <Ctrl> and tapping
the <Tab> key; you can return to the first column by holding down
<Shift>, <Ctrl> and tapping the <Tab> key.

Adding Rows
Tap <Return> a few times and you will see new rows (2, 3, 4 etc) added
at the bottom of the sheet as the caret is moved into A2, A3, A4 etc.
Move back up the sheet using the up arrow key (which is to the right
of the QWERTY part of the keyboard and to the left of the numeric
pad).  The down arrow key moves you down again but it will not create
new rows.  From anywhere in the sheet you can return to row 1 by
tapping <Home> or move to the final row with <End> (also marked
<Copy>).

Some Options
PipeDream 4 can be used as a word processor and a spreadsheet at the
same time.  However, if you are using it mainly as a spreadsheet then
setting some of the options to values more appropriate to a
spreadsheet will speed up the entry of data and make the sheet more
tolerant of any mistakes you might make.  PipeDream 4 also contains
template files which may be set up to different default options from
mine so it is a wise precaution for you to set the Options at this
stage.  Hold down <Ctrl> and tap O (for Options) and a menu of options
will appear.  Choose the following options by clicking select in the
appropriate boxes to get a green diamond or a blue star:  New slot
format - Numbers, Insert on wrap - Column, Borders - On (ie a blue
star), Justify - Off (click to remove a blue star), Wrap - Off,
Decimal Places - click on the up or down arrow to get 2 decimal
places, Insert on return - Off, and finally, because it is helpful for
beginners, Grid - On.  There are other options in this menu that we'll
come back to but, for now, click select on the OK box.

Text, Numbers and Formulae
You may be wondering whether you're going to create a working
spreadsheet at all from this article!  Yes!  You are going to use the
spreadsheet to work out miles per gallon from miles and gallons.  The
spreadsheet, when complete, will look like the file [Mileage] in this
directory.  Load it when you feel the need to do so, have a look at it
or, if you like, keep it in a separate window on the screen so that
you can check how you are getting along.

Move the caret into A3 and type the word Distance (as it appears here,
without inverted commas) and you will see it in the formula line.  If
you make a mistake you can use the <Delete> key to delete a character
at a time.  When you are satisfied you have Distance then tap the
<Return> key.  The word Distance appears in the A3 cell left
justified.  Tap <Return> again to move the caret into the A4 cell and
type in Fuel the same way.  Enter Mileage into A6.  All these three
entries are text.  Now for two numeric entries.  In B3 type 103 and
press <Return>.  One difference you should notice is that the number
is right justified and that the value is shown as 103.00 in the cell.
Being a number it also appears at the top of the spreadsheet in the
formula line.  In the same way enter 5 in cell B4 to get 5.00.  Now
enter the formula for miles per gallon into cell B6.  Place the caret
in B6 and enter the formula B3/B4.  The / means that the value in B3
is divided by the value in B4 and the result is placed in B6.  When
you press <Return> the calculation is carried out automatically, the
value 20.60 appears in cell B6 and the formula in the cell value
space.  Type the formula 1.609344*B3 into D3, the formula 4.54596*B4
into D4 and the formula D3/D4 into D6.  The * acts like a
multiplication sign and the / as a division sign; there are 1.609344
km in a mile and 4.54596 litres in a gallon.

Complete your spreadsheet by entering the phrase Mileage Calculation
in cell B1, Miles into C3, Gallons into C4, Km into E3 and Litres into
E4.  Perhaps you should check that yours looks like the [Mileage]
spreadsheet on this disc.

What if?
Spreadsheets are very good for What if? questions.  Go back to cell B3
and type in another number. When you press <Return> or click the mouse
select (left) button on the green tick, the values in cells B6, D3 and
D6 will also change.  Try smaller and larger numbers until you are
satisfied that you are familiar with the technique.  If you know the
cost per litre (it's about 50p now for petrol) then see if you can use
cell B7 or D7 to find the cost of the fuel (in pence) and cells B8 and
D8 to work out the cost per mile and per km.

Saving Your Work
If you have PipeDreamá4 and not the demo disc version then you can
save your work.  Hold down <Ctrl> and tap FS (for File Save).  Drag
the PipeDream icon into a directory viewer; the PipeDream file icon
will appear in the directory viewer.  You have saved the file.  Click
the menu button over the Pipedream icon on the icon bar and then click
select on Quit.  The PipeDream icon is removed from the icon bar; you
have successfully closed down the PipeDream application.