RUN CALC 64, an electronic spreadsheet program for the C-64, can be used for calculations that range from checkbook balancing to complex investment analysis.
After loading and running RUN Calc 64, examine the display. The flashing cursor at the top-left of the screen is on the data-entry line. Running across the screen below it is a solid comment line that the program uses to display important information. The initial screen also displays the numbers 0, 1 and 2, which represent columns, and the letters A-T, which identify the rows. Each column can hold a maximum of nine characters.
The spreadsheet has a total of 30 columns and 26 rows, but only three columns and 20 rows are visible at a time. The cursor keys let you move this "window" around the spreadsheet. Press the cursor-down key, and the quickly redrawn display shows rows B-U.
The intersection of a spreadsheet column and row is called a cell, designated by the row letter and column number. RUN Calc 64 provides 780 cells: A0-Z29. Pressing the home key at any time will return the window to the initial A0 position.
To enter information into a cell, first type in the cell location, with the row first, the column second, and no spaces between the characters. Then type a colon and your text or numeric data, up to nine characters in length. The nine characters include control codes, which each count as one. As examples of cell input,
A0:BUDGET 88
would enter a label in cell A0, and
C12:250
would enter the value 250 in cell C12.
Numeric information must begin with a number or a plus or minus sign. Text information can include almost any character, but mustn't begin with a number or a plus or minus sign. After typing the information you want in a cell, press the return key. If you typed everything correctly, the data should appear in the proper cell.
It's very important that you enter information by the proper method. If you don't, RUN Calc 64 displays an error message on the comment line to help you locate the problem. When you're ready to enter the line again, press any key and just retype it.
Numeric data is automatically aligned flush-right in a cell, and text data is aligned flush-left. You can insert spaces to move the text over if you want.
To clear a cell, enter the cell coordinates, followed by a colon, and then press return. This procedure will clear text, but not formulas. To clear the entire spreadsheet, press shift/clear and answer Y to the question on the comment line.
The real power of RUN Calc 64 lies in its ability to perform mathematical operations using the data in the cells. For example, you can add cell A0 to cell Al and place the answer in cell A2 by putting the formula A0+A1 in cell A2. Here's the proper format:
A2:[F1]A0+A1
The F1 appears as a reverse F and is printed by pressing the F1 key (don't type the brackets). This key accesses special features of RUN Calc 64. If you forget to press F1 when entering a formula, the formula will be displayed in the cell as text. If you do press F1, the result of the computation will appear in the cell.
When typing in a formula, leave out all spaces and enter the cell first and the formula second.
A special View command lets you view the formula in a particular cell. This is the only way to view formulas that are more than nine characters long. As an example of this command, if you enter
A2:[F1]V
and there's a formula in cell A2, it'll be printed on the comment line, along with the full value of the numeric data in the cell. RUN Calc 64 fills a cell with asterisks when it contains a formula that's more than nine characters long. The asterisks alert you to use the View command to examine the contents of the cell.
RUN Calc 64 can perform the following mathematical operations with cells and constants--addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and exponentiation. The program doesn't handle complex formulas, but you can do involved computations by storing an intermediate answer in a spare cell.
Calculations are triggered by pressing the left-arrow key at the top-left corner of the keyboard. The calculations take a while, depending on the number of formulas in the spreadsheet. Press the left-arrow key twice if you have a formula within a formula.
After the program has completed all computations, the spreadsheet is redrawn, with the results displayed in the proper cells. An error message will appear if you attempt to divide by zero, and, if a result of exponentiation is too large, an overflow note will appear in the affected cell.
RUN Calc 64 provides the following special formulas, presented here with sample data inserted.
A1:[F1]SUMA2..Z2 places the sum of cells A2 through Z2 in A1.
Z29:[F1]AVGB3..B12 calculates the average of cells B3 through B12 and places the answer in cell Z29.
C12:[F1]MIND0..G0 searches for the minimum number in cells D0 through G0 and places the answer in cell C12.
F5:[F1]MAXZ0..Z29 returns the maximum value in a range.
These formulas work only on a range of cells in one row or in one column. They will not work on diagonal groupings of cells.
RUN Calc 64 also provides the following special commands, again presented with sample data.
A:[F1]T leaves row A and column 0 titles displayed on the screen, so you can see what each cell is supposed to be as you move the window around. You must use cell A0 in this command.
A0:[F1]O turns off the title mode. The cell must be A0.
C15:[F1]A clears a single cell of formula, text and numeric data.
F25:[F1]J jumps the display window to a particular area of the spreadsheet. Sometimes this is faster and easier than using the cursor keys.
D3:[F1]COPD4-D29 copies the contents of a cell, which is handy when you have to enter lots of identical information. In this example, the contents of cell D3 will be copied into cells D4 through D29. Only text and numeric information can be copied in this way; formulas must be typed in individually. This command works with rows or columns.
FUNCTION KEYS
F1--This key's role in entering formulas has already been discussed.
F2--Shows formula results on the comment line to an accuracy of up to six decimal places. RUN Calc 64 defaults to rounding formula results to two decimal places. To change this, press F2 and then a number from 0 to 6 to indicate the number of decimal places you want. This command doesn't affect the accuracy of the calculations, and you can always use the View command to see the actual value. As mentioned, this precision setting pertains only to numbers that are the results of formulas. Other numeric data must be typed in just as you want it.
F3--Loads the spreadsheet template from disk.
F4--Saves the template to disk. Pick a filename that suggests the subject of the data the template holds.
F5--Prints the spreadsheet template on paper. You can print the whole template, or just a portion of it by entering the coordinates of the top-left and bottom-right cells you want. If you specify more than seven columns, RUN Calc 64 will automatically break the printout into sections.
F6--Prints the formulas in the template on paper.
F7--Changes the background screen color.
F8--Changes the border color.
Control key/1-8--Changes the text color. After you enter any color change, press return; ignore the error message and press return again.
