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(tm) AS-EASY-AS... Version 5 USER'S MANUAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TRIUS, Inc. P.O. Box 249 N. Andover, MA 01845-0249 Tel. (508) 794-9377 Fax. (508) 688-6312 BBS (508) 794-0762 Copyright 1985 - 1991, TRIUS, Inc. All Rights Reserved Worldwide +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This document is for evaluating the Shareware copy of AS-EASY-AS! | | Use of the software package and this document beyond a 30-day | | evaluation period requires registration! | | ---------------------------------------- | | Distribution of printed copies of this manual is Prohibited! | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ COPYRIGHT NOTICE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS(tm) is a copyrighted software product developed and owned by TRIUS, Inc. located in North Andover, Massachusetts, U.S.A. You may make and keep back-up copies of the software for your personal use, provided that you copy all the copyright, trademark, and other information indicated on the initial screen display, on each backup copy label. The rights to receive any financial or other benefit, and to modify the product or employ its components in any kind of derivative work, are reserved exclusively by TRIUS, Inc. You may not reverse-engineer, disassemble, modify, decompile or create derivative works of the product. You acknowledge that the product includes certain trade secrets and confidential information, all of which is the copyrighted intellectual property of TRIUS, Inc. AS-EASY-AS is a trademark of TRIUS Inc. and the TRIUS Logo is a trademark of TRIUS, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. The AS-EASY-AS User's Manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved. The reproduction of this document, in whole or part, its conversion to electronic medium or its distribution in printed form (hard copy) are prohibited unless prior consent, in writing, has been given by TRIUS, Inc. EPSON is a trademark of Epson America Inc. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines, Inc. LOTUS 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation HERCULES is a trademark of Hercules Corporation MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. SYMPHONY is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [2] LIMITED WARRANTY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk as to quality and performance of these programs is with you. Should the program prove defective, you (not TRIUS, Inc.) assume the entire cost of all necessary repair, servicing, or correction. In no event will TRIUS, Inc. be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use these programs, even if TRIUS, Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. Some states do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties or exclusion of liability for incidental or consequential damages so the above may not apply to you. You acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. You further agree that it is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between us, which supersedes any proposal or prior agreement, oral or written, and any other communications between us. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [3] TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COPYRIGHT NOTICE.................................................... 2 LIMITED WARRANTY.................................................... 3 1. INTRODUCTION..................................................... 4 WHAT IS A SPREADSHEET............................................ 5 2. OPERATING REQUIREMENTS........................................... 5 PROGRAM INSTALLATION............................................. 6 MOUSE INTERFACE.................................................. 6 STARTING THE PROGRAM............................................. 8 COMMAND LINE SWITCHES............................................ 8 STARTING AS-EASY-AS FROM ANY DIRECTORY........................... 10 MENUS............................................................ 11 VIEWS/WINDOWS.................................................... 13 SMART CURSOR..................................................... 15 FUNCTION KEYS.................................................... 15 3. BASICS........................................................... 18 ENTERING LABELS.................................................. 18 ENTERING VALUES.................................................. 18 ENTERING FORMULAS................................................ 19 ENTERING GRAPHICS CHARACTERS..................................... 19 EDITING A CELL................................................... 20 METHODS FOR ENTERING FORMULAS.................................... 20 WHAT IS A RANGE.................................................. 21 DEFINING A RANGE................................................. 22 POINTING WITH THE ARROW KEYS..................................... 22 POINTING WITH THE MOUSE.......................................... 22 TYPING........................................................... 23 NAMING A RANGE................................................... 23 SETTING FORMATS.................................................. 24 WHY DO YOU NEED FORMATS?......................................... 24 RELATIVE VERSUS ABSOLUTE ADDRESSES............................... 24 COPY VALUES...................................................... 26 MOVE VALUES...................................................... 26 MOVE FORMULAS.................................................... 27 RECALCULATION MODES.............................................. 27 CIRCULAR REFERENCES.............................................. 28 SAVING THE WORKSHEET............................................. 28 Saving PART OF THE WORKSHEET..................................... 29 RETRIEVING THE WORKSHEET......................................... 29 COMBINING WORKSHEETS............................................. 30 LEAVING THE WORKSHEET 30 4. PRINTING......................................................... 32 PRINTER BORDERS.................................................. 33 MARGINS & PAGE LENGTH - PRINTER OPTIONS.......................... 33 PRINTER OPTIONS - HEADERS & FOOTERS.............................. 35 PRINTER OPTIONS - EMBEDDED CODES................................. 36 PRINTER OPTIONS - TYPE........................................... 36 CONTROLLING THE PRINTER.......................................... 37 ASEASY.PRT....................................................... 37 PRINT TO A FILE.................................................. 38 PRINTING COMBINED TEXT AND GRAPHICS.............................. 39 USING PRINT VIEW................................................. 39 5. GRAPHICS COMMANDS................................................ 40 GRAPH RANGES..................................................... 40 FORMAT........................................................... 40 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [4] TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) Page ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ OPTIONS.......................................................... 41 CUSTOM........................................................... 41 COMBINING TEXT AND GRAPHICS...................................... 44 SAVING A GRAPH................................................... 44 6. DATA COMMANDS.................................................... 46 DATA FILL........................................................ 46 DATA TABLE....................................................... 46 DATA TABLE - 1 INPUT............................................. 46 DATA TABLE - 2 INPUTS............................................ 47 DATA SORT........................................................ 47 DATA BIN......................................................... 48 DATA GOAL SEEK................................................... 48 DATA REGRESSION.................................................. 49 DATA INPUT RANGE................................................. 50 DATA INPUT FORM.................................................. 50 7. DATABASE OPERATIONS.............................................. 52 INPUT RANGE...................................................... 52 CRITERION RANGE.................................................. 52 OUTPUT RANGE..................................................... 53 8. MATRIX OPERATIONS................................................ 54 MATRIX EQUATION.................................................. 55 9. FUNCTIONS........................................................ 56 STRING FUNCTIONS................................................. 56 MATH FUNCTIONS................................................... 62 FINANCIAL FUNCTIONS.............................................. 65 LOGICAL FUNCTIONS................................................ 69 STATISTICAL FUNCTIONS............................................ 71 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS................................................ 74 DATE AND TIME FUNCTIONS.......................................... 78 10.MACROS........................................................... 81 DEFINING A MACRO................................................. 81 EXECUTING A MACRO................................................ 82 MACRO MENU ESCAPE SEQUENCE....................................... 83 MACRO KEYWORDS................................................... 83 ADVANCED MACROS.................................................. 84 INDEX............................................................ 102 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [5] 1. INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you for trying out AS-EASY-AS, an excellent spreadsheet program, packed with features that can't be found in other packages that cost many times more. Before you rest your fingers on the keyboard and start using AS-EASY-AS, its useful to have an overview of the capabilities of the program. Of course, the list below represents just a sampling of the many features. However, it will give you an idea of the versatility of AS-EASY-AS: * Large size (8,192 Rows by 256 Columns) * Pull Down Menu Interface * Math, Statistical, Logical, Financial, String, Date, Time and User Functions * Matrix Operations, Frequency Distribution Tables (Bins) * File Linking * Powerful Graphics * Bar, Line, X-Y, Pie, Stacked Bar, Hi-Lo, Polar, Area, Delta, Cumulative, Strip, Wall, Semi-Log, and Log-Log Graphs * X-Y Data Regression * Keyboard and Mouse-based Operation * Preview Mode With Combined Text and Graphics * 9/24-pin dot matrix pin, HP Laserjet and HP Pen Plotter Support * Windows! Up to six resizeable and moveable spreadsheet views * Database Operations, Data Input Forms, Read/Write dBASE Files * Text Search, Replace, Justify * Goalseeking - Desire an answer? Let the computer solve for the input value! * User-configurable Printer Setup File * Spreadsheet Auditing Capabilities * Named Range, Function, Macro Selection Lists * Multiple Planes (3-D Simulation) * Macro Programming Language (over 70 powerful macros) * Macro Record/Playback Capability and Single Stepping Through Macros * File Manager * Support of Hercules/CGA/EGA/AT&T/, and VGA graphics cards * Shell to DOS, TRIUS Add-ins, and much, much more ....... AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [6] 2. OPERATING REQUIREMENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HARDWARE AS-EASY-AS is designated to operate on any IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or fully compatible computer, as described below: OPERATING SYSTEM AS-EASY-AS will operate using DOS Version 2.11 or later. It has also been tested and works under Windows 3.0 as a DOS application. MEMORY REQUIREMENTS 384k minimum RAM. Spreadsheet data is stored using a sparse matrix technique which only allocates space required by each cell. Expanded Memory is automatically detected and used by AS-EASY-AS. If you don't have EMS, you can instruct AS-EASY-AS to use Virtual Memory, whereby a hard disk or diskette may be used to emulate EMS. If you don't have EMS memory and don't use virtual memory, only conventional DOS memory will be used. DISK DRIVE The minimum files required to run AS-EASY-AS are listed in Section 2 and require less than 360 KB of disk space. As a result, AS- EASY-AS will run on single floppy (720K minimum), dual floppy, or hard disk system. This enables AS-EASY-AS to run on older PCs and laptops without hard disks. VIDEO CARD/MONITOR MONOCHROME - 80x25 text resolution. HERCULES - 720x348 resolution. COLOR GRAPHICS ADAPTER (CGA) - 640x200 resolution. ENHANCED GRAPHICS ADAPTER (EGA) - 640x350 resolution. VIDEO GRAPHICS ARRAY (VGA) - 640x480 resolution. PRINTERS AS-EASY-AS will print text and graphics to Epson and compatible 9/24- and, Okidata 24-pin dot matrix printers and Hewlett Packard LaserJet II and compatible laserjet printers. It will also work with daisy wheel printers, but they will not be able to print graphics. MOUSE AS-EASY-AS may optionally be used with a Microsoft or compatible mouse. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [7] PROGRAM INSTALLATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before using AS-EASY-AS, we recommend that a working copy of the program be made either on your hard disk or on a separate floppy diskette. An installation program provided on the AS-EASY-AS diskette makes the process simple. It will transfer the necessary files from the original diskette to your working disk/directory. There are no copy protection schemes or hidden files to wrestle with. If you are making a working disk, first format two blank diskettes and label them AS-EASY-AS #1 and #2. To make a working copy of the program: 1. Place the AS-EASY-AS program disk in drive A: 2. At the DOS prompt, type A: and press [ENTER] 3. Type INSTALL and press [ENTER]. Follow the simple on-screen instructions to specify where to install the program. If you are installing the program on a 360K diskette, you will get a message that some file(s) will not fit on the disk. To extract the rest of the files, use an additional disk and start the program with the /p command line switch, i.e., INSTALL /p [ENTER]. When the operation is complete, the DOS prompt will reappear on your screen. Place the original diskette in a safe place. If your working diskette later becomes damaged, repeat the above process to make a new working disk. The following files are the minimum required to run AS-EASY-AS: ASEASY.EXE ASEASY.MSG ASEASY.MNU The rest of the files do not need to be present in your working disk/directory to run the program. MOUSE INTERFACE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS may be used with a Microsoft or compatible 2 or 3 button mouse. Some mice have three buttons, while others have two. AS- EASY-AS uses only two buttons on the mouse. The left button is functionally equivalent to the [ENTER] key on the keyboard, and the middle and/or right mouse buttons both represent the [ESC] key. You can use the keyboard and mouse equivalents interchangeably. In text modes, the mouse cursor appears on the AS-EASY-AS screen as a block one character in width and height. The cursor may be moved around the screen through corresponding movement of the mouse. If the left mouse button is "tapped" or "clicked" while on a worksheet cell, the worksheet cell pointer will relocate to the cell occupied by the mouse cursor. If the left button is held down while moving the mouse, and the mouse cursor reaches a border, the worksheet will start scrolling in the direction of mouse movement. This motion will continue until the AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [8] outer limits of the worksheet are reached. The cell pointer will be positioned in the last cell where movement was stopped. The sensitivity of the mouse while scrolling may cause overshoot of the desired window on some fast computers. If this happens, you can move the cell pointer one cell at a time by clicking on the scroll bar pointers in the right and bottom borders. Throughout this manual, when a reference is made to the [ENTER] key, the left mouse button will also be implied. Similarly, when reference is made to the [ESC] key, the right mouse button should be assumed to perform the same function. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [9] STARTING THE PROGRAM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The system configuration and certain default parameters can be specified when the program is started. Various configuration options can be invoked by a number of command line switches (each switch is preceded by a slash [/] character). Note that most of the same defaults can also be changed in the AS-EASY-AS Configuration file. See User, Install in Section 10 for further information. The general form to start the program is: ASEASY /switch1/switch2/switch3... where switch1, switch2,... are explained below COMMAND LINE SWITCHES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Switches are limited to a maximum of 47 characters on the command line. The following command line switch options can appear in any order. ATT - AT&T Monochrome System. Set this switch if you are using AS-EASY-AS on an AT&T System to produce graphics with a resolution of 640x400. AUTO=Filename - Autoload Worksheet. This switch instructs AS-EASY-AS to automatically load a worksheet upon program startup. Be sure to specify the file's .WKS extension and path, if the file is not located in the default directory. Note: File names containing a hyphen "-" can not be auto- loaded. However, the underscore character "_" is acceptable. The file name of an auto-loaded file will not appear on the status line. BK=X - Screen Blanking Time This switch sets the screen blanking time. If your computer is left inactive (no key pressed) for X-seconds, the screen will blank out to prevent phosphor burnout due to long periods of reverse video (i.e. the BORDERS). When the screen is blank, pressing any key will re-display the sheet. (We suggest using the ESCAPE key). The default blank out time is set to 5 minutes (i.e., X=300). If a blanking time of 0 is used, screen blanking will be disabled. DIR=Path - Sets the Default Directory/Data Path The default data drive and subdirectory is the drive and subdirectory from which the program was started. This switch allows you to change the default drive/directory. E - Enhanced Graphics Adaptor This switch specifies an IBM Enhanced Graphics Adaptor or equivalent available for graphics. The resolution on the EGA screen is 640x350 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [10] pixels with multiple colors. EV - VGA Monitor/Card (640x480) Specifies that your computer is equipped with a VGA monitor and adapter card, capable of displaying at a 640x480 pixel resolution. If your system is equipped with such a monitor/card combination and the /EV switch is not used, the program will most likely start up in EGA or CGA mode. H - Hercules System This switch specifies that you are using a Hercules Mono-Graphics board or clone. The resolution of the screen, when plotting graphics, is 720x348 pixels and will use the first graphics page at $b000. To force graphics to the second graphics page at $b800 follow the H with a 2, i.e., H2. NE - Don't Use Expanded Memory Do not use expanded memory, even if it is found on your computer. AS-EASY-AS will automatically use all the expanded memory it detects unless this switch is used. MONO - Monochrome (B&W) Change all colors to a white/black color scheme. This can be used on monitors which do not display all colors visibly, such as LCD monitors found on most laptops. NT - Non-Turbo Keyboard Cursor movement using the keyboard cursor keys defaults to a "turbo" mode. Turbo speeds up cursor movement on 286 ATs and above. It may not be compatible with some types of computers, such as the PCjr. Therefore, the turbo feature may be disabled by use of the NT switch. RA - Round Absolute By setting this switch, the absolute value of negative numbers is used when rounding. If the RA switch is NOT used @Round(1.6,0)=2 and @Round(-1.6,0)=1. If AS-EASY-AS is started with the RA switch, @Round(1.6,0)=2 and @Round(-1.6,0)=-2. V1 - CGA Mode Force EGA/VGA cards operation to CGA mode. This might be necessary for some non-standard EGA/VGA monitors and video card combinations. VM=XXX - Use Virtual Memory This command line switch instructs AS-EASY-AS to use a disk drive to emulate EMS RAM. XXX represents the maximum number of 2K packages to use as EMS memory. (i.e. /VM=10 is equivalent to 160K of EMS.) VP=Drive\Path; - Path for Virtual EMS Specifies the drive and subdirectory to by used by AS-EASY-AS when the /VM switch is used. The default is the start-up drive\directory. You may specify another drive which has more available space to be used for the temporary files. Note the ";" at the end of the path name. Any combination of valid switches (depending on your system) can be used. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [11] As an example, ASEASY/E/NE/DIR=C:\DATA instructs AS-EASY-AS to start in EGA mode, not to use expanded memory, and set the default data drive and directory to C:\DATA. By creating individual batch files, you could start AS-EASY-AS on a number of different systems, without having to remember all the switches required. STARTING AS-EASY-AS FROM ANY DIRECTORY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS can be started from any drive/directory on your hard disk simply by typing ASEASY. To do so, you must make sure that the directory where the ASEASY program files are located is in your DOS path, and you also need to set a DOS environment variable to point to that directory. The variable is ASEASY and it can be set using the DOS SET command, e.g. SET ASEASY=D:\Subdirectory | Drive and directory where the AS-EASY-AS program files are located. Consult your DOS manual for more information on the PATH and SET statements. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [12] MENUS ~~~~~ All AS-EASY-AS commands are accessed through menus which are invoked by pressing the [/] key. This key is usually located on the lower right side of the keyboard, just above the space bar. An alternate key may be specified, refer to User, Install, Punctuate, Menukey for details. If you use a mouse, command menus are invoked by pressing the right mouse button when the program is in the Ready! mode. The main command menu will drop down and provide access to all other menu commands. If the right button was selected in error, tapping the right button again will return you to the Ready! mode. In order for your mouse to be operational, your mouse driver needs to be loaded prior to starting AS-EASY-AS (see Section 2 on using the mouse). When the [/] key is pressed, the main menu will appear in the top left corner of the screen. As you will see later, window menus provide you with a useful trail through the different levels of menus in the program. The first option in the menu will be indicated by a moveable pointer. The command area line, on the top of the screen, will display additional information about the option or menu choice. The pointer can be moved by pressing the cursor arrow keys or by moving the mouse pointer, if your mouse is active. [HOME] will move the selection bar to the first menu option, while [END] will move it to the last one. Pressing [LEFT], [UP] or [BACKSPACE] will move the selection bar up. Pressing [RIGHT], [DOWN] or [SPACE] will move the selection bar down. To select a command or sub menu, use the cursor keys to highlight the command you want and press the [ENTER] key. An alternative way is to press the key corresponding to the first letter of the desired option. For example, when the main menu is displayed, pressing S gets you in the Sheet menu, or pressing R gets you in the Range menu, etc. Tapping the left mouse button will select the highlighted command. Continue the process until the desired command is reached. Tapping the right button once is the equivalent of hitting [ESC], and will return you to the previous menu. Once a selection is made, a new menu window appears in the same location. This window is actually made up of two parts. The top part displays the option you selected in the previous menu. The bottom part is a menu, with the last option selected highlighted. You can select an option from this menu either by highlighting the choice and pressing [ENTER] or by pressing the key corresponding to the first letter of the option. To facilitate repetitive tasks, AS-EASY-AS remembers the last sequence of menu commands used. If the main menu is selected a second time, you will notice the command last used is highlighted. To reuse the same command, simply press [ENTER] or click the left mouse button to select the command, and continue likewise through the submenus. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [13] The display menu window can be shifted between the left and right sides of the screen by pressing the period [.] key. Press period (.) again and it returns to its original position. Once the menu window has been placed either on the left or the right side of the screen, it will appear there every time the menu is accessed until it is moved again or until the program is exited. Both the width and the position of the menu window can also be adjusted by macro commands (see Section 8, Macros). When the number of selection items is too large, (such as filename in a directory) to be displayed on a single screen as may occur during /File Retrieve, only a single page at a time is presented. Viewing successive pages can be achieved by moving the cursor past the bottom row or using the [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys. As you can see, with this menuing technique, at any time you can tell exactly what you are doing. If you don't think that this is important, consider the following: Assume that your current menu is displaying the menu of cell FORMAT options. Unless you have kept track of all your previous keystrokes, it is very hard to tell exactly what you are trying to format. This is because the FORMAT menu can be accessed from a number of different menus as shown. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [14] VIEWS/WINDOWS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS has the ability to open up to six windows or views of the worksheet at one time. Worksheet views can be arranged and resized on the screen according to your preference. When multiple views are created, only one window can be worked on at a time. This is called the active window and is identified by a blinking cursor. The [F7] key is used to toggle between worksheet views. The cell pointer identifies which view is active. The windows can be manipulated by using a mouse, or through the View menu command. With a mouse, to resize the window, position the mouse pointer on the "┘" character in lower right corner of the window. Depress the left button and drag the mouse to the desired size. Dragging the "■" located in the upper right corner of the window will move the window. Positioning the mouse pointer on any portion of an inactive window and clicking the left button makes that window active. The following View menu subcommands allow manipulation of the windows. OPEN - creates a new view based on the active window. If this process is continued, multiple views of the worksheet will be created. Up to six worksheet views can be created at one time. Worksheets will overlap each other (layer) when opened. If an attempt is made to open a seventh window, an error message will appear warning that the maximum number of windows has been exceeded. CLOSE - will terminate the current worksheet view. This command can be repeated until all views are removed. Closing a middle view will result in the windows being renumbered accordingly. For example, if six window views are created (1,2,3,4,5,6) and window number three is closed, windows 5 and 6 will automatically renumber to read (1,2,3,4,5). LAYER - will arrange all the open windows on the screen at once. [F7] is used to toggle between worksheets and is used to select the active window. Each time a new window is opened, it is layered below and to the right of the previous window. ZOOM - will expand the active window to fill the entire screen. This command will allow you to take a closer look at the worksheet. SIZE - changes the width and/or height of the window. The smallest view size is 22 character columns by 4 character rows. The number of columns and rows is dependant on the type of graphics text selected. The [up], [down], [left], [right], [home], arrow keys can be used to reduce and enlarge the worksheet view. MOVE - repositions the window on the screen. To move the worksheet, the size of the window must first be reduced to less than full-size. Use the cursor keys to move the active window. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [15] MOVING AROUND THE SHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For keyboards with a combined cursor/number key pad, first make sure the NUM status indicator is NOT displayed on the status line. This means that the cursor key pad is active. Next, take a close look at the cursor key pad (usually located on the right side of your keyboard). Each key performs the following action: [HOME] Move the cursor to cell position A1 or the border boundary [UP] Move the cursor up one row [PGUP] Move the cursor up one screen page [DOWN] Move the cursor down one row [PGDN] Move the cursor down one screen page [LEFT] Move the cursor left one column [RIGHT] Move the cursor right one column [END] This key acts in combination with the next cursor key pressed. It causes the spreadsheet to scan in the indicated direction until a change of state occurs. For example, a column of numbers with a blank cell in the middle will result in the cursor stopping at the blank cell. Subsequent [END] [DOWN] will jump to the bottom of the column. [END][UP] Move to far top of range [END][DOWN] Move to far bottom of range [END][LEFT] Move to far left of range [END][RIGHT] Move to far right of range [END][HOME] Move to lower right corner of sheet Other movement keys: [TAB] Move one page right [CTRL] [RIGHT] [SHIFT][TAB] Move one page left [CTRL] [LEFT] [F5] Go to specified cell [F6] When the /Sheet Window option has been selected, pressing F6 moves the cursor between the two windows. With only one window active, pressing F6 toggles between the current and the last position of the cursor. [F7] The F7 function key is used to toggle between worksheet views when multiple windows are created. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [16] SMART CURSOR ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Smart Cursor will automatically move the cell pointer one cell in the direction of the last cursor movement after the [ENTER] key has been pressed. Smart Cursor is toggled on/off by pressing the [SCROLL LOCK] key. "SCR" displayed in the status line indicates Smart Cursor is active. When active, if a number is typed into a cell, followed by [ENTER] and a cursor key, Smart Cursor remembers the direction of movement. Subsequent input of data, followed by [ENTER], will place the data in the cell, and move the cursor one cell in the established direction of movement. If a cursur key is again pressed, that direction becomes the new direction of movement. For example, when you type the number 1 in cell A1 and press [ENTER], the cursor remains in cell A1. If you move the cursor to cell A2 and type the number 2, the cursor will automatically move to cell A3 after [ENTER] has been pressed. FUNCTION KEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F1 - Help Function Key (when ready mode is active) To choose among the help topics, press the up/down cursor keys to move the highlighted cursor to the one desired. To move around within the help topic list, press the [HOME] key to go to the top of the list; the [END] key to go to the bottom of the list; the [PAGE UP] key to go to the top the list that is visible on the screen; press the [PAGE DOWN] key to go to the bottom of the list that is visible on the screen. To search more quickly for a topic, press the first letter of the desired topic. Press the [ENTER] key to select the topic and the cursor will move to the informational help window on the right side of the screen. Once a help topic has been chosen and entered, use the up/down cursor keys to scroll through the file. The highlighted bottom boundary of a file disappears when the end of the file has been reached. To exit one help topic and enter another, hit the [ENTER] or the [LEFT] cursor key, scroll up or down to the desired topic, and hit the enter key. The first letter quick-search method may also be used. To exit the help menu altogether, hit the [ESCAPE] key. F1 - Help When Entering a Macro If you are typing a macro and the last key typed was the "{" key, pressing [F1] will open a pick window in the middle of your screen, displaying all the macro commands available to you. Move the cursor using the arrow keys, select the macro command you want and press [ENTER]. The macro command is inserted, at the cursor position, and you are ready to continue typing. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [17] F1 - Help When Entering an Equation If you have just entered a valid operator (+, -, *, or /), pressing F1 will display all named ranges defined in the spreadsheet. Select the one you want, using the cursor, press [ENTER] and the named range is inserted in your equation. F1 - HELP When Entering a Function If you have just pressed the "@" key, pressing F1 will open a selection window in the middle of your screen, and will display all the @-Functions available to you. When the function list appears, move the cursor using the arrow keys, pick the function you want and press [ENTER]. The function is inserted and you are ready to continue typing. Pressing the [ESC] key, when the function list appears, will cancel the operation but still leave you in the edit mode. F1 - HELP When Entering a Printer Setup Code If you are in the PrintTo Printer Options Setup submenu and are trying to remember a printer setup code, all you need to do is press [\] followed by F1. A selection window displays the setup codes that you have placed in your printer set-up file (see section on Printer Options). Move the cursor with the arrow keys, select the setup code that you want, and press [ENTER]. AS-EASY-AS will insert the selected printer setup code and you can continue with your next operation. This is a great feature for those who have to use complicated lengthy laser printer setup strings. The F1 option is also available when embedding setup codes directly in a print range (see section on Printer Options). NOTES: 1. You can still manually enter the setup codes if you prefer. 2. The printer setup file has the name ASEASY.PRT and must be in the default directory. F2 - Edit Function Key Pressing the F2 function key places a copy of the contents of the current cell on the second line of the command panel area, and invokes the edit mode. For more information about the edit mode options, refer to Section 3.2. F3 - Macro Function Key The F3 function key allows execution of a macro by name or by cell reference. When F3 is pressed, a prompt appears requesting the name of the macro that you want to execute. The default address is the cell reference specified the last time F3 was invoked during the current session. You can either type the name of the macro you want to execute and press [ENTER] or press [ESC]. Pressing [ESC] in response to the prompt will display a pick list of range names to choose from. Move the cursor to the desired macro name and press [ENTER]. NOTE: This is the equivalent to the {JUMP NAME} macro command. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [18] F4 - Absolute Address Function Key Pressing F4 when in the middle of entering a formula, makes the address of the current cell absolute (both row and column). Pressing F4 once more makes only the column of the current cell absolute and pressing it for the third time makes the reference relative. NOTE: This function key is only active when entering an equation in the pointing mode. It is not active when editing a cell. F5 - GoTo Function Key The GOTO function key allows you to position the cursor on a cell indicated by name or by reference. When the prompt for the destination appears, pressing [ESC] will present a window of range names from which to choose. The default address is the address specified last time F5 was invoked during the current session. F6 - Window/Location Function Key The F6 function key toggles the cell cursor between the current location and the last location the cell cursor occupied. When the Sheet, Windows command has been invoked, pressing the F6 key will toggle the cursor between the two windows. When the Sheet, Borders command has been invoked, pressing the F6 key will toggle the cursor into and out of the border area (only if a border was assigned to one window). F7 - View Key The F7 function key is used to toggle between worksheet views when multiple windows are created. Up to six window views can be opened but only one window can be worked on at a time. This is called the active window and is identified by a visable cell pointer. F9 - Calculate Function Key When the ready mode is active, pressing F9 results in all cells being recalculated. Another feature of the F9 key is that it performs the calculation of any equation, at any point in an editing AS-EASY-AS operation. When editing a formula, pressing F9 replaces the entire formula with its evaluated result. Example: Cell A1 contains the value 1, and Cell A2 contains the value 2 Place the cursor in cell B1 and press the following keys: /scsA1+A2 [F9] [ENTER] | Function Key This will set the width of column B to 3, i.e., the value of cell A1 plus the value of cell A2. F10 - Graph Function Key Pressing F10 displays the currently defined graph. If no graph has been defined, a beep will sound and an error message will be displayed. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [19] 3. BASICS ~~~~~~~~~ This section provides information necessary to perform basic functions, such as entering text, values, and formulas, and editing data once it has been entered. It also describes basic skills and concepts, such as copying and moving cells, inserting and deleting rows and columns, creating and using range names, and file management. ENTERING LABELS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A label is any sequence of characters which is not preceded with a digit or mathematical operator. Digits may be entered as labels if they are preceded with an apostrophe ['], a caret [^], a quote ["], a backslash [\], or a pipeline [|] character. These label prefix characters are special formatting characters which perform the following: ['] Left justifies the label within the column [^] Centers the label within the column. If the label is wider than the column, the result is left justified. ["] Right justifies the label within the column. If the label is wider than the column, the result is left justified. [\] Repeats the character which follows, the width of the column. [|] Sends the characters that follow to the printer as a setup string. (The "|" character is not displayed on screen). The default prefix character is an apostrophe ['] which will automatically be inserted as the first character. Prefix characters are interpreted as text if they appear other than in the first position of the label. NOTE: Digits that have been entered with a label prefix character are labels. As a label, the digits will be evaluated as having a value of zero. Therefore, it is not possible to left or center justify numbers and be able to use them in equations. ENTERING VALUES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A value is any sequence of digits. AS-EASY-AS supports 11 significant digits. Large numbers are entered by using exponential notation. For example, the number 2.3x1015 would be entered as 2.3E15 [ENTER]. All entries must be completed by pressing the [ENTER] key or one of the direction keys. If one of these keys has not been pressed, the [BackSpace] key may be used to delete the previously entered digit. The limiting range of numbers recognized by the program is 1.0E-37 < |X| < 1.0E+37 If a cell contains only asterisks, "*********", it's an indication that the width of the column is insufficient to hold all the characters required to display the number. To make the value visible, AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [20] either expand the column width or change the format of the cell. ENTERING FORMULAS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The power of a spreadsheet stems from its ability to interrelate the contents of its cells. These relationships are set through the use of formulas that are entered directly into the cells. Once entered, the formulas may be saved with the spreadsheet, copied, edited, or moved etc. Relationships between cells are formed using algebraic, statistical or logical expressions. Once a formula is typed in and [ENTER] is pressed, it is evaluated and the result is placed in the cell. The following operators are available for use in cell formulas: [-] - negation [+] - addition [-] - subtraction [*] - multiplication [/] - division [!] - factorial [%] - percent [^] - exponentiation [>] - greater than [<] - less than [=] - equal to [<=] - less than or equal [>=] - greater than or equal [<>] - not equal to [()] - parentheses A formula must be preceded by one of the following characters: - + ( @ or a digit. The following examples assume that cell A1 contains the value 4. Type Result Comment ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ 1.1+2*3+5^2 32.1 -- +A1*2+5.5 13.5 -- @SQRT(A1)+5 7.0 -- (2*A1+3)*3 33.0 -- -5.1+2 -3.1 -- 2>3 0 Result is False 3>2 1 Result is True 5<>4 1 Result is True 6=5 0 Result is False Parenthesis are used to group calculations and force a specific order of evaluation. AS-EASY-AS will first evaluate the expression in parentheses, then continue in order of operator precedence. As an example: (2+3)*6 evaluates to 30, while 2+(3*6) evaluates to 20. Quotes must be used to indicate string arguments. For example: +"Hello"&" Tom!" will display Hello Tom in a cell. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [21] ENTERING GRAPHICS CHARACTERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS permits entry of high bit ASCII characters (sometimes referred to as graphics or box characters). To create one of these characters, hold the [ALT] key down and enter the decimal code of the character you want using the numeric pad (on the right side of your keyboard). When you let go of the [ALT] key, the specified character will appear. For example, if you type 195 (while holding down the [Alt] key) the character ├ will appear on your screen. See Appendix E for a listing of ASCII characters. NOTE: Some graphics characters can be printed only if they are supported by your printer. EDITING A CELL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Changes to the contents of a cell may be made by retyping the contents and pressing [ENTER] or by invoking the Edit Mode, using the Edit Function Key [F2]. Pressing [F2] causes the contents of the current cell to be placed on line 1 of the command panel. The mode indicator is changed to EDIT. The character cursor is positioned at the end of the line. Make changes by moving the character cursor to the desired position and start typing. When in the edit mode with insert active, text under and to right of the cursor will be shifted to the right as characters are typed. Insert can be toggled on/off by pressing the insert [INS] key. The opposite of insert mode is overwrite mode which is indicated by an increase in cursor size and the display of the OVR status indicator (text will be overwritten by new typing). The following keys may be used to edit: [LEFT] Move cursor one position to the left [RIGHT] Move cursor one position to the right [HOME] Move cursor to the first character position [END] Move cursor to the last character position [INS] Toggle between overwrite and insert mode [DEL] Delete the character underneath the cursor [BACKSPACE] Delete the character left of the cursor [TAB] Move 8 positions to the right [SHIFT][TAB] Move 8 positions to the left [CTRL][RIGHT] Move to the beginning of the next word [CTRL][LEFT] Move to the beginning of the previous word [ESC] Cancel all editing and leave original cell contents After all changes have been made you must press the [ENTER] key to insert the changes into the current cell in the worksheet. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [22] METHODS FOR ENTERING FORMULAS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are two ways to enter a formula into an AS-EASY-AS cell. One is to type the whole formula and the second is to point to the referred cells. For example let's say that you want to enter the following formula in cell B6. @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C8) This could be accomplished in two ways as shown below (assuming that the cursor is already in cell B6). POINTING METHOD: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TYPE PRESS SHOWN ON CONTROL PANEL ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @SUM( @SUM( [LEFT] @SUM(A6 [UP] @SUM(A5 (period). @SUM(A5..A5 [DOWN](7 times) @SUM(A5..A12 )+ @SUM(A5..A12)+ [HOME] @SUM(A5..A12)+A1 /( @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6 [RIGHT] @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6 * @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6* [RIGHT] @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C6 [DOWN] @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C7 [DOWN] @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C8 ) @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C8) [ENTER] @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C8) And the calculated value is displayed in cell B6. TYPING METHOD: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the cursor positioned on cell B6, type: @SUM(A5..A12)+A1/(C6*C8) and press [ENTER]. The calculated value will appear in cell B6, and the above equation will show on the control panel. Cell references can be either absolute or relative. An absolute cell has the row or column to be fixed preceded by a '$', i.e. $A1 fixes the column portion of the cell reference. A block copy of a formula with this cell reference will not alter the 'A' portion of the cell. $A$1 fixes both the row and column portion of the cell. Without the '$' all copies of the cell formula will result in a translation of the cell reference which maintains the relative reference. Cell references must be preceded by either a '+' or '-' sign or a parenthesis. See the section on copying and moving for more information on relative and absolute references. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [23] WHAT IS A RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A range is defined as any rectangular group of cells in the spreadsheet. A range can be as narrow as a single row in depth or as deep as all the rows in the spreadsheet. Similarly a range can be as narrow as a single column in width or as wide as all the columns in the spreadsheet (256). A range is described by specifying the upper left cell and lower right cell of the range. The cells must be separated by two periods '..' . An example of this is A1..D5. This includes all cells in columns A, B, C and D and rows 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The entire group of cells looks like this: A1 B1 C1 D1 A2 B2 C2 D2 A3 B3 C3 D3 A4 B4 C4 D4 A5 B5 C5 D5 DEFINING A RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ranges can be defined by using one of two possible methods: pointing to the cell or range of cells, or actually typing in the range (upper left cell followed by two periods and then the lower right cell) or range name. POINTING WITH THE ARROW KEYS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pointing to a cell simply involves moving the cursor. It is best to use this method in response to COPY or MOVE commands. When asked for a range, move the pointer. Notice that the pointer expands on the screen. In the middle of the leading edge of the pointer you will see a small blinking cursor. This indicates the corner of the range which you can expand or contract. To switch to the next corner press the period [.]. If you press the period 4 times, you will return to your starting position. When the range has been completely highlighted, press the [ENTER] key. This fixes the range and allows any action to continue. For example, if the range was entered in response to a COPY command, the copy operation be initiated. POINTING WITH THE MOUSE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The mouse may be used when building ranges in AS-EASY-AS. The process of pointing with the mouse is similar to that pointing with the arrow keys. (Note that in order to use the mouse, your mouse driver needs to be loaded prior to starting AS-EASY-AS). When prompted for a cell range, position the mouse pointer at one corner of the range and press the left mouse button. Keep it depressed as you move the mouse until the desired range is highlighted. Release the button to signify the end of the range and AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [24] click the left mouse button again to confirm the selection (similar to pressing the [ENTER] key at the end of the range definition). To change the range a second time, hold the mouse button down and repeat the previous step. If you wish to cancel a range or stop the process, tapping the right mouse button will back you through the command. When using the right mouse in conjunction with AS-EASY-AS functions, such as @SUM, the function name and left parenthesis must be typed first,e.g., "@SUM(". To build the range, position the mouse cursor at the top left cell of the range, depress the left mouse button and build the range. When the range is completed, type the remainder of the function, in our example, this would be the right parenthesis")", and hit [ENTER]. Again, you can proceed back through the range building process by pressing the right mouse button. TYPING ~~~~~~ Typing a range may be done by specifying diagonally opposite cell corners of the range. Each cell reference is separated by one or two periods [.]. Example: A1..D5 defines the same range as D1..A5. When the entry is complete press the [ENTER]. NAMING A RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A powerful AS-EASY-AS feature is the ability to refer to a range of cells using a name assigned to that range. Such range names may be used anywhere a cell reference is expected by AS-EASY-AS. Since a range can also consist of a single cell, this naming ability can be used to create applications and formulas that are easy to understand. For example, let us say that cell A1 contained total income for the month and cell A5 contained total expenses. If cell A10 contained a formula to calculate the monthly balance, i.e. +A1-A5, then, when you placed the cursor on cell A10, the input line would display A10: +A1-A5. If, on the other hand, you had named A1 as INCOME and A5 as EXPENSES, when on A10, the input line would display A10: +INCOME- EXPENSES, which is much more informative. When entering the formula in A10, with the cells named as above, you could use either the named range or the actual reference. The keystroke sequences below would yield identical results (assuming the cursor is currently at A10): +A1-A5 [ENTER], or +INCOME-EXPENSES [ENTER] Ranges are assigned names using the /Range, Name, Create command sequence. Up to 250 named ranges may be defined in a single worksheet. Each range name can be up to 11 characters long. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [25] SETTING FORMATS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Format refers to the appearance of a cell. There may be a big difference between the way the contents of a cell is displayed and the way the value of that cell is stored internally. It helps to keep that in mind at all times. WHY DO YOU NEED FORMATS? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Imagine that a cell contains the result of a calculation where you are trying to figure out the monthly payments on a loan. Let's say that the calculated payment was 657.17625412 per month. Do you really want to see 8 digits after the decimal point? Most likely not, and that's where formats come in. A better way to format the payment amount would be: 657.18 (rounded to two decimals, cents) or better yet, $657.18 NOTE: Even though the value is displayed as 657.18, the value stored in the cell and used in any calculations involving that cell is 657.17625412. Applying a format to a single cell or to a whole range of cells may be done with the /Range, Format command. Setting the default format for the entire worksheet is done using the /Sheet, General, Format command. Details about the types of formats available in AS-EASY-AS can be found in the command summary section at the end of this manual. RELATIVE VERSUS ABSOLUTE ADDRESSES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS does all the work required to keep track of the cells you refer to in formulas: If you move the cells referenced in a formula to another place in the worksheet, AS-EASY-AS automatically adjusts the references in the formula. If you move a formula from one cell to another, cell references in the formula remain unchanged. If you insert a column or row within a specified block, any formula that references the block is automatically adjusted to include it. If you delete a row or column within a block, any formula that references the block is automatically adjusted to exclude it. An AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [26] important exception is if you delete a row or column that contains one of the corner cells included in the range reference, an ERR is entered in the formula cell. If this occurs, you must reenter the formula with the correct range. If you copy a block of cells that include a formula but not the cells referenced in the formula, the formula is updated to reference new cells which have the same position in relation to the formula's cell. (Cells viewed this way are called relative cells). If you want to copy a formula and maintain the original cell references, you must specify those references as absolute before copying the formula. This is done by inserting the dollar sign before the cell coordinates. $A$2 - Makes the entire address absolute $A2 - Makes the column absolute A$2 - Makes the row absolute Named ranges operate just like all references and will translate when copied or moved. To make a named range absolute, you must preface the range name with a dollar sign. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [27] COPY VALUES ~~~~~~~~~~~ Using the copy command on a value duplicates the value in the "FROM" cell into the "TO" cell. For example, to copy the value from cell B5 to cell C6, simply enter the following sequence of commands (assuming the pointer is already on cell B5): /c [ENTER] [RIGHT] [DOWN] [ENTER] (Pointing Method) or /c B5 [ENTER] C6 [ENTER] (Typing Method) COPY FORMULAS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Let's take an example of three cells containing the following: cell B1 contains +A1+A2 '' B2 '' +A1+$A2 '' B3 '' +A1+$A$2 The value result in cells B1, B2 and B3 should be identical. Now copy the cells B1, B2 and B3 to C2, C3 and C4 respectively, and let's see what the new cells contain. cell C2: +B2+B3 Copied from an original formula, in B1, that said: "Add the contents of the cell one column to the left (A1) to the contents of the cell one column to the left and one row down (A2)." cell C3: +B2+$A3 Copied from an original formula, in B2, that said: "Add the contents of the cell one column to the left (A1) to the contents of the cell in absolute column A ($A) and one row down." cell C4: +B2+$A$2 Copied from an original formula, in B3, that said: "Add the contents of the cell one column to the left (A1) to the contents of the cell in absolute column A ($A) and in row 2 ($2)." MOVE VALUES ~~~~~~~~~~~ Moving values is a simple operation that relocates the value from a cell into another specified cell. For example, to move the value from cell B5 to cell C6, simply enter the following sequence of commands (assuming the pointer is already in cell B5): AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [28] /m [ENTER] [RIGHT] [DOWN] [ENTER] (Pointing Method) or /m B5 [ENTER] C6 [ENTER] (Typing Method) MOVE FORMULAS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The rules that apply to copying formulas also apply to moving formulas. Let's consider the same example of the three cells containing the following: cell B1 contains +A1+B4 '' B2 '' +A1+$B4 '' B3 '' +A1+$B$4 '' B4 '' 5 The values displayed in cells B1, B2, B3 and B4 should be identical. Now move the cells B1, B2, B3 and B4 into C1, C2, C3 and C4 respectively. Let's see what the new cells contain. cell C1: +A1+C4 Notice the translation of B4 to C5. This occurred because B4 was within the moved block. The reference to A1 remains unchanged because it was outside the block. cell C2: +A1+$C4 Absolute symbol does NOT keep column reference from changing for the move operation because the reference was inside the moved block. cell C3: +A1+$C$4 Moved from original location but the formula changes the same as in cell C2. As you can see, NO translation occurs for cell references OUTSIDE the block being moved. References to cells inside the block ARE translated during a move to reflect the new position. RECALCULATION MODES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recalculation refers to the manner in which all formulas within a spreadsheet are calculated. As formula references get complex, the number of required calculations increases. If every cell within the spreadsheet were calculated each time a cell was updated, it could take a while just to make a minor change. An alternate method is to calculate only those cells which are dependent on the updated cell. Each dependent cell may have multiple dependent cells which must also be calculated, and so on until a root cell (a cell with no dependant references to it) is reached and the calculation sequence stops. This method is called AUTOMATIC recalculation, and is the default mode when AS-EASY-AS is first started. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [29] To activate AUTOMATIC recalculation press the following sequence of keys. /sgra Which stands for the following commands. Sheet, General, Recalc, Auto. In some cases, a linked recalculation sequence may require too much time to recalculate after entry of new data. Therefore, the calculation sequence can be turned off while a series of changes are being made to the spreadsheet. This method is called MANUAL recalculation. After the changes are completed, the spreadsheet may be updated by pressing the CALC function key [F9]. To activate MANUAL recalculation press the following sequence of keys. /sgrm Which stands for the following commands: Menu, Sheet, General, Recalc, Manual. When manual recalculation has been selected, the indicator 'MAN' will appear on the status line. SAVING THE WORKSHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To save the entries you have made in the worksheet, press the [/] key to bring up the main menu. Select the FILE command choice by pressing "F" or by moving the cursor to highlight that word and pressing [ENTER]. You will see a new menu of file command choices. If you wish to save the file to a drive or directory other than the default drive/directory, you must change the data directory to the desired drive. This can be done by selecting the FILE DIRECTORY command and typing in the new path. The path can be changed by typing in the new path at the "PATH:" prompt. You can also change the drive/directory when specifying the file name by including the path with the file name. If you are using a diskette to store your worksheets, make sure the diskette is in the specified drive. You should always have a formatted disk with room for extra worksheet files available. Select the STORE command. If the worksheet is new, you will be prompted for the name of your worksheet. A name is valid if it has up to 8 characters and does not contain any of the following characters: "," "*" "/" "?" "#" " " "'" "|" Confirm the typed name by pressing [ENTER]. Examples of valid file name inputs: AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [30] SAMPLE1 Saves data in SAMPLE1.WKS in current path \DATA\SAMPLE1 Saves data in file SAMPLE1.WKS. in directory \DATA of the current drive. A beep will sound and an error message will appear if the requested directory does not exist. NOTE: The default path will now be \DATA of the current drive. D:\MINE\SAMPLE1 Saves data in file SAMPLE1.WKS in directory \MINE of drive D: NOTE: The default path will now be D:\MINE\ If you try to save a worksheet that was previously retrieved from your current data disk, the name of that worksheet will automatically appear in the Name input field of the file window. Pressing [ENTER] instructs the program to accept that name. If a worksheet with the same name already exists on your data disk, the program will ask if you want to "cancel", make a "backup" or "replace" the old file (on the disk) with the contents of the current worksheet in the computer. If you choose to make a backup, the file on disk will be renamed with the extension .WKB and the new file will be saved with an extension .WKS. NOTE: This method provides only a single level of bakckup protection. If you desire additional backups, it is recommended that you save your files using a number appended to the end of the file name, i.e., WORK1, WORK2, WORK3, etc. SAVING PART OF THE WORKSHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes it may be appropriate to save only a small portion of the spreadsheet. This may be achieved by using the /File Xport command. Once the Xport command has been selected, AS-EASY-AS will ask if you want to export to a WKS or a dBASE III file, and then it will prompt for the name of the file. Type the name and press [ENTER]. Do NOT add an extension when you type the name as this is performed automatically by AS-EASY-AS. After you have specified the name of the file, the program asks for the range to be exported. The range can be specified by either pointing or typing, or a range name can be used. The specified range will then be exported to either a .WKS or .DBF type file. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [31] RETRIEVING THE WORKSHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To retrieve a worksheet select the /File, Retrieve command. A window will open in the middle of the screen displaying worksheet files present in the default directory. Only one page of names is displayed at a time. To view subsequent pages press the [PGDN] or [PGUP] keys. Select your file by moving the pointer to highlight the file, or type the file name at the name prompt and then press [ENTER]. To change the path, you may type in the new path in the "PATH:" field, or include the path as part of the file name. This new path will become the default path. COMBINING WORKSHEETS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The /FILE MERGE command will combine any designated worksheet file with the current file starting at the position occupied by the spreadsheet pointer. The information merged from the new file will overwrite any information present in the cells. WARNING: Information in cells overwritten cannot be recovered. When /File Merge is selected, choose either to merge the whole file or a named range from a specified file. Once this choice has been made, you are asked to specify whether to merge the formulas in the named range or file or just the calculated values in the range. NOTE: When the Merge-Range-Formulas is selected, the cell relationships are retained in the new worksheet. If a cell of the file being merged (from disk), contains a formula, and you selected /File, Merge, [All/Range], Value, then the last values contained in the cells when the worksheet was saved will be used in the merge operation. If you selected /File, Merge, [All/Range], Formula, then for cells in the file on disk that contained values, those values will be used in the merge operation. For cells that contained formulas, however, the contents of the current cells will be replaced with the formulas from the file on disk. You will now be provided with three options for the merged information; ADD, DIFF, and REPLACE. ADD - will cause the cell contents of the file being merged to be added to the contents of the current file cells. DIFF - will cause the cell contents of the file being merged to be subtracted from the contents of the current file cells. REPLACE - will cause the cell contents of the file being merged to replace the contents of the current file cells. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [32] LEAVING THE WORKSHEET ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You have just completed your masterpiece spreadsheet and are now ready to call it quits for the day. FIRST, MAKE SURE THAT YOU SAVED YOUR LATEST VERSION OF THE WORKSHEET (see previous section on saving your worksheet). Access the command menu by pressing the [/] key. Select the EXIT command. You will be given a second chance to change your mind when AS-EASY-AS asks if you want to quit, YES or NO. Highlight the word YES or type the letter "y". AS-EASY-AS will prompt you one last time, asking if you have saved your worksheet. If you wish to return to the worksheet, press [ESC], otherwise press [ENTER]. The program will now return to DOS. If you performed the above keystrokes by accident and did not intend to leave the spreadsheet, you are out of luck because all spreadsheet information in the computer memory has been lost. Remember, save your data frequently as you work, and make back-up copies of your files! You can print any portion of the spreadsheet to either a PRINTER or a print FILE (on your disk) or append to a print file by selecting the "PrintTo" option from the main menu. If you are printing to a printer for the first time, you need to install your printer type. This is done by the /User Install Printer command. Once the selection is made, make sure to save your configuration file (see User Install for more information). AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [33] 4. PRINTING ~~~~~~~~~~~~ To get into the printer menu, press the following sequence of keys. /pp Which stands for /PrintTo Printer. You are now in the print menu where all the print variations are defined. You will see the following selections on the command line: Range Border LineFeed PageAdv Options Adjust Go View Quit Range Stands for the rectangular area of the spreadsheet which is to be printed. This must be defined prior to printing. Border Print specified row(s) and/or column(s) on every page of the output. LineFeed Advance the paper in the printer a single line. PageAdv Advance the paper in the printer to the top of the next page. Options Allows access to Sub-menu of printer options; margins, page length, header, footer, format type and printer setup string. (See print menu explanations for further details). Adjust Synchronize the program's top-of-page with the printer top-of-page. The page and line counters are reset to 1. Note: If this synchronization is not done, you may get several blank lines in the middle of the printed page. This is the gap allotted to skip over sheet perforation. Go Starts the printer printing. View Preview the selected range before printing All print output is directed to the printer attached to the parallel port (LPT1). To direct information to be printed to alternate ports use the Print, File command. As an example, to send output to serial port #1 (COM1), type: /PrintTo File COM1 [ENTER] and execute the Adjust Go commands. NOTE: You must preset the Baud Rate using the DOS MODE command. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [34] PRINTER BORDERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The PrintTo Printer Borders command allows you to select row(s) and/or column(s) from your worksheet that you wish to have printed on every page. This is especially useful for large multi-page spreadsheets where you need to have column headings or row descriptors printed on your output. The Printer Borders command operates similar to Sheet Borders. The print range need not be adjacent to the borders you've selected. This allows you to print part of a ledger complete with row and column headings. When Printer Borders is used, you must be careful when specifying the ranges. The rows and columns specified as your print border SHOULD NOT be included as part of your print range: you may end up with duplicate rows or columns in your output. To clear Printer Borders, select None under the Borders menu. MARGINS & PAGE LENGTH - PRINTER OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS default margin settings are 0 for the left margin and 80 for the right margin. Both margins are measured in characters from the left edge of the page. Using the default settings, you are able to print a range of up to 80 characters wide. Setting the left margin to 10 allows you to print a range 70 (80 minus 10), characters wide. If your spreadsheet will not fit across a page, AS-EASY-AS prints the left part (on a page) then prints the next section on a new page, and so on until the entire spreadsheet is printed. You can combine these printed pages to create one wide spreadsheet. If you are using wide paper, or other than 10-pitch print, and you are printing more than 80 characters wide, you will need to change the right margin. If you've selected condensed print and your output continues to print additional pages while leaving a large right margin, chances are your right margin needs to be increased to accommodate the width of your print range. The print margins that can be set in AS-EASY-AS are described below: Page Length (0-1024) determines the number of lines printed on each page. The default, 66, is the correct setting for a printer that prints six lines per inch (the standard setting) on 11-inch paper. If your printer is set to a different lines-per-inch value, or if your paper is a different length, change this setting accordingly. To calculate the page length, multiply the lines-per-inch value by the number of inches on a page. This setting is unaffected by headers, footers, or top or bottom margins. Left (0-240) determines the amount of space to leave between the left edge of the paper and the first column of data. The default, 0, leaves no left margin. Depending on the width of your AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [35] spreadsheet, you may want to lengthen this margin. Top (0-30) determines the number of blank lines to leave at the top of each page. The default, 2, leaves a margin of approximately one- half inch. If you include a header in your printout, it is printed underneath this margin with one blank line between it and the Right (0-240) determines the amount of space to leave for a right margin. spreadsheet data. This value is the number of spaces between the left edge of the paper and the beginning of the right margin - like the margin settings on a typewriter. The default, 80, begins the right margin at the 80th character space, leaving no right margin. Bottom (0-32) determines the number of blank lines to leave at the bottom of each page. The default, 2, leaves approximately one- half inch. If you include a footer in your printout, it is printed above this margin with one blank line between it and the spreadsheet data. In setting the correct page length for your printer, please note the following pointers: The default page length is set to 66 lines. Most dot matrix printers default to 6 lines per inch, so no changes are required if you are printing on 11 inch long paper. If you wish to change the lines per inch spacing to 8, you must also change the lines per page to 88 (8 lpi X 11 inches) for headers, footers, and page breaks to work properly. Some laserjet printers default to a value other than 66 lines per inch. If this is the case, you must adjust the page lines accordingly. If you have set your top and bottom margins equal to 0 and your page length equal to 66 lines, you are able to print a range of 60 rows on a page before the program will skip to a new page. One line at the top and bottom of the page is reserved for the perf- skip feature. Two lines each are reserved for headers and footers; one for the line of text and the second line serves as a spacer between the header or footer and the body of the text. To figure out the correct number of lines that will be printed by AS- EASY-AS on a single page, do the following: Get the lines per page setting of your printer (for the current pitch and line spacing). Note that this setting should match the page length setting specified in AS-EASY-AS. Subtract the AS-EASY-AS settings for top and bottom margin Subtract 4 lines (header, footer and lines between the header, the footer and the text body). Subtract 2 lines (top and bottom skip perforation). AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [36] In other words, the number of text lines that will be printed on a single page is given by: Page Length - Top Margin - Bottom Margin - 4. INSERTING PAGE BREAKS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS automatically inserts page breaks where needed (as specified by the Pagelength command setting). You may also specify "hard page breaks", i.e., force a page break, manually, using one of two methods. By typing a hard page break into the first cell of a blank row. The hard page break is the vertical piping character, followed by two colons (|::). If there is any other data in that row it will be ignored. By using the /Sheet Insert Page command while in the left most cell of the print range. This command sequence automatically inserts a blank row and the "|::" character sequence for you. NOTE: The hard page break character sequence must be placed in the left-most column of the print range in order to be recognized by AS-EASY-AS. PRINTER OPTIONS - HEADERS & FOOTERS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Centering headers and footers can be performed by separating pieces of text with the "|" character. i.e., if you have the following in your header line: PAGE|TITLE|DATE This will be translated into: PAGE TITLE DATE The first word, "PAGE", is left justified since it is not preceded by a "|" character. The second word, "TITLE", is centered since it is preceded by the first "|" character. The third word, "DATE", is right justified since it is preceded by the second "|" character. - Sequential page numbering can be achieved by placing the "#" character in the header/footer line. - Placement of the current date on the top/bottom of a printed page can be achieved by placing the "@" character in the header/footer line. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [37] PRINTER OPTIONS - EMBEDDED CODES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can place text enhancement printer control codes directly into a print range. This can be achieved by placing: |\xxx\yyy in the first column of the print range, where xxx and yyy are your printer's control codes. For example, if your print range was A1 to H20, by putting the following in the FIRST column (A1) of the print range, |\027\069 (This is the setup string for emphasized print on an EPSON printer. Note that the prefix character [|] will not be displayed). the result is emphasized text on an Epson printer. NOTE: Any remaining data on line containing the printer control codes will not be printed. An entire line may be hidden during printing if a single "|" is placed in the first column. If you try to enter text-enhancing control codes inside a label, you'll find that when you enter Alt 027, you exit the edit mode. That's because control characters (ASCII less than 32), are translated by the program into special editing keys such as Arrow keys, [ESC] key, etc. To enter control characters, you need to use the Edit Bypass Function key, [F3]. The sequence is: F3 Alt nnn. F3 is only active for one control character and must be pressed every time additional control characters are to be embedded. For example, if you want to print "This is a CONTROL code sample" on an EPSON printer with only the word "CONTROL" in condensed mode, the following keystrokes should be used: This is a F3 [Alt] 015 CONTROL F3 [Alt] 018 code sample. The 015 code turns the condensed print mode on and the 018 code turns the condensed print mode off. Page breaks can be forced by placing a single "|" followed by two colons "::" in your text. This must be placed in a cell that is in the left-most column of your print range. Information in cells to the right of the page break command will not be printed. A page break can also be inserted into your worksheet by using the following command: /Sheet Insert Page This command will insert a new row and place "|::" in the cell at the current cursor location. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [38] PRINTER OPTIONS - TYPE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The output can be printed (to printer or file) in one of the following formats. AS SEEN Prints the output in row and column format (as displayed on screen) with headers, footers, and page breaks. CONTENTS Prints a columnar listing of all non-blank cells and their contents. Useful for printing cell formulas and documentation of calculation templates. NOFORM Prints the output without header and footer information and suppresses page breaks. CONTROLLING THE PRINTER ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Most printers can be controlled by sending a sequence of ASCii control codes to your printer. (For details and control codes, refer to your printer's user's manual). Commonly used codes for the EPSON series of printers are: \027\069 Turn on Emphasized text (or \027E) \027\070 Turn off Emphasized text (or \027F) \015 Turn on Condensed text \018 Turn off Condensed text The three digit number 027 stands for the [escape] code and the three digit number 069 stands for the capital letter 'E'. Printer codes may be entered by selecting PrintTo Printer Options Setup. The spreadsheet accepts codes only if they are separated by the back-slash character [\] . To select the emphasized text mode, type the following in response to the prompt for the setup string (remember to use 3 digits): \027\069 [enter] To change the string, re-select the SETUP option. ASEASY.PRT ~~~~~~~~~~ To make life easier so you don't have to manually enter printer setup codes or look up an infrequently used setup code, simply type the [\] character when entering a printer setup code and press F1. A listing of predefined setup codes from ASEASY.PRT will pop-up in a pick window on your screen. By highlighting the desired function, the appropriate printer code will be entered into the setup string. Any control codes supported by your printer can be incorporated in the file ASEASY.PRT, an ASCII text file, which has the following structure: AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [39] - Each control code consists of two lines. - The first line contains a description of the print enhancement (eg. Emphasized, Underline, ....). Description names should not be separated by spaces, e.g. 'Dbl_Strike' NOT 'Dbl Strike'. Note that this description name must not exceed 11 characters. - The second line contains the decimal setup code for the described print enhancement. e.g. 027\015 - condensed for EPSON printers NOTE: There is no leading backslash in the setup codes in the ASEASY.PRT file (i.e. 027\015, NOT \027\015) You can create or edit ASEASY.PRT with any word processor/text editor that generates ASCII files. Let's say you want to incorporate the following codes supported by your EPSON compatible printer in an ASEASY.PRT file: Decimal Control Codes Print ASEASY.PRT From Printer User's Manual Enhancement Code ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ 27, 77 Elite Pitch 027\077 27, 72 Double Strike 027\072 27, 69 Emphasized 027\069 The ASEASY.PRT file generated for the codes should look something like the one presented below: Elite <----- First line of the file 027\077 . (Up to 240 characters long) Dbl_strike . 027\072 . Emphasized . 027\069 <----- Last line of the file PRINT TO A FILE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To create an ASCII file (which contains the print range) for transfer to other programs (like databases or word processors) use the following procedure. Type: /pfTEST [ENTER] Which stands for /PrintTo File. At this point the program asks for the name of the print file. Type the name of the print file (in this case TEST) and press ENTER. If no extension is specified, an extension of ".PRN" will automatically be attached to the file name. If you have already sent output to the print file during the current AS-EASY-AS session, the name of the print file will appear at the prompt line. You can select it by just pressing ENTER. If you wish to append an existing ASCII print file, select /PrintTo AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [40] Append. This command will print the selected range to the end of the specified print file. PRINTING COMBINED TEXT AND GRAPHICS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS has the ability to print combined spreadsheet data and graphs on dot matrix and laserjet printers. To print a graph from spreadsheet data, you must have first created the graph and formatted a range to display the graph (see Section 5.4, Combining Text and Graphics). To print the combined data graph, first select /PrintTo Graphics. Select Range and highlight the area you would like to print. Make sure the entire graph is contained within the print range. USING PRINT VIEW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to preview the layout and organization of data, page breaks and margin settings in the spreadsheet through the use of the view command. AS-EASY-AS will display either a full page of text (by pressing [F2]) or a 200% zoom of a half page (by pressing [F1]). To advance through the print range use the [PGUP] or [PGDN] keys. Any graphs inserted will be displayed in their correct position on the page. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [41] 5 GRAPHICS COMMANDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS provides you with the capability to create high-quality graphs from your spreadsheet data. Hardcopy output can be generated on 9- or 24-pin dot matrix printers, laserjet printers. A .PIC file can be created for use with your word processing or graphics programs. Thirteen types of graphics can be created: X-Y Bar Delta Area Line Stacked Bar Cumulative HLoc Polar Strip Wall Pie Radar Many options are available to customize graphs for business graphics as well as for engineering and scientific analyses, etc. Titles and legends can be added with user-specified type size. The user can also specify fill patterns, colors, line styles, and tick mark styles. Graphs can be scaled on both the X (horizontal) axis and the Y (vertical) axis so that the entire graphed range (or a portion of the range) may be displayed. A logarithmic adjustment to either or both of the X and Y scales may be performed to produce semi-log or log-log graphs. All data points are specified by ranges in the spreadsheet. Up to six curves may be displayed on a single graph, with an additional six if two graphs are merged. The following provides details on the graphics commands to allow you to create customized graphs. GRAPH RANGES ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Specify the X range and up to six Y ranges (A through F) for the graph. Ranges can be specified either by the pointing or typing method, or by using a predefined range name. A basic difference between X-Y type graphs and other types of graphs should be remembered. Line graphs and bar graphs represent a set of values as vertical distances. The only numeric scale in this type of graph is the one along the vertical axis. The horizontal axis displays all items in the X range in a non-numeric, equally spaced sequence of text, (e.g. dates, names of cities, etc.). The X-Y type graphs are two-dimensional. They represent pairs of values as a function of their horizontal and vertical coordinates. Note that there should be a one-to-one correspondence between the elements of the X-range and Y-range(s). AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [42] LABELS ~~~~~~ Define a range of labels that are to be used to mark each of the data points on the specified graph range. A one-to-one correspondence is needed between the range being plotted and the labels for that range. The data labes may be placed Above, Below, to the Left or to the Right of the data points. CUSTOM OPTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Customize the colors of the graph series, and the inner and outer portions of the graph in one of 16 colors. The following colors are available (on monitor/card combinations that support them): Black, MidBlue, Green, Cyan, Red, Magenta, Brown, Gray, Smokey, Blue, HiGreen, LightBlue, Scarlet, Violet, Yellow, and White. Each data range may be assigned a color. In addition, the following colors may be specified: INNER: Color of the graph screen. OUTER: Outer color of the graph screen. TITLE: Title color of the graph screen. VALUE: X- and Y-Axis scale labels. LEGEND ~~~~~~ Set the graph legend and its location. An input window is used to display the legend options. The Legend option allows the user to enter text which describe the ranges of A through F. Legends may be placed below the graph (Line) or to the right of the graph (Box). TITLES ~~~~~~ Specify the title strings on graph. The Main title, Second title and X and Y axes titles may be entered. Preceding the main title with the "#" character will create a framed title box. GRID ~~~~ Select a horizontal and/or vertical grid at each scale division on your graph with a solid or dotted line. Other options include specifying a dotted or a solid grid line, and whether or not to use grid lines for the minor axis divisions. FONT SIZE ~~~~~~~~~ Relative size of the font used in graph titles, legends, values, and labels. The size is a scale factor based on a fraction centered around 1.0. For example, the default value for the main title is 1.5, meaning the font is 1.5 times the base font size. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [43] The text sizes which may be changed, along with their default values, are listed below: MAIN 1.5 LEGEND 0.75 SECOND 1.0 VALUES 0.75 X-AXIS 1.0 LABELS 0.75 Y-AXIS 1.0 CLEAR ~~~~~ Reset all the options for the entire graph or for a selected range back to the default settings. NAME ~~~~ This option allows you to define multiple graphs and associated settings and titles in a single worksheet. One named graph may be superimposed on the main graph, or they may be displayed as two separate graphs, one above the other. You also insert a graph into the worksheet. INSERT Place either the MAIN or a named graph into the spreadsheet. The range enclosing the inserted graph appears in a highlighted color. The upper left cell of the range contains the graph name and the size of the display in columns and rows. For example, "MAIN:2,7" will display the main (or current) graph in a range 2 columns wide and 7 rows deep. The cell may be edited to change the name and size of the graph if desired. The inserted graph will only be visable when it can fit entirely on the screen when previewing a print range with (PrintTo, Printer, View) and the page contains a graph. To print combined worksheet text and graphics see Section 5.4, Combining Text and Graphics. To update the graph after changing graphed data, you must manually recalculate the spreadsheet by pressing the [F9] calc function key. USE Select one of the previously named graphs and make it the current graph. All current settings are replaced with the named graph's settings. CREATE Create a named graph which saves the current graph settings. DELETE Delete one of the previously named graph settings. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [44] MERGE Merge two graphs [Viewing ONLY!] (a NAMED graph and the currently defined graph). The NAMED graph will be superimposed on top of the MAIN graph and it will be scaled on the right side of the graph. It can have its own set of scaling factors, limits, formats, etc. To disable the merge feature select /Graphics, Name, Merge, Reset SPLIT Shows two graphs on the same screen. The top graph is the graph currently defined (MAIN). The second, named graph, occupies the bottom half (similar to the Graphics, Name, Merge Option). Each graph will have its own set of scaling factors, limits, formats, etc. NOTE: To disable the split feature select: /Graphics, Name, Reset RESET Reset the merge or split option so that only the main graph will be displayed. VIEW ~~~~ View the graph currently defined. The resolution depends on your graphics board: CGA 640 x 200 pixels, 2 colors Hercules 720 x 348 pixels, 2 colors EGA 640 x 350 pixels, 16 colors AT&T 640 x 400 pixels, 2 colors VGA 640 x 480 pixels, 16 colors NOTE: Graphs cannot be viewed on a system having a non-Hercules monochrome display adapter. If a message is received indicating a graph cannot be displayed because of an invalid monitor type, and you have one of the above graphics boards, AS-EASY-AS may not have auto detected the graphics card properly. Save your worksheet and restart the program with the appropriate command line switch found in Section 2.3, Starting the Program. [PLOT] IMAGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Specify the height and width for the graph. Dimensions are in inches. HIGH Specify the vertical dimension of the graph to be generated on the printer. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [45] WIDE Specify the horizontal dimension width of the graph to be generated on the printer. NOTES: 1. To adjust the left margin, which is the distance between the left side of the paper and the Y-scale title, use /PrintTo Printer Options Margin Left. 2. To create a top margin, you must use /PrintTo Printer and select Line several times until the desired top margin has been created. PORTRAIT Print graph oriented at zero degrees. LANDSCAPE Rotate output of the graph 90 degrees. DRAFT Specify single pass or low density mode for the printer. Selecting this option is recommended for plotting draft graphs because the printing speed is about twice as fast as NLQ. NLQ Specify a high resolution print option. This option will produce a dark, high quality graph. COMBINING TEXT AND GRAPHICS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AS-EASY-AS can include graphs within your spreadsheet for printing combined data and graphics. Create a graph as discussed previously. Select /Graphics Name Insert, and highlight the area in which the graph is to be placed (see Graphics Name Insert in this Section for more information). The formatted range appears in a highlighted color. The upper left cell of the range contains the graph name and the size of the display in columns and rows. The cell may be edited to change the size of the graph if desired. The graph will appear when previewing (PrintTo, Printer, View) the page containing the graph. To print text and graphics together, see Section 3, Printing Text and Graphics. SAVING A GRAPH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a spreadsheet is saved, the current graph settings and named graph settings are saved with it. When the file is retrieved, those graph settings are retrieved as well. The user can then view the current graph by either pressing the [F10] function key from the ready mode, or by selecting the /Graphics, View command. Sometimes more than one graph might need to be created from the data AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [46] in a worksheet. That's no problem. Instead of having to re-specify AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [47] the settings every time you want to look at a previous graph, you can use the /Graphics, Name, Create and Use commands. When the /Graphics, Name, Create command is invoked, the program saves the current graph settings under the user specified name. To select and view a named graph, select the /Graphics, Name, Use command and select or type the desired graph name. The selected graph becomes the current or MAIN graph. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [48] 6. DATA COMMANDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In addition to the typical spreadsheet format, AS-EASY-AS includes powerful DATA commands which enhance your ability to create sophisticated data management applications, what-if tables, etc. DATA FILL ~~~~~~~~~ The Data-Fill command allows you to fill a range with an arithmetic sequence of equally spaced values. For example, assume that you want to fill a range of cells with real values that range from 3 to 43 in increments of two. Move the cursor to the beginning of the range. Invoke the Data-Fill command (/df), enter range to fill, the starting value (in this case 3), and the increment value (2). DATA TABLE ~~~~~~~~~~ DATA TABLE - 1 INPUT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Data Table-1 Input command permits you to do 'what-if' analysis by generating a table based on substituted values in an input cell. This command takes the input value from the first column, places the value in the model, calculates a result, extracts that value and places it in the table to the right of the input value. The process is continued until the bottom of the table range is reached. For example, suppose that you want to borrow $1 million to start a new business. Since you could borrow money from a number of different institutions with different interest rates, you want to compare your monthly payments for different interest rates. The payback period is 10 years. To generate the comparison table, follow these steps: Enter the amount you want to borrow in cell B1 Enter the starting interest rate in cell B2 Enter the term of the loan (years) in cell B3 Generate the following labels (using the /Range, Name, Create command, see Section 10) to help you identify the various inputs: Cell B1 - PRINCIPAL Cell B2 - INTEREST Cell B3 - TERM Enter the payment equation in cell B4: @PMT(PRINCIPAL,INTEREST/12,TERM*12) NOTE: INTEREST/12 and TERM*12 are used to obtain payments on a monthly basis. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [49] Generate a column of interest rates in this example ranging from 9% to 10.1% in cells A8 to A19. Tell the program which value to extract and place in the table by entering a reference to the payment formula (cell B4) in cell B7 (+B4). Now you are ready to generate the desired table using the following commands: /dt1 - Data, Table, 1-input A7..B19 [ENTER] - The table range (it includes the input values that you want to vary and the locations that you want the calculated result to be placed in). B2 - The input cell. This will be the value that will change after each calculation, and it is the value that we want to extract. NOTE: Multiple extractions are allowed providing each output column has a cell reference at the top. DATA TABLE - 2 INPUTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now, let's say that you want to generate a comparison table varying both the interest and the term of the loan. Leave the column containing the interest rates (A8..A19) unchanged. Place the different terms (number of years) that you desire in row 7 (one entry in each column). Place 10 in cell B7, 20 in cell C7 and 30 in cell D7. Enter the formula +B4 in cell A7 (this tells the program what cell you want to extract values from). Now enter the following keystrokes: /dt2 - Data, Table, 2-inputs A7..D19 [ENTER] - Table range B1 [ENTER] - First input (Interest rate will vary) B3 [ENTER] - Second input (Term will vary) DATA SORT ~~~~~~~~~ The Data Sort command is used to rearrange the information in a worksheet in alphabetical or numerical order. The sorting process operates on rows. Let's look at the following example. Assume that the range B4 to D15 contains some student informations as follows: column B - last name column C - first name column D - grade It would be nice to sort this information by the students' last name or by grade. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [50] The following steps will sort the information by the students' last names (only). Two sorting criteria can be specified (i.e. two different columns). This would be very useful in cases where, two students had the same last name or two students had the same grade, i.e. a tie-breaker. 1. /ds - Invoke the Data, Sort menu 2. d - Invoke the D-Range command to specify the range to be sorted 3. B4..D15 [ENTER] - Specify the range to be sorted 4. p - Invoke command to select the Primary sort key (column) 5. B4 [ENTER] - Select Primary sort key. Any cell in column B would select Last Name as the primary sort key. 6. a [ENTER] - Accept the default, ascending order. Typing d [ENTER] would select descending order. 7. s - Invoke command to select the Secondary sort key (column) 8. D4 [ENTER] - Select Secondary sort key. Any cell in column D would select Grade as the secondary sort key. 9. a [ENTER] - Accept the default, ascending order. Typing d [ENTER] would select descending order. 10. g - Select Go to perform the sort. To sort on any other field (column), simply type in a new primary/ secondary column. DATA BIN ~~~~~~~~ The Data Bin command creates a frequency distribution table displaying the count of values in a range that falls within given ranges, bins, as well as the frequency of values within that range. The bins are a block of values, in ascending order, placed anywhere in the worksheet. The requirements for setting up the bins are: 1. The bin values are contained in a single column block, and 2. There are two blank columns directly to the right of the bin range. (This is the area that will be filled by the /db command). Once this command is invoked, the user is prompted to supply the "Analysis" range and the "Bin" range. ANALYSIS range, as the name indicates, is the range containing the values that the user needs to perform the frequency distribution on. BIN range is the column containing the bin (group) values, with two blank columns to the right. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [51] DATA GOALSEEK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Data Goalseek command allows you to search for the input that would result in a desired output from a model. Specify the INPUT cell, the OUTPUT cell and the DESIRED goal and AS-EASY-AS modifies the input cell by using a NEWTON-RAPHSON convergence technique until the specified output is reached. If the desired result has not been reached by 25 iterations, the process stops, and the value plus @ERR is placed in the input cell. If this happens try choosing an input closer to the desired input. When prompted for the desired goal, AS-EASY-AS requires you specify the tolerance limit. You should be aware that the more restrictive (smaller) the tolerance is, the longer it will take the program to converge to the correct answer. For example try the following situation: You want to borrow $100,000 for 30 years, and you don't want your monthly payments to exceed $1,028.61. You want to determine the loan interest rate which would meet the above restrictions. The steps required to solve this problem are presented below: a. Enter the Loan amount in cell A1 --> 100000 b. Enter a reference interest rate in cell A2 (i.e. if you start with an annual interest of 18%, enter 0.18) c. Enter the term of the loan (30 * 12 = 360 months) in cell A3. d. Enter the Payment equation in cell A4 - @PMT(A1,A2/12,A3) e. Invoke the DATA, GOALSEEK command f. Specify cell A2 as the INPUT cell g. Specify cell A4 as the OUTPUT cell h. Specify 1028.61 as the DESIRE i. Specify a tolerance of 0.001 Cell A4 will display the amount you specified as the desired monthly payment (if solution convergence occurred), and cell A2 will display the interest rate required for the load to meet your restrictions, 0.12 (or 12%). DATA REGRESSION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Data Regress command allows you to determine the coefficients which correspond to a least squares fit of a straight line to a set of X and Y data. Assume that you have a range of data as follows: A4..A9 - X-Values B4..B9 - Y-Values Now follow the sequence of keystrokes presented below: /drxA4..A9~yB4..B9~oD4~ AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [52] This will invoke the Data Regress command. The program will prompt for the X (or independent) range, (A4..A9), the Y (or dependent) range, (B4..B9), and the location that you want the output to be placed, (D4). The Y-Intercept and slope of a straight line going through the data points will then be entered in cells D4 and D5. Additionally, values for R squared, the sum of the X squared values, the sum of the Y squared values, and the sum of the X*Y values are also entered. DATA INPUT RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This powerful command is mainly for those who develop applications to be used by other individuals. Once this option is invoked and a range is highlighted, cursor movement is restricted to the cells that were intentionally unprotected by the user using the /Range, Lock, No command. Example: /rlnC2..C4 [ENTER] [Unlock Cells C2, C3, and C4] /sgpe [Turn On Protection] /dirA1..D8 [ENTER] [Input Restricted Cells] would turn the global protection on and would only allow the user to move the cursor to cells C2, C3, and C4 (those specifically unprotected by the user). DATA INPUT FORM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This powerful command allows a user to define a form that can be used for entering records, editing records, etc. To create an input form: 1. Define a number of cells (in the same row) that contain the field headings for your database. 2. Format the field headings for the type of data each cell will contain/display. 3. Select Data Input Form, and highlight the range of field headings. AS-EASY-AS automatically takes the format of each field name cell and assigns it to new data input into that particular field. It then creates an input/edit form, and locates the data base pointer at the first record of the database. The user now has the option to enter a new record, edit the current record, move to the record ahead or before the current one, etc. NOTES: 1. All field names are left justified. If the field names are to be right justified, they have to be padded with spaces. 2. A maximum of 15 input fields are supported. 3. The width of the column is used to set the data input field size. Example: Cells A2 through D2 contain the desired field names of an address database (First, last, Address, etc.) AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [53] The keystrokes /difA2..D2[ENTER] will produce an AS-EASY-AS dtabase input form screen . To prepare the database to display the input data properly, the field names must first be formatted. Since Name and Address will contain text, format these field names as "Label" (/Range Format Label). This ensures that when a street number is entered, followed by the street name, the contents will be a label, rather than a value. Phone could also be formatted as "Label" in which case the user would need to provide the parenthesis and hyphen each time a phone number is entered. Format last call as date (/rfd) and select one of the date options. When entering the date, simply type "8/29/91". AS-EASY-AS will convert the string to its date equivalent. If cell D2 had not been formatted with a date format, and the number was entered as 08/29/91 (no apostrophe), cell D3 would display 0.0030315, i.e., the indicated division would have been performed; an action which was not intended. Note the description of the keys available in this mode displayed on the top line of the screen: PgUp - Go to the previous record PgDn - Go to the next record Ctrl-PgUp - Go to the beginning of the database (record #1) Ctrl-PgDn - Go to the end of the database The user can freely move up and down the fields using the arrow cursor keys. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [54] 7. DATABASE OPERATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A database is information stored in a range of one or more rows and columns. The information that can be stored in a database is almost anything that one normally keeps track of. Let's see how you might use database commands to keep track of a list of your customers, their addresses and telephone numbers (a function that is normally performed by a stack of index cards or a Rolodex). A spreadsheet, for example, holds a small database of customers. The database of customers is stored in the range A1..G7. For each customer, you intend to keep track of the first and last name, street address, city, state and telephone number. Each row (all the information for one customer) is called a record of the database. Each column has a heading identifying the information stored in the cells beneath it. Each heading is called a "field" of the record. Once the information is stored in this database format, you can look at it many different ways and gain valuable information from it using the AS-EASY-AS database commands. There are three ranges in the Database Menu which must be defined. The INPUT range, the CRITERION range and the OUTPUT range. The operations that can be performed, based on the above ranges, are: FIND - Highlight records that match the criterion range. EXTRACT - Copy records that meet the criterion range into the output range. INPUT RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~ The input range is the entire area where the database information is stored. When the input range is specified, you must include the headings as the top row of the range. In the preceding example the input range would be A1..G7. Notice that the range also contains the headings F. NAME, L. NAME, etc. CRITERION RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The criterion range contains the criteria that will be used to perform the FIND or EXTRACT operations on the Input range of the database. The minimum number of rows that can be used to define the criterion range is two. The top row ALWAYS contains the field headings exactly as they appear in the database. It is good practice to copy these headings from the database itself to assure that they are exactly the same. Subsequent rows contain the actual criteria. Criteria fall into two categories, character comparisons and numeric comparisons. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [55] Character comparisons can be performed by looking for an exact match or by using wildcard characters. ? Substitutes for any single character in the comparison string. * Will match all characters to the right of the asterisk position. ... Ellipsis (3 dots) preceding a string will search each record for the occurrence of that string anywhere within the string. Numeric comparisons can be performed by using all of the logical operators defined in the Logical Operators section. Criteria placed in adjacent columns are treated as logical ANDs, while criteria placed in adjacent rows are treated as logical ORs. AS-EASY-AS provides you with the option to facilitate the inputting of criteria. The command / Data Input Criteria operates similar to / Data Input Form described earlier. After the criteria range is selected, a criteria input form will appear in the middle of the screen. The user can then enter the criteria for each field heading. If multiple matches for the same heading are desired, AS-EASY-AS will generate a second form once the first form has been completed. An example of Data Input Criteria is shown in the database example. Although this might sound complicated, an example later on will demonstrate how all these rules work. OUTPUT RANGE ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The EXTRACT command causes records that match the criteria to be placed in the output range. The output range should contain the headings of the fields from which information is to be extracted. RESET ~~~~~ The RESET command resets the data input, output and criteria ranges. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [56] 8. MATRIX OPERATIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Matrix is a notation that is commonly used in the field of mathematics to describe a table of numbers. When dealing with matrices you should be familiar with basic terminology and rules for matrix manipulation. A matrix is an array of values with a number of rows (i) and a number of columns (j). Mathematically, a matrix is denoted by an uppercase letter enclosed in brackets. [A] - Matrix A The elements of the matrix are denoted by the equivalent lowercase letter and two subscripts referring to the position of the element (row, column). a1,2 - the element of matrix [A] located in the first row and the second column The transposition of a matrix [A] with size i,j (i-rows, j-columns) is a new matrix [A]T with size j,i (j-rows, i-columns). After the transposition, the first row of [A] becomes the first column of [A]T, the second row of [A] becomes the second column of [A]T, etc. Example: ORIGINAL MATRIX TRANSPOSED MATRIX 1 6 8 1 5 9 5 7 3 6 7 1 9 1 4 8 3 4 In operations involving two matrices, [A] (i,j) and [B] (k,n), the following rules must be observed: 1. The matrices can be added or subtracted only if: i=k and j=n 2. The matrices can be multiplied only if: i=n and j=k The inverse of a matrix [A] is a second matrix [A]-1, such that: [A] x [A]-1 = Identity matrix The identity matrix is a special matrix whose elements are: ai,j = 1.0 for any i=j ai,j = 0.0 for any i<>j That is, 1s appear along the diagonal of the matrix and all other values are zero. A matrix can be inverted only if the number of columns and rows are equal. This is called a square matrix. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [57] AS-EASY-AS supports the following basic matrix operations: Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Inversion, Transposition In addition to those, the program has a built-in option for solving a set of simultaneous equations with an equal number of unknowns. Note that prior to solving such a set of equations, the constants vector should be placed in the column immediatelly to the right of the coefficients matrix. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [58] FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~ A function is denoted by an @ (at) character preceding a function keyword. The following functions act upon the argument (represented by 'x') contained within the parentheses. The argument may be a value or formula which refers to other cells within the spreadsheet. STRING FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +Cell (Where Cell contains a String) Syntax: +Cell Address The addition sign has the same effect as when used with values. The above entry indicates that the current cell will always have the same contents as Cell, whether Cell contains a string or a value. & - Concatenation The ampersand (&) is used to add two string expressions together. Note that using the plus sign (+), when adding strings, would give erroneous results. Example: "Abc"&"D2N" will produce AbcD2N @@ Syntax: @@(Cell) The @@ function is used to indirectly address the location described by the string in Cell (another spreadsheet cell). Examples: Assume the following cell contents: Cell A1 contains the string "Sample" Cell A5 contains the string "A1" (Note that it must be uppercase) @@(A5) = the contents of the cell described in A5 = Sample NOTE: If the indirectly referenced cell changes, you must refresh the value with the F9 key or the {CALC} macro. @CELL Syntax: @CELL("Type",Cell) Operates the same as @CELLPT, but returns information about the referenced Cell. See @CELLPT for "Type" descriptions. @CELLPT Syntax: @CELLPT("Type") Type = One of the predefined words described below. Type MUST be enclosed in double quotes (only the first three characters of the type are required). Returns information about the current cell (i.e., the cell where the cursor is currently located). The information returned depends on the function argument, as described below. The function will return a value or a string, depending on specific Type. NOTE: A cell containing an @CELLPT command will only be updated when the sheet is re-calculated either with [F9] or a {CALC} macro. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [59] Type = "FORm" (String) Returns the format of the current cell (see Range Format for format descriptions). The string returned is of the following: blank = Unformatted cell Sn = Scientific with n decimals Fn = Fixed with n decimals ,n = Comma format with n decimals Cn = Currency format with n decimals Dn = Date format, type n (see date formats) %n = Percent with n decimals + = +/- format T = Text format H = Hidden format G = General format bn= Engineering format with n decimals L = Label format X = Box or line character format Type = "ADDress" (String) Returns the address of the current cell, in the form of a string 'ColumnRow' (e.g., A1, C12, AF321). Type = "CONtents" (String) Returns the physical contents of the current cell as a string. e.g., if the current cell contains +A1+1, the string "+A1+1" is returned. Type = "ROW" (Value) Returns the row address of the current cell. Type = "COLumn" (Value) Returns the column address of the current cell as a value, (e.g., A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.) Type = "WIDth" (Value) Returns the column width of the current cell. Type = "TYPe" (Value) Returns one of the following values depending on the contents of the current cell: 0 - String Formula 1 - Value Formula 2 - Real/Value 3 - Integer/Value 4 - String/Label 5 - Blank Cell 6 - Virgin Blank cell 8 - String formula error 9 - Value formula error Type = "PREfix" (Label) Returns the first character of the current cell's contents (', ", ^, +, -, i, @, P). If the cell contains a value, the left- most digit will be returned. e.g., 456 will return the label 4. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [60] @CHR Syntax: @CHR(Num) Num = a value, or calculated variable, between 0 and 255 Returns the ASCII character corresponding to Num (fractional values are ignored). Refer to Appendix E of the AS-EASY-AS manual for a table of the ASCII character codes. Examples: @CHR(36) = $ @EXACT Syntax: @EXACT(String1,String2) Compares String1 to String2 to see if an exact match exists. If the strings are equal, the function returns the value 1 (true), otherwise it returns the value 0 (false). Please note that this function is case sensitive so characters in the two strings have to match exactly (e.g., A=A, A<>a). Examples: @EXACT("This is an Example","This Is An Example") = 0 (not equivalent strings as "an" is different from "An") @FIND Syntax: @FIND(String1,String2,Start) Returns the position of String1 in String2; Search starts at position Start of String2 (first character is assigned an index of 1). Examples: @FIND("hello","Dave says hello",1) returns the value 11 @FIND("e","Dave says hello",1) returns the value 4 @FIND("e","Dave says hello",5) returns the value 12 @LEFT Syntax: @LEFT(String,Num) String = Any string, Num = Numeric value or value formula Returns a substring starting with the first character of String, Num characters long. Examples: @LEFT("This is an example",6) = This i @LENGTH Syntax: @LENGTH(String) String = Any string Returns the number of characters in String. Please note that spaces are also characters. References to labels ignore the prefix character. Examples: @LENGTH("abcdefG") = 7 @LENGTH("ABc"&"123") = 6 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [61] @LOWER Syntax: @LOWER(String) String = Any string Converts all characters in String to lower case. Examples: @LOWER("This is an Example") = this is an example @LOWER(@LEFT("This is an example",4)) = this @MID Syntax: @MID(String,Start,Num) String = Any string Start, Num = Numeric values or value formulas Returns a substring from String Num characters long, starting at position Start (from the left). Examples: @MID("This is an example",2,3) = his @N Syntax: @N(Cell) Similar to @S. This function inspects Cell, and returns the value contained in it. If the cell is blank, or contains a string, then the function returns zero. Examples: @N(C9) = 0 if C9 contains the string "Test" @N(B9) = 28 if B9 contains the value 28 @ORD Syntax: @ORD(String) String = Any string Returns the decimal ASCII code of first character of String. All other characters in String are ignored. Examples: @ORD("215") = 50 @ORD("┴") = 193 @PROPER Syntax: @PROPER(String) String = Any string Converts the first letter of each word in String to upper case, such as in a proper name. Characters already in upper case are left unchanged. Examples: @PROPER("This example") = This Example @REPEAT Syntax: @REPEAT(String,Num) String = Any string, Num = Any number or value formula Repeats the string argument Num times. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [62] Examples: @REPEAT("Sample",3) = SampleSampleSample @REPEAT("This"&" Sample",2) = This SampleThis Sample @RIGHT Syntax: @RIGHT(String,Num) String = Any string Num = Numeric value or value formula Similar to @MID and @LEFT, this function returns a substring, Num characters long, starting from the right of String. Examples: @RIGHT("This Example",6) = xample @RIGHT(@MID("Example",2,3),2) = am @S Syntax: @S(Cell) This function inspects Cell, and returns the string contained in it. If the cell is blank, or contains a numeric value, a null string is returned. @S acts as a filter and will only return a string reference. It may be used in cases where a referenced cell may contain either a value or a string, without generating an error condition. Examples: @S(C9) = "Test" if C9 contains the string "Test" @S(B9) = Null string if B9 contains the value 28 @STR Syntax: @STR(Value,Num) Value = Any value or calculated variable Num = Number of decimal digits to retain Returns a string made up of Value with Num digits after the decimal. Example: @STR(1234.12345,3) = "1234.123" @TRIM Syntax: @TRIM(String) String = Any string Trims multiple blank spaces from String and replaces each occurrence with a single space character. The effect is evident when such strings are used in subsequent string operations. Example: @TRIM(" This is an example ") = This is an example @UPPER Syntax: @UPPER(String) String = Any string Converts all characters of String to upper case. Numbers and special characters remain unchanged. Examples: @UPPER("Example") = EXAMPLE @UPPER(@LEFT("+example$",9)) = +EXAMPLE$ AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [63] @VAL Syntax: @VAL(String) String = Any string Converts String into a numeric value. String may also be a string function, but you cannot embed value formulas in the String. If a value formula is embedded, then the value of zero is returned. Note that this function will accept the decimal separator specified with the User, Install, Punctuation command. The examples below assume that "." is the decimal separator. Examples: @VAL("123") = 123 @VAL("1.23") = 1.23 @VAL("4/2") = 0 @VAL("2..34") = 0 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [64] MATH FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTES: 1. The arguments for all trigonometric functions must be in radians. 2. The arguments for all hyperbolic functions must be in hyperbolic radians. 3. An out of range argument will result in ERR being displayed. @ABS Syntax: @ABS(x) x = any value Returns the absolute value of the argument. Examples: @ABS(-10) = 10 @ABS(5) = 5 @ACOS Syntax: @ACOS(x) x = any value where -1 < x < 1 Arc cosine of value, returns radians. @ACOSH Syntax: @ACOSH(x) x = any value where x > 1 Arc hyperbolic cosine of value x, returns radians. @ASIN Syntax: @ASIN(x) x = any value where -1 < x < 1 Arc sine of value x, returns radians. @ASINH Syntax: @ASINH(x) x = any value Arc hyperbolic sine of value x, returns radians. @ATAN Syntax: @ATAN(x) x = any value Arc tangent of value, returns radians. @ATANH Syntax: @ATANH(x) x = any value where -1 < x < 1 Arc hyperbolic tangent of value x, returns radians. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [65] @COS Syntax: @COS(x) x = any value in radians Cosine of angle x in radians. @COSH Syntax: @COSH(x) x = any value in radians where -88 < x < 88 Hyperbolic cosine of angle x in radians @CSC Syntax: @CSC(x) x = any value in radians where x <> 0, π Cosecant of angle x in radians. @CTN Syntax: @CTN(x) x = any non-zero value where x <> 0, π Cotangent of value @EXP Syntax: @EXP(x) x = any value where -88 < x < +88 Exponential of x (raise 'e' to the 'x' power). @FALSE Constant which has a value of 0. @GAMMALN Syntax: @GAMMALN(x) x = any positive value Returns the natural logarithm of the Gamma function for the value x. The Gammaln function is the floating point equivalent of the factorial function, and is related by: (N-1)! = @EXP(@GAMMALN(N)) Example: @GAMMALN(6.5) = 5.662562 @INT Syntax= @INT(x) x = any value Integer value of argument. The fractional part of the number is truncated and the integer remainder is returned. (See also command line switch /RA) Examples: @INT(10.60) = 10 @INT(0.156) = 0 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [66] @LOG Syntax: @LOG(x) x = any value where x > 0 Returns the logarithm to base '10' of the argument. @LN Syntax: @LN(x) x = any value where x > 0 Returns the natural Logarithm (base 'e') of the argument. Example: @LN(6)= 1.7917594692 @MOD(x,y) x = any value y = any non-zero value Modulo division, returns the remainder of x divided by y. @MOD(10,3) = 1 @MOD(8,2) = 0 @NA Constant which has a value of -1. @PI Constant which has a value of 3.1415926536 @RAND Returns a new random number with each recalculation. @ROUND(x,y) x = any value y = any integer value where -11 < y < 11 Rounds the value of x to y digits right of the decimal. Negative numbers round to left of decimal. @ROUND(10.1234,1) = 10.1 @ROUND(123.123,-2)= 100 @SEC Syntax: @SEC(x) x = any angle in radians where x <> pi/2, -pi/2 Secant of angle x in radians. @SIN Syntax: @SIN(x) x = any value in radians Sine of angle x in radians. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [67] @SINH Syntax: @SINH(x) x = any value in radians where -88 < x < +88 Hyperbolic sine of angle x in radians @SQRT(x) x = any value where x ≥ 0 Returns the square root of argument, (a negative argument will result in an error). @SQRT(2) = 1.4142135624 @SQRT(36) = 6 @TAN Syntax: @TAN(x) x = any value in radians where x <> π/2, -π/2 Tangent of angle x in radians @TANH Syntax: @TANH(x) x = any value in radians where -88 < x < +88 Hyperbolic tangent of angle x in radians @TRUE Constant has a value of 1. FINANCIAL FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ NOTES: 1. For financial functions, all interest rates must be expressed in decimal fractions, or followed by the % operator. For example, 0.08 = 8%. 2. The interest rate must be in the same units as the payment period. If a monthly payment is desired, the interest rate must be expressed as a monthly rate (equal to the annual rate divided by 12). @CTERM Syntax: @CTERM(Int,FVal,PVal) FVal = Future Value Pval = Present Value Int = Interest Rate per compounding period Returns the number of compounding periods required for a present value (PVal), invested at an interest rate (Int) per compounding period to reach a future value (FVal). AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [68] Examples: @CTERM(0.1,100000,10000) = 24.2 @CTERM(0.08,400000,60000) = 24.7 @DDB Syntax: @DDB(Cost,Salvage,Life,Period) Cost = Cost of a purchase Salvage = Value at the end of the depreciation Life = Number of periods for full depreciation Period = Current Period Returns the amount of depreciation allowed during the specified period, using the Double-Declining-Balance depreciation method. Example: 5-Year Depreciation Schedule @DDB(5000,1000,5,1) = 2000.0 @DDB(5000,1000,5,2) = 1200.0 @DDB(5000,1000,5,3) = 720.0 @DDB(5000,1000,5,4) = 80.0 @DDB(5000,1000,5,5) = 0.0 To Date Total 4000.0 @FV Syntax: @FV(Annuity,Interest Rate,Period) Annuity = Periodic payment amount Interest = Periodic interest rate Period = Number of periods Returns the future value corresponding to an annuity occurring over the specified period. Example: @FV(700,0.0925,30) = 99979.77 @IRR Syntax: @IRR(Guesstimate Interest Rate,Range) Guesstimate Interest Rate = Best guess at internal rate of return periodic interest rate Range = Cell range which contains the cash flow return values Returns the Rate of Return per period associated with a cash flow. The solution is iterative and may result in more than one correct answer, so a good guess is important. Example: A1 B1 C1 D1 -1000 300 400 500 @IRR(0.1,A1..D1) = 0.088963, or 8.9% AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [69] @NPV Syntax: @NPV(Interest Rate,Range) Interest Rate = Periodic interest rate Range = Cell range which in which the series of cash flows is to be stored Returns the net present value of a cash flow over interest period. Example: @NPV(0.0925,A1..A5) @PMT Syntax: @PMT(Principal,Interest Rate,Period) Principal = Principal amount Interest Rate = Periodic interest rate Period = Number of periods Returns the amount of an annuity equal to the principal amortized over the period. Example: @PMT(75000,0.0925,30) = 7462.606 @PV Syntax: @PV(Annuity,Interest Rate,Period) Annuity = Periodic payment amount Interest = Periodic interest rate Period = Number of periods Returns the present value corresponding to an annuity occurring over the specified period. Example: @PV(700,0.0925,30) = 7035.075 @RATE Syntax: @RATE(Fval,PVal,Nterm) FVal = Future value PVal = Present value NTerm = Number of compounding terms Returns the interest rate required for a present value PVal, invested for Nterm number of compounding periods to reach a future value FVal. Examples: @RATE(90000,20000,20) = 0.078 @RATE(190000,50000,20) = 0.069 @SLN Syntax: @SLN(Cost,Salvage,Life) Cost = Cost of a purchase Salvage = Value at the end of the depreciation AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [70] Life = Number of periods for full depreciation Returns the amount of depreciation per period, using the straight line depreciation method. Examples: @SLN(5000,1000,5) = 800.0 @SLN(11000,1600,10) = 940.0 @SYD Syntax: @SYD(Cost,Salvage,Life,Period) Cost = Cost of a purchase Salvage = Value at the end of the depreciation Life = Number of periods for full depreciation Period = Current Period Returns the amount of depreciation allowed during the specified period, using the Sum-of-Years depreciation method. Example: 5-Year Depreciation Schedule @SYD(5000,1000,5,1) = 1333.3 @SYD(5000,1000,5,2) = 1066.7 @SYD(5000,1000,5,3) = 800.0 @SYD(5000,1000,5,4) = 533.3 @SYD(5000,1000,5,5) = 266.7 To Date Total 4000.0 @TERM Syntax: @TERM(Pmt,Int,FVal) FVal = Future value Pmt = Periodic payment Int = Interest rate per compounding period Returns the number of compounding periods required for some periodic payment (Pmt), invested at an interest rate (Int) per compounding period to reach a future value (FVal). Examples: @TERM(100,0.15,1000) = 6.6 periods @TERM(850,0.07,100000) = 32.9 periods AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [71] LOGICAL FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #OR# & #AND# Operators The #OR# & #AND# logical operators are used to combine simple logical criteria into complex logical expressions. These two operators are evaluated according to the following logical table: ============================================== Test1 Test2 #OR# #AND# =============================================== True True True True True False True False False True True False False False False False ============================================== Examples: Expression Result ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +(0=0)#AND#(0=1) 0 (False) +(0=0)#OR#(0=1) 1 (True) @IF(@MOD(5,2)=1#AND#@MOD(6,2)=0,1,0) returns 1 (true) NOTES: 1. Spaces between the values and logical operators are not allowed. 2. Use of parentheses is recommended for clarity. @IF Syntax: @IF(Test argument,arg1,arg2) If the test is true, Arg1 is returned, otherwise Arg2 is returned. TEST can utilize logical operators '>,<,=,<>' etc., or refer to the result of a cell with a logical result in it. Examples: @IF(10>2,3*2,4+5) = 6 @IF(10<2,3*2,4+5) = 9 As an example of using a logical operation within a formula try the following: +(a1>2)*3+(a1<=2)*4 This formula will yield a result of 3 if the value stored in cell A1 is greater than 2 and will yield a result of 4 if the value is less than 2. NOTE: Up to 10 nested @IF statements are allowed providing internal limit of 240 bytes per formula is not exceeded. @ISNUM Syntax: @ISNUM(Cell) This function is similar to the @ISSTR function. It will return 1 for TRUE if the cell contains a number or a formula, 0 for FALSE. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [72] @ISSTR Syntax: @ISSTR(Cell) This function checks to see if the specified cell contains a label. It returns 1 for TRUE if the cell contains a string or a label, 0 for FALSE. NOTE: A blank cell is neither a string nor a number. @ISNA Syntax: @ISNA(Cell) Tests for the special value of NA in cell. If the cell contains NA it returns 1 (true); otherwise, it returns 0 (false). Please note that if a cell contains the label "NA" (not produced by the @NA function), it is not recognized by the @ISNA function. @ISERR Syntax: @ISERR(Expression) where expression can be a cell reference or any other valid AS- EASY-AS expression. This function is used to trap ERR displays and prevent propagation through the recalculation sequence. A value of 1 (true) is returned if the cell contains ERR or the expression evaluates to an error condition. A value of 0 (false) is returned otherwise. Examples: @ISERR(10/5)=0 (Not an error) @ISERR(10/0)=1 (Error in Expression) @ERR Syntax: @ERR Returns the value ERR in the current cell and in any other cells that reference it directly or indirectly. The ERR value returned by this function is the same ERR value produced by AS-EASY-AS when it encounters an error. @NOT Syntax: @NOT(Cell) Returns the value 0 if cell contains the value 1 and the value 1 if cell contains 0 or any other value. If cell contains a string, then the string is returned, unchanged. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [73] STATISTICAL FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These functions operate on a range of values. A range specifies a rectangular block of data in the spreadsheet, i.e. Range = A1..B10 defines the block of data from: a1...b1 . . . . a10...b10 Presented below are the statistical functions. To illustrate the use of each function, simple examples are provided. All examples will operate on the numbers contained in the portion of the spreadsheet duplicated below, A1..C3 ........A/.......B/.......C/ 1 1.1 5.6 8.2 2 2.3 7.5 10 3 3.5 4.4 2 @AVG Syntax: @AVG(Range) Range = Cell range to be averaged Returns the average of the range. Example: @AVG(A1..C3) = 4.955555 @COMB Syntax: @COMB(N,R) N,R = any integer value such that N ≥ R Number of combinations of N distinct items taken R at a time. Example: @COMB(6,2) = 30 @COUNT Syntax: @COUNT(Range) Range = Cell range to be counted Returns the number of elements in the range, (blank cells and cells containing text are ignored). Example: @COUNT(A1..C3) = 9 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [74] @FACT Syntax: @FACT(X) X = Numeric value where (0 < X < 33) Returns the factorial of X. (See also @GAMMALN for floating point related function and "!" operator). Example: @FACT(6) = 720 @MAX Syntax: @MAX(Range) Range = Cell range to be analyzed Returns the maximum value in the range. Examples: @MAX(A1..C3) = 10 @MAX(A1..A3,15,C1..C3) = 15 @MIN Syntax: @MIN(Range) Range = Cell range to be analyzed Returns the minimum value in the range. Examples: @MIN(A1..C3) = 1.1 @MIN(A1..A3,1,C1..C3) = 1 @PERM Syntax: @PERM(N,R) N,R = any integer value such that N ≥ R Number of permutations of N distinct items taken R at a time. Example: @PERM(6,2) = 15 SPECIAL NOTES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. The following @Q... functions require the criterion be a string argument. References to string arguments are permitted. 2. @X represents reference to cell in range upon which criterion is applied (required). @QMAX Syntax: @QMAX("@X=Criterion",Range) Criterion = Value or formula to be used for match Range = Cell range Returns the maximum value of those cells in the range that match the criterion. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [75] Example: @QMAX("@X<5",A1..C3) = 4.4 @QMIN Syntax: @QMIN("@X=Criterion",Range) Criterion = Value or formula to be used for match Range = Cell range Returns the minimum value of those cells in the range that match the criterion. Example: @QMIN("@X>5",A1..C3) = 5.6 @QSTD Syntax: @QSTD("@X=Criterion",Range) Criterion = Value or formula to be used for match Range = Cell range Returns the standard deviation of those cells records in the range that match the criterion. Example: @QSTD("@X>5",A1..C3) = 1.575 (Determine standard deviation of all cells with value > 5.) @QSUM Syntax: @QSUM("@X=Criterion",Range) Criterion = Value or formula to be used for match Range = Cell range Returns the sum of the records in the range that match the criterion. Example: @QSUM("@X>5",A1..C3) = 31.3 @QVAR Syntax: @QVAR("@X=Criterion",Range) Criterion = Value or formula be used for match in top of row Range = Cell range Returns the population variance of the records in the range that match the criterion. Example: @QVAR("@X>5",A1..C3) = 2.48 @STD(Range) Range = Cell range to be evaluated Returns the standard deviation of the elements in the range. Example: @STD(A1..C3) = 2.904827 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [76] @SUM Syntax: @SUM(Range) Range = Cell range to be evaluated Returns the summation of the range. Examples: @SUM(A1..C3) = 44.6 @SUM(A1..C3,R3,D9,X3..Y9) = 255.5 @VAR Syntax: @VAR(Range) Range = Cell range to be analyzed Returns the population variance of the range. Example: @VAR(A1..C3) = 8.438024 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ @CASE Syntax: @CASE(Num,Arg2,....Argn) Num = Any number or calculated value where Num > 0 Arg1...ArgN = Any number, string, character Returns the Numth argument from the argument list. Examples: @CASE(2,"A",17,"ABC",4) = 17 @CASE(3,"Abc"&"d",129/4,@LEFT("Example",5),123) = Examp |.........||....||......................||..| : : : : : : : : First : Third : Argument : Argument : Second Fourth Argument Argument @COLS Syntax: @COLS(Range) Range = Any cell Range. Returns the number of columns in the specified range. Examples: @COLS(A1..E121) = 5 @COLS(AA11..BB32) = 27 @COLS(TEST) = 6 where TEST = named range of (C5..H21) @HTABLE Syntax: @HTABLE(Criterion,Range,Offset) Criterion = Value to be used for match in top row of range Range = Cell range which contains criterion range as top row and includes data value table AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [77] Offset = Number of rows down in data value table from which to return a value Returns the value at a vertical offset in the column that matches the criterion. @HTABLE(5.6,A1..C3,1) = 7.5 The @HTABLE function operates as follows: Search starts at the upper left cell and proceeds until a value is found which is greater than the criterion. The position of the previous value is then used as a starting offset into the table. The offset is added to the top row and the value at the offset position is returned by the function. @HTERP Syntax: @HTERP(Cell,Range,Offset) Perform a straight-line interpolation based on table specified by Range. It operates similar to @HTABLE function, but returns a result based on the following: (Xv - Xi) Yv ----------- x (Yi+1 - Yi) + Yi (Xi+1 - Xi) Where X is the first row and Y is the offset row in the table. @INDEX Syntax: @INDEX(Range,Col,Row) Range = Any cell Range Col, Row = Numeric value or value formula Searches the specified range and returns the element located Col columns to the right and Row rows down from the top left corner of the range. Element may be a string or a value. Examples: /........A/........B/........C/ 1 2 22 RR HH 3 A 1 2 4 21 23 9 5 b F 3 @INDEX(A2..C5,2,2) = 1 @INDEX(A2..C5,3,1) = HH @INDEX(A2..C5,1,3) = 21 Note that Col and Row have to satisfy the criteria: 0 < Row < 8,192 0 < Col < 255 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [78] @LENGTH Syntax: @LENGTH(Cell) Returns the length of the string in the referenced Cell (if the contents are a label), otherwise it returns zero if cell is empty. Note that the prefix character of a label is not considered in the length calculation. @LINK Syntax: @LINK("Drive:\Path\Filename>Cell") NOTES: 1. Double quotes and the '>' character are necessary. 2. If Drive:\Path are not specified, the search defaults to the current directory. As the name indicates, it links cells in the current worksheet to cells in a worksheet on disk. Once this function is entered, a link is created but it is not updated. As a result, as soon as this function is entered, the cell frequently displays "N/A". Do not panic, a newly created link is not updated until the /File, Uplink command is executed. At that time, any value or string variable in the referenced cell of the indicated sheet on disk is retrieved and placed in the calling cell. Updating occurs automatically when the spreadsheet is first retrieved. @ROWS Syntax: @ROWS(Range) Range = Any cell Range. Returns the number of rows in the specified range. Examples: @ROWS(A1..E121) = 121 @ROWS(AA11..BB132) = 122 @ROWS(TEST) = 17 where TEST = named range of (C5..H21) @USER Syntax: @USER(Arg1,Arg2,Arg3) USER = User provided name of function (any unique name) Arg1,Arg2,Arg3 = User provided numeric arguments This is a special function, defined by the user, which can have up to three numeric arguments. The user specifies the formula which relates the arguments and creates a unique range name which includes the cells containing the formula and the arguments. The function may then be used in the worksheet just as any other internal @ function. To set up the function, perform the following steps: 1. Place up to three numeric arguments, Arg1, Arg2, Arg3, in a single row in adjacent columns. 2. Place the formula which relates the numeric values in the cell below Arg1, the leftmost argument. 3. Give a unique range name to the block which includes the arguments and the formula. This range name will become the AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [79] function name. 4. Use the newly defined function. @VTABLE Syntax: @VTABLE(Criterion,Range,Offset) Criterion = Value to be used for match in left column of range Range = Cell range which contains criterion range as left column and includes data value table Offset = Number of columns to the right in data value table from which to return a value. The first criterion column in the range has an offset of zero. Returns the value at a horizontal offset in the row that matches the criterion. The @VTABLE function operates as follows: Search starts at the upper left cell and proceeds downwards row by row until a value is found which is greater than the criterion. The position of the previous value is then considered as a match. The offset is added to the left column and the value at the offset position is returned by the function. NOTE: Table values outside the search region cause an error result. @VTERP Syntax: @VTERP(Cell,Range,Offset) Similar to @HTERP, but scans vertically (row by row). AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [80] DATE AND TIME FUNCTIONS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The functions below are based on the number of days elapsed since January 1, 1900. In order to have the value displayed in a date form, the cell(s) have to be formatted with one of the date formats (see formatting section). @DATE Syntax: @DATE(Year,Month,Day) Year = Value corresponding to last two digits of year Month = Value corresponding to month of year, 1-12 Day = Value corresponding to day of month, 1-31 Returns a unique integer for each day since January 1, 1900. Example: @DATE(91,11,1) returns an integer of 33543. If the cell is formatted as Date MM/DD/YY, then the date 11/1/91 is displayed. @DATEVAL Syntax: @DATEVAL("MM/DD/YY") Convert the string argument to a date number representing the month(MM):day(DD):year(YY). Note that the cell can be formatted to display the above VALUE in a date format. Examples: @DATEVAL("6/15/89") = 32674 (Unformatted cell) @DATEVAL("6/15/89") = 06/15/89 (Formatted cell) @DATEVAL("7"&"/6"&"/89") = 07/06/89 (Formatted cell) @DATEVAL(A6) = 10/13/89 (Formatted cell) where cell A6 contains the string "10/13/89" NOTE: Spaces, colons, semicolons, and other non-numberic characters are acceptable delimeters. @DAY Syntax: @DAY(x) x = the number of days since Jan. 1, 1900. Based on a unique day assigned to 'x', computes the day in the month of that date. Example: @DAY(33543) returns the number 1 (The date number is equivalent to November 1, 1991) @HOUR Syntax: @HOUR(Value) Value = Any number or calculated value in fractional days i.e., 1 day = 24 hours, 0.5 day = 12 hours Returns the hours corresponding to the fractional portion of Value. The integer portion of Value (representing days) is ignored. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [81] Examples: @HOUR(0.5) = 12 @HOUR(3/4) = 18 @HOUR(0.25) = 6 @HOUR(9.25) = 6 @MINUTE Syntax: @MINUTE(Value) Value = Any number or calculated value in fractional days Returns the minutes corresponding to the fractional portion of Value. The integer portion of Value (representing days) is ignored. Examples: @MINUTE(0.51) = 14 @MINUTE(0.33) = 55 @MINUTE(3.33) = 55 @MONTH Syntax: @MONTH(x) x = the number of days since January 1, 1900. Based on a unique day assigned to "x", computes the month in which that day occurs. Example: @MONTH(33543) returns the number 11. (The date number is equivalent to November 1, 1991) @SECOND Syntax: @SECOND(Value) Value = Any number or calculated value in fractional days Returns the seconds corresponding to the fractional portion of Value. The integer portion of Value (representing days) is ignored. Examples: @SECOND(0.511) = 50 @SECOND(0.541) = 2 @SECOND(9.541) = 2 @TIME Syntax: @TIME(Hr,Min,Sec) Hr = A number between 0 and 23, Hours Min = A number between 0 and 59, Minutes Sec = A number between 0 and 59, Seconds Returns a fractional time serial number represented by Hr:Min:Sec. Note that in order to have a cell containing this function display in time format, you have to format it using /Range, Format, Date 5 or 6. @TIMEVAL Syntax: @TIMEVAL("HH:MM:SS") HH = Value representing number of hours MM = Value representing number of minutes SS = Value representing number of seconds AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [82] Convert the string argument to a real number representing the hour(s):minute(s):second(s) as a fraction of a day. Note that the cell can be formatted to display the above VALUE in a time format. Examples: @TIMEVAL("1:2:3") = 0.04309027 (Unformatted cell) @TIMEVAL("1:2:3") = 1:02 (Cell formatted for time) @TIMEVAL("1:2:120") = 1:04 '' @TIMEVAL("1:70:120") = 2:12 '' @TIMEVAL("25:2:120") = 1:04 '' NOTE: The time value is calculated using the following formula: Hour + Min/60 + Second/3600 -------------------------- 24 @TODAY Returns the unique number corresponding to today's date and time referenced to January 1, 1900. @TODAY returns the number 33543 if today is November 1, 1991. If the cell were formatted as Date D-M-Y, then the date 1-Nov-91 is displayed. If the cell were formatted as Date 6 (H:M:S), then the time associated with the fractional part of the date is displayed. NOTE: @TODAY is NOT automatically updated when a spreadsheet is retrieved, even if the recalculation mode is set for automatic. You must recalc the spreadsheet by manually pressing the [F9] function key or by macro command. @YEAR Syntax: @YEAR(x) x = the number of days since January 1, 1900. Based on a unique day assigned to 'x', computes the year in which that day occurs. Example: @YEAR(33543) returns the number 91. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [83] 9. MACROS ~~~~~~~~~~~ A macro is a sequence of keystrokes which may be activated by pressing the combination of the Alt key and a letter key or by using the [F3] key -macro execute. An example macro would be the following: {RT}{RT}{DN} The words/letters in braces represent an action keystroke. The above macro will move the pointer two cells to the right and one cell down. A macro may be placed in any cell. To activate a macro with the [ALT] key, it must have a special type of range name assigned to its location. The special range name is the backslash [\] followed immediately by any letter from 'A' thru 'Z'. For example: \A This specific macro may be activated by pressing the [ALT] key and the letter 'A' simultaneously. Therefore, even though the backslash is used to define the range name it actually represents the [alt] key. If you desire a macro to automatically execute upon retrieval of a spreadsheet, name your macro "\0" ( Zero). When AS-EASY-AS retrieves your spreadsheet, it searches for a macro named "\0". If one exists, it is automatically executed. You can have only one auto-executing macro in a spreadsheet. NOTE: To edit an auto-executing macro, it may be necessary to use the /File Merge command to keep the macro from auto-executing as it would if /File Retrieve were used. DEFINING A MACRO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The powerful macros that are supported by AS-EASY-AS provide a complete programming environment for most applications. Macros can be chained together to provide self running applications that do virtually anything that can be done manually through the command mode. Macro commands can be typed in directly from the keyboard. This requires that you know the exact sequence of macro commands to perform the desired action ahead of time. For short macros, this method is acceptable. However, if you have a long macro to create, or if you are unfamiliar with the sequence of commands needed, AS-EASY-AS provides an alternative method for creating macros. AS-EASY-AS has the ability to learn by example, it records your keystrokes as you perform the desired task, and writes them out to the sheet as macro commands. To access this macro recording ability, select /Sheet, Macro, Compose. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [84] When you first select Compose, AS-EASY-AS starts recording all your keystrokes. The macro compose buffer is capable of storing 2048 characters. When you have completed your macro, reselect /Sheet, Macro, Compose a second time. AS-EASY-AS will prompt you for the cell location in which to place the macro commands. Simply point to a vacant cell or type in the cell location and hit [ENTER]. The macro commands will be entered, continuing to the next rows below as necessary, writing over any information currently in the cells. EXECUTING A MACRO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are several ways to execute your macro. The first step is to name your macro. To define a range name, type the following: /rnc which stands for /RANGE, NAME, CREATE. After you press the letter 'c'(for Create) the spreadsheet will prompt YOU for the name of the range. Now type the range name and then press the [ENTER] key. (Be careful, don't include any spaces in the range name). The next step involves typing (or pointing) the cell which the macro occupies. If the macro was in cell A1, then type A1 [ENTER]. The simplest method of executing macros is to name your macro using the special range name character \ followed by a single letter as discussed previously. Pressing the [ALT] key and the letter name of your macro simultaneously will execute your macro. Naming your macro \0 (zero) will create a macro that will auto execute each time the spreadsheet is retrieved. A second execution method is to press the [F3] Macro Execute function key. Type in the name of your macro and hit [ENTER], and AS-EASY-AS will execute your macro. If you can't remember your macro name, press [F3] then [F1]. A pick window of all the range names will appear in the middle of your screen. Highlight the name of your macro and hit [ENTER] to execute the macro. A third method to execute your macro is by selecting /Sheet, Macro, Execute. You are allowed to specify a cell address, a named range, etc. Again, pressing [F1] after this option has been selected will display all named ranges in a pick window on the screen. Because of its execution speed, it may be difficult to follow your macro commands to determine if your macro is performing as planned. To assist you in your debugging efforts, AS-EASY-AS provides the ability to execute your macro one command at a time. /Sheet, Macro, Step toggles the macro step execution on and off. If the option Yes is selected, you are asked to specify the number of msec of delay between macros ( 0 < D < 5000 msec). If a delay of zero, (D=0), is specified, the program will pause after each macro AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [85] command, until you press any key to continue. The currently executing macro command will also be displayed at the bottom of the screen. MACRO KEYWORDS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All menu commands in AS-EASY-AS can be invoked from within a macro with the key-letter (the first letter in the command). In addition, the following cursor movements have macro keywords: MACRO COMMAMD MEANING ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ {LT X} - Move cursor X cells to the Left {RT X} - Move cursor X cells to the Right {DN X} - Move cursor X cells Downward {UP X} - Move cursor X cells Upward {PGUP X} - Move cursor X pages Up {PGDN X} - Move cursor X pages Down {PGRT X} - Move the cursor X pages to the Right {PGLT X} - Move the cursor X pages to the Left {DEL X} - Delete X characters to the right of cursor {BS X} - Backspace X characters to the Left of the cursor {INS} - Same cursor as the [INS] key. Toggles between Insert and Overtype modes {INSON} - Toggles the Insert mode on {INSOFF} - Toggles the Insert mode off {HOME} - Move cursor to cell A1 {END} - Same as the [END] key {EDIT} - Places the current cell in the Edit mode [F2] {NAME} - Name, show matrix of names same as [F3] {ABS} - Make cell reference absolute [F4]. Toggles between ABS modes. {GOTO cell} - GoTo a specified cell, [F5] {WINDOW} - If window active toggles the cursor between windows otherwise toggle the cursor between the current and previous cursor locations, [F6] {VIEW} - Toggle the current view between the opened windows, same as [F7] {CALC} - Recalculate all cells, [F9] {GRAPH} - View the specified graph, [F10] {ESC X} - Represents the [ESC] (Escape) key (X is optional). ~ - Tilde (~), same as the [ENTER] key NOTES: The keystroke [ENTER] in a macro is represented by the tilde (~). All macro commands MUST be enclosed in curly braces {}. The X in the above listing is optional, i.e., {RT 5} moves the cursor to the right 5 cells, whereas {RT} moves the cursor to the right just one cell. Macros are executed from left to right in a given cell and proceed AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [86] downwards row by row until either a blank cell is reached, the [ESC] key is pressed, or the {QUIT} macro keyword is executed. ADVANCED MACROS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The advanced macro capabilities of AS-EASY-AS complete a powerful programming environment. Using these macros, you can set up your own custom menus, set up programming loops, branching and execute sub- routines. NOTE: All commands below may ONLY be used in an executing macro. {?} Pauses macro execution and awaits keyboard input. Useful for interrupting macro to allow movement around sheet or entry of data. Macro execution continues only after [ENTER] or [ESC] is pressed. NOTE: [ENTER] and [ESC] characters will not appear in the macro stream. You must provide them where required to terminate input in response to a prompt. {APPEND F#, "FileName"} F# - File Number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) Filename - Name of File, may include drive and path information Open FileName in Append mode. See {OPEN} command. Subsequent WRITES to the file will cause text to be appended to the end of the file. NOTE: Any file which is opened with {APPEND}, must be closed with the {CLOSE} macro command before exiting from AS- EASY-AS. Failure to do so will result in the file information becoming corrupted and unusable. {BEEP X} Produces a beep sound. This macro could be useful at the end of unattended macro(s) to signal the user that some task is completed, or to get the user's attention when a prompt for information is introduced. Also see {TONE X,Y}. {BLANK Range} Erases the cells in the range defined by 'Range'. The effect is the same as when executing the /re command. This method is sometimes more desirable than /re since it will not display the menus as does /re when it is used in a macro. {BORDEROFF} This macro command is used to turn the column and row borders off. It's function is the same as the /sbs menu command. Once this AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [87] macro is invoked, the borders of the sheet, i.e., the portion containing the row numbers, become invisible until a {BORDERON} command is invoked. {BORDERON} This macro command cancels the {BORDEROFF} macro. You might note that the screen needs to be updated, using the {UPDATE} macro after {BORDERON} is invoked. {CALL Location} or {RangeName} Call the subroutine identified by 'location'. This is different than the {JUMP} command. {JUMP} transfers execution of the macro to a given location but 'forgets' its current position. {CALL}, on the other hand, transfers execution to another location. When a {RET} command is encountered, it returns execution to the next command following the calling cell and continues with the macro. Subroutines may be nested (they can call more subroutines) up to 20 levels deep. Any macro command sequence can be called as a subroutine. Macro commands can call themselves as subroutines (i.e., they can be recursive). Improperly designed recursive macros can result in serious problems and will cause the macro stack overflow error. {CLOSE F#} F# - File Number (1, 2, 3,...) Close disk file F#. See {OPEN}, {READ}, {WRITE}, and {APPEND} macro commands. As an example, {CLOSE 1} will close disk file #1. {CLRSCR} Clears the screen, so that a messages can be written for presentations, etc. The screen remains in this mode until an {UPDATE} macro command is executed or the macro terminates. CURSOR This variable may only be used in edit or macro modes and refers to the cell occupied by the current position of the cursor. Example: Assume that cells A1 through A100 contain the values 1., 3., 4.5, and 8. randomly distributed. Let's say that you want to replace all occurrences of the value 8. with 1.25. The following macro would do the trick for you: Cell Contents Explanation ~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ B1 0 Set a counter cell AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [88] B2 {LET B1,0}{GOTO A1} Go to beginning of range B3 {If CURSOR=8}{LET CURSOR,1.25} Set the criterion B4 {LET B1,B1+1} Increase counter by 1. B5 {IF B1=100}{JUMP OUT} Check if all 100 cells have been processed (if the counter cell reached 100). If yes, jump out of the loop. B6 {DN} Move the cursor down one cell. B7 {JUMP BEGIN} Repeat the loop B8 {QUIT} Stop executing macro. ** Don't forget to define the following range names: Range Name Cell ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~ BEGIN B3 OUT B8 \A B2 <-Press Alt-A to start macro {DELAY X} This macro command will halt program execution for the specified (X) number of thousands of a second within a macro, ONLY while displaying a graph or the Sheet Status screen. A delay of X equal to 0 resets the pause mechanism to wait until a key has been pressed. This could be useful in displaying a graph for a given amount of time, before continuing execution of the macro. {ESCON} and {ESCOFF} Disables/enables the escape key which would normally permit a macro to be aborted. CAUTION: {ESCOFF} should be used only if other provisions for exiting a macro have been made. If no such provisions exist, you are liable to end up in an infinite loop, with the only way out being to reboot your computer. {EXIT} Cancels one/top level of subroutine calls and allows macro programming to continue. This macro command was built into AS- EASY-AS to allow the user flexibility when a forced exit out of subroutines and loops is desired. {FOR COUNTER, START, STOP, STEP} Counter = Cell location which keeps track of the number of macro iterations Start = The beginning value for the counter Stop = The end value for the counter Step = The incremental value to be added to counter after each iteration AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [89] Executes the macro commands which follow until {NEXT} is encountered. The counter is increased by the value of step. If the new counter value does not exceed the step value, the macro loop is repeated again. This continues until the counter exceeds the stop value at which time execution transfers to the macro command cell below {NEXT}. NOTES: 1. If Stop is initially less than the Start value, the macro loop will be skipped and execution transferred to the cell below. 2. If Step is set equal to 0 (zero), an infinite loop will be created as the counter will never exceed the Stop value. 3. A maximum of 4 nested {FOR}{NEXT} loops may be created. {GET CELL} This command accepts the next character from the keyboard and places it in CELL. (This occurs as soon as you depress a keyboard key you do not need to press [ENTER]). For example, {GET A13} stops and waits until a key is pressed. If the Key "A" is pressed, then "A" is placed in cell A13. {GOTOXY A1,A2} Places the character cursor at the column and row screen coordinate specified by A1 and A2. A1 is the column (1..80) and A2 is the row (1..25) of that coordinate. Subsequent use of the {WRITE} macro will place text at the current cursor position. Example: {Gotoxy 20,12} {Write "This text is in the middle of the screen"} {IF Condition}Action... If the 'condition' is met, then proceed with the identified 'action' in the same cell, otherwise continue with the macro in the cell below this command. This macro command is very similar to the if-then-else structure found in many programming languages. It is important to remember, however, that the "then" action must follow in the same cell as the IF test. Example: {goto A1}~Macro Example~ {IF Test>2}{JUMP A50} {calc} Explanation: Position cursor on cell A1. Place the string 'Macro Example' in that cell. If the value of the cell named 'Test' is greater than 2, go to cell A50 and start executing the macro in that cell. If the value of 'Test' is less than 2, then recalculate the spreadsheet. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [90] {INDXY m,n} Sets the location of the mode indicator, to line (m) and column (n). (This is the area displaying the messages "Ready, Macro, Wait, etc.). The value for "m" must be 1-24 and that for "n" must be 1-80. {INKEY CELL} Pauses execution of the macro and stores a single typed character in CELL. Macro execution continues after the key has been pressed. {INLABEL "Prompt", Location} {INVALUE "Prompt", Location} Display the text 'Prompt' on the control panel and pause for input. The user can type a label (text string), or a value, and when [ENTER] is pressed, the label, or the value, is placed in the cell identified by 'Location'. Example: {INLABEL "Enter Your Name",A5} Explanation: Display the prompt 'Enter Your Name' in the control panel and pause. When a user types his name and presses [ENTER], the name is placed in cell A5. {INRANGE "Prompt",Cell} This macro command prompts the user for a cell range. The range can be defined using the pointing method (or the typing method) and the result is placed in cell. Example: The Macro {InRange " What is the Erase Range", d2} would place the prompt 'What is the Erase Range' in the panel area and wait for input. If the user presses: [HOME] . <----- (Period) [DOWN] [DOWN] [RIGHT] [ENTER] The text A1..B3, representing the highlighted range, would be placed in cell D2. {IOINIT "COMn:Baud,PA,DB,SB,LEN,DL"} Initialize the serial port COMn where n=1,2,3,4. Baud = Baud Rate (300, 1200, 2400, .....) PA = Parity (E, O, N, ...) DB = Data Bits (Normally 7 or 8) SB = Stop Bits (Normally 1 or 2) LEN = Maximum length of string that will be transmitted or accepted as input (Default is 80) DL = Delay in units of System Cycles. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [91] This macro command is used to initialize one of the computer's serial ports for subsequent use of the {IOVALUE} and {IOLABEL} macro commands. Example: {IOINIT "COM2:2400,N,8,1,80,2000"} Initialize serial port 2 for 2400 baud, No parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, a maximum string length of 80, and a delay of 2000 system cycles. {IOLABEL "String",Range} Transmit String to the initialized communications port and store the received information, as a label, in Range. You may leave String blank ('''')if you just want to get information from the port without sending anything. Conversely, use the range name NUL if you are just sending information to the port. Example: {IOLABEL "ATDT12345667&@CHR(13),NUL} Send the dial up sequence ATDT1234567, followed by CR to the initialized serial port. No information expected to come back to AS-EASY-AS, Range = NUL. {IOVALUE "String",Range} Transmit String to the initialized communications port and store the received information, as a label, in Range. You may leave String blank ('''')if you just want to get information from the port without sending anything. Conversely, use the range name NUL if you are just sending information to the port. Example: {IOVALUE "",A2} Receive information from the serial port (in this case from the other computer), and place it in Cell A2. {IF @FIND(":?",A2,1)>0}{IOVALUE +F1,NUL} Check to see if the string that was received from the serial port, and placed in cell A2, contains the substring ":?". If it does, then transmit the value in cell F1 to the serial port. {JUMP Location} This macro instructs the program to continue executing at a new 'location'. The 'location' can either be a cell location (A1, B345, AG5) or a range name that was created with the /Range, Name, Create command. Be careful, this command is different than the {GOTO} macro command. {JUMP} simply tells the program which macro to execute next, whereas, {GOTO} transfers the cell pointer to the specified cell. Example: {goto A1}~Macro Example~ {JUMP A50} AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [92] Explanation: Go to cell A1, place the string 'Macro Example' in that cell and then jump to cell A50 and execute the macro in that cell, while the cell pointer is still at A1. {LET A1,EXPRESSION} Evaluates the formula "EXPRESSION", and places the value in A1. Use of this command does not require that you physically move the cursor to A1 before entering data, therefore, it can reduce moving back and forth between various portions of the worksheet. EXPRESSION can be any valid mathematical or logical expression. Example: {Let A3,A3+1} increments the value in cell A3 by one. NOTE: There is no space between the "," and "Expression". {MENUCALL Location} Transfers execution to macro menu at "Location". Allows the user to make a menu selection, and then CALLS the macro identified by that menu selection. When {RET} is encountered, macro execution continues with the command following the {MENUCALL}. See {MENUJUMP} for instructions on defining your own menu. {MENUJUMP Location} Transfers execution to the macro menu at "Location". Allows the user to make a menu selection, and then executes the macro identified below that menu selection. The macro menu has to follow the guidelines given below: - Two rows are used for the creation of the menu. Each menu option can be up to 30 characters long. - The cell to the right of the last item of the menu must be empty to indicate the end of the menu. - Each selection is placed in an individual cell in the first row. - Each cell in the second row contains the explanation of the command in the cell above it. Whenever the user moves the cursor highlighting one of the menu options, the control panel displays the explanation for that menu selection. A macro menu performs identically to the standard AS-EASY-AS command menus. HINTS: 1. Avoid menu entries that start with the same character so that an option can be selected by typing the unique first letter. 2. AS-EASY-AS will assign the next unique letter in the command if a duplicate occurs. 3. Upper case and lower case letters are considered equal. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [93] When a user selects one of the items in the menu, AS-EASY-AS starts execution of the macro on the third row in the column of the selected menu choice. {MENUOFF} Disables the screen update of the panel and pop-up window menus. Invoking this command will speed the operation of macros that frequently update the screen. {MENUON} Restores screen update of the panel and pop-up window menus. This command should be invoked at the end of a macro that used {MENUOFF}. {MENUWIDTH x} Specify a width of x (up to 28 characters) for the menu window. Once a menu width is specified, it stays in affect until a new {MENUWIDTH x} macro command is issued. {MENUXY x,y} Specify the x,y coordinate of the upper left corner of menu window. If the period key [.] is pressed while a menu is displayed at x,y, the menu position will toggle between the left and the right side of the screen, i.e., the x coordinate above will be overridden, but the vertical position of the menu will not change until a new {MENUXY x,y} macro command is used. {OPEN F#,M#,"Filename"} F# - File Number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) M# - Mode (1, 2 or 3) 1 - Read - Allows the file to be read. 2 - Write - Opens a new file. If the file exists, current information will be erased. 3 - Append - Opens an existing file and places the file pointer at end of file. Filename - Name of File, may include drive and path information Open a disk file which is to be read, written to, or appended. See {READ}, {WRITE}, {APPEND}, and {CLOSE} macro commands. As an example, {OPEN 1,3,"C:\DATA\TRIDATA.DTA"}{WRITE...} will open TRIDATA.DTA located in C:\DATA, which is to be appended. If the file does not currently exist, it will be created. NOTE: Any file which is opened with {OPEN}, must be closed with the {CLOSE} macro command before exiting from AS- EASY-AS. Failure to do so will result in the file information becoming corrupted and unusable. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [94] {PICK Range,Outcell} Range = Cell range which contains listing of labels to appear in pick list. Outcell = Cell which will contain picked selection PICK will create a pick window comprised of the labels contained in the specified RANGE. Using the cursor keys, the user can move through the list and highlight the desired label. When [ENTER] is selected, the highlighted choice is placed in OUTCELL. PICK is useful for situations where the user is to be prompted for data input, and there is a limited selection of valid or desired responses. Example: {PICK A1..A10,C1} When an executing macro encounters this command, a pick window will appear in the top left of the screen which is comprised of the labels in the range A1..A10. The user will select a label by pressing [ENTER] and the result be placed in cell C1. {QUIT} Stops execution of the macro and returns to the 'Ready' mode. {READ F#, CellAddress} F# - File Number (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) CellAddress - Worksheet cell location (column & row) where read information is to be placed. Read one line from disk file #, from the current pointer location up to the carriage return, and place it in CellAddress. Subsequent {READ}s will continue to read in one line at a time, until the end of file is encountered. At that point, execution will continue with the macro in the current cell, or if unsuccessful, the macro command in the next row. See {OPEN}, {CLOSE}, {WRITE}, and {APPEND} macro commands. As an example, {READ 1, D10} will read a line of information from file #1 and place it in cell D10 of the worksheet. {RECALC Range} Calculates only the specified range. {RESTART} This command clears all levels of the subroutine stack and continues execution of the macro commands. If {RESTART} is encountered, AS-EASY-AS continues with the instructions that follow. Upon completion of the subroutine, it will terminate and WILL NOT return to the calling routine. {RET} When this command is encountered, execution is returned to the cell just below the last {CALL} command, i.e., to the macro that called the subroutine terminated with {RET}. If no {CALL} command AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [95] exists, and a {RET} command is encountered, a macro error occurs. {SCRNOFF} Disables the update of the screen. Invoking this macro command will speed the operation of most of your macros since screen I/O is time consuming. Remember to restore screen update after your macro is completed. NOTE: When this macro is used, it will seem that your computer is not doing anything, i.e., the screen will not be updated until {SCRNON} and {UPDATE} macros are executed. {SCRNON} Enables the update of the screen. This command should be invoked at the end of a macro that used {SCRNOFF}. {TONE A1,A2} Generates a sound of frequency A1 (Hz) and duration A2 (milli- seconds). A1 and A2 can be values, results of a calculation or cell references. This macro can also be used to cause a delay in macro execution without generating an audible tone, if desired. i.e. {TONE 0,5000} will create a silent delay of 5 seconds. {UPDATE} Refreshes the screen. Useful after a {SCRNON} command. {WHILE Test,Action} Perform a subroutine call to the "Action" while the "Test" is true. The subroutine must have a corresponding {RET} statement. Once the result of "Test" is false, continue execution of the macro command in the cell below. {WRITE "String"} Print the content of 'String' at the current character cursor screen coordinates, and leave the cursor at the end of the printed string. It should be noted that this is only a temporary screen write. If this was the last macro command in a sequence, it would disappear as soon as it was printed since the screen would be updated at the end of the macro sequence. {WRITE F#, "String"} F# - File Number (1, 2, 3,...) "String" - Information to be written to the file. Writes "String" information to open disk file F#, starting from the current pointer location. Subsequent {WRITE}s will continue to be appended to the file. If the {WRITE} fails, execution will continue with the macro AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [96] command in the next row. See {OPEN}, {CLOSE}, {READ}, and {APPEND} macro commands. As an example, {WRITE 1, "Test Data"} will write the string "Test Data" to file #1. {WRITELN "String"} Same as the {WRITE} macro, above, but places the cursor at the beginning of the next character row. {WRITELN F#, "String"} Same as the {WRITE F#, "String"} macro above, but writes String information to the file, starting from the current pointer location, as a single line, followed by carriage return and line feed characters. AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [97] INDEX ~~~~~ ABSOLUTE ADDRESS 26 F2 18 ABSOLUTE Fn KEY 19 F3 18 ARROW KEYS 13 F4 19 ASEASY.PRT FILE 39 F5 19 ASEASY.PRT FILE 40 F6 19 AT&T MONOCHROME 10 F7 19 AUTOEXEC MACRO 84 F9 19 AUTOLOAD 10 FORMAT 26 FORMULAS 23 BOX CHARACTERS 22 FORMULAS - POINTING 23 FORMULAS - TYPING 23 CALCULATE KEY 19 CGA MODE 11 GOALSEEKING 52 CIRCULAR REFERENCES 30 GOTO KEY 19 COMBINING WORKSHEETS 32 COMBINING TEXT/GRAPHICS 46 CONDENSED PRINT 35 GRAPH FONT 43 COPY FORMULAS 28 GRAPH FORMAT 42 COPY VALUES 28 GRAPH MERGE 46 CURSOR 88 GRAPH NAME 44 CURSOR KEY 16 GRAPH OPTIONS 43 DATA BIN 51 GRAPH PLOT 45 DATA COMMANDS 49 GRAPH RANGES 42 DATA DISTRIBUTION 51 GRAPH SAVE 46 DATA FILL 49 GRAPH TITLES 43 DATA INPUT 49 GRAPHICS 42 DATA INPUT FORM 53 GRAPHICS CHARACTERS 22 DATA REGRESSION 52 DATA SORT 50 HARDWARE 7 DATABASE 55 HELP 17 DATABASE RANGE 55 HERCULES 11 DATING A PAGE 37 DEFAULT DIRECTORY 10 INPUT FORM 53 DISTRIBUTION OF DATA 51 INSTALLATION 8 DOS VERSION 7 DOT MATRIX 7 KEYBOARD 16 DOT MATRIX 36 DOT MATRIX PRINTERS 42 LABEL 20 EDIT 22 LASERJET 42 EDIT CELL 18 LASERJET PRINTERS 36 EMBEDDED CODES 38 LSF 52 EMS 7 ENHANCED GRAPHICS 10 MACRO COMMANDS 87 ENTERING A MACRO 17 MACRO DEFINITION 84 ENTERING AN EQUATION 18 MACRO EXECUTION 85 ENTERING FORMULAS 21 MACRO KEY 18 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE 12 MACRO KEYWORDS 86 EXIT 33 MACRO NAME 84 EXPANDED MEMORY 7 MACROS 84 EXPANDED MEMORY 11 MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS 21 EXPORTING 31 MATRIX OPERATIONS 57 EXTRACT CRITERION 55 MEMORY 7 MENUS 13 F1 17 MONITOR (EGA) 7 F1 18 MONITOR (VGA) 7 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [98] MONITOR HERCULES 7 SAVING A FILE 30 MONITOR MONOCHROME 7 SCREEN BLANKING 10 MONOCHROME (B&W) 11 SET ASEASY= 12 MOUSE 7 SMART CURSOR 17 MOUSE 8 SORTING DATA 50 MOUSE POINTING 24 SPARSE MATRIX 7 MOVE FORMULAS 29 STRING FUNCTIONS 59 MOVE VALUES 28 USING PRINT VIEW 41 NAMED GRAPH 44 NAMED GRAPH 44 VALUE 20 NAMED GRAPH 45 VGA MONITOR/CARD 11 NAMED GRAPH 46 VIEW KEY 19 NAMED GRAPH 48 VIEWS 15 NAMED RANGE 32 VIRTUAL MEMORY 7 NAMED RANGE 77 VIRTUAL MEMORY 11 NAMED RANGE 85 NAMED RANGES 18 WINDOW KEY 19 NAMED RANGES 25 WINDOWS 15 NAMED RANGES 27 WINDOWS 3.0 7 NON-TURBO KEYBOARD 11 #OR# & #AND# OPERATORS 72 OPERATING SYSTEM 7 @@ 59 @ABS 65 PAGE BREAKS 37 @ACOS 65 PAGE FOOTERS 37 @ACOSH 65 PAGE HEADERS 37 @ASIN 65 PAGE LENGTH 35 @ASINH 65 PAGE LENGTH 35 @ATAN 65 PAGE NUMBERS 37 @ATANH 65 PIC FILE 42 @AVG 74 PRINT CONTROL CODES 39 @CASE 77 PRINT ENHANCEMENT 40 @CELL 59 PRINT FILE 40 @CELLPT 59 PRINT MARGINS 35 @CHR 61 PRINT MENU 34 @COLS 77 PRINT TO A FILE 40 @COMB 74 PRINT TYPE 39 @COS 66 PRINTER BORDERS 35 @COSH 66 PRINTER CODE 39 @COUNT 74 PRINTER CONTROL FILE 39 @CSC 66 PRINTER ESCAPE CODE 39 @CTERM 68 PRINTER SET-UP FILE 18 @CTN 66 PRINTER SETUP CODE 18 @DATE 81 PRINTER SETUP FILE 18 @DATEVAL 81 PRINTER SETUP STRINGS 18 @DAY 81 PRINTERS 7 @DDB 69 PRINTING 34 @ERR 73 PRINTING TEXT/GRAPHICS 41 @EXACT 61 @EXP 66 RANGE 25 @FACT 75 RECALCULATION 29 @FALSE 66 REGRESSION 52 @FIND 61 RELATIVE ADDRESS 26 @FV 69 RETRIEVING A FILE 32 @GAMMALN 66 ROUND ABSOLUTE 11 @HOUR 81 @HTABLE 77 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [99] @HTERP 78 @TIME 82 @IF 72 @TIMEVAL 82 @INDEX 78 @TODAY 83 @INT 66 @TRIM 63 @IRR 69 @TRUE 68 @ISERR 73 @UPPER 63 @ISNA 73 @USER 79 @ISNUM 72 @VAL 64 @ISSTR 73 @VAR 77 @LEFT 61 @VTABLE 80 @LENGTH 61 @VTERP 80 @LENGTH 79 @YEAR 83 @LINK 79 @LN 67 {APPEND} 87 @LOG 67 {BEEP X} 87 @LOWER 62 {BLANK RANGE} 87 @MAX 75 {BORDEROFF} 87 @MID 62 {BORDERON} 88 @MIN 75 {CALL LOCATION} 88 @MINUTE 82 {CLOSE F#} 88 @MOD(X,Y) 67 {CLRSCR} 88 @MONTH 82 {DELAY X} 89 @N 62 {ESCON} AND {ESCOFF} 89 @NA 67 {EXIT} 89 @NOT 73 {FOR COUNTER.....} 89 @NPV 70 {GET CELL} 90 @ORD 62 {GOTOXY A1,A2} 90 @PERM 75 {IF CONDITION}... 90 @PI 67 {INDXY M,N} 91 @PMT 70 {INKEY CELL} 91 @PROPER 62 {INLABEL} 91 @PV 70 {INRANGE} 91 @QMAX 75 {INVALUE} 91 @QMIN 76 {IOINIT} 91 @QSTD 76 {IOLABEL} 92 @QSUM 76 {IOVALUE} 92 @QVAR 76 {JUMP LOCATION} 92 @RAND 67 {LET A1,EXPRESSION} 93 @RATE 70 {MENUCALL LOCATION} 93 @REPEAT 62 {MENUJUMP LOCATION} 93 @RIGHT 63 {MENUOFF} 94 @ROUND(X,Y) 67 {MENUON} 94 @ROWS 79 {MENUWIDTH X} 94 @S 63 {MENUXY X,Y} 94 @SEC 67 {OPEN F#...} 94 @SECOND 82 {PICK RANGE,OUTCELL} 95 @SIN 67 {QUIT} 95 @SINH 68 {READ F#, CELLADDRESS} 95 @SLN 70 {RECALC RANGE} 95 @SQRT(X) 68 {RESTART} 95 @STD(RANGE) 76 {RET} 95 @STR 63 {SCRNOFF} 96 @SUM 77 {SCRNON} 96 @SYD 71 {TONE A1,A2} 96 @TAN 68 {UPDATE} 96 @TANH 68 {WHILE TEST,ACTION} 96 @TERM 71 {WRITE "STRING"} 96 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [100] {WRITE F#, "STRING"} 96 {WRITELN "STRING"} 97 {WRITELN F#, "STRING"} 97 {?} 87 AS-EASY-AS User's Guide - Copyright 1991, TRIUS, Inc. [101]