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QubeCalc Abridged User's Manual Copyright (C), 1986 The FormalWare Co. All Rights Reserved This manual is an abridged (short) version of the full QubeCalc manual. This abridged manual is sufficiently detailed to allow you to use and evaluate QubeCalc, however, it does not provide a detailed description of all the capabilities of QubeCalc. You may obtain a copy of the full (typeset) QubeCalc manual by becoming a registered user. The procedure and benefits of registering are explained at the end of this manual. DISCLAIMER ---------- This software will perform as described when used properly. By using this software you acknowledge that this software may not suit your particular needs or be completely trouble free. If this software does not perform as described, our liability to you is limited to replacing the software or refunding the purchase price (if registered). In no event will The FormalWare Co. be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use these programs, even if The FormalWare Co. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. 1 Table of Contents USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE (SHAREWARE) CONCEPT . . . . . . . . 3 PERMISSION TO COPY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 WHAT CAN I DO WITH QUBECALC? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ADVANCED FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 MAKING A BACKUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 FLOPPY DISK BASED SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 HARD DISK BASED SYSTEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 THE QUBECALC SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 CONTEXT SENSITIVE HELP SCREENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 MOVING AROUND THE WORKQUBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ENTERING DATA INTO THE WORKQUBE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 THE COMMAND MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PREDEFINED FUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Mathematical Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Trigonometry Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Statistical Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Financial Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Date and Time Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Logical Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE CELL REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . 17 DEFINING A 3D BLOCK OF CELLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 EDITING THE CONTENTS OF A CELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CELL COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Justify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Copying a Cell to a Block (Replicating) . . . . . . . . 22 BLOCK COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Format, Width, Erase, and Justify . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Copying a Block of Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 DataFill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 WORKQUBE COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Format, Width, Erase, and Justify . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Changing the Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 AutoCalc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 INSERTING AND DELETING ROWS, COLUMNS, AND PAGES . . . . . . 26 SAVING AND LOADING DATA FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 GRAPHING YOUR DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 PRINTING YOUR DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 DEFINING AND USING MACROS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 EXITING FROM QUBECALC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 THE SETUP PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 THE IMPORT PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 2 USER SUPPORTED SOFTWARE (SHAREWARE) CONCEPT ------------------------------------------- QubeCalc is distributed as user supported software. You may freely copy this program to give to others to use... in fact, you are encouraged to make copies for friends. You are also encouraged to register your copy. The development of QubeCalc is supported entirely by user registrations. Information on registering can be found at the end of this abridged manual. There are several advantages to registering your copy of QubeCalc. - You will receive the most recent version of QubeCalc. - You will receive a typeset copy of the full QubeCalc manual. - You will receive automatic notification of updates to future versions. These updates will be very low cost to registered users. - You will be supporting the future development of QubeCalc and other software by the FormalWare Co. PERMISSION TO COPY ------------------ Even though you are encouraged to give copies of QubeCalc to friends it is important to remember that QubeCalc and the associated programs and documentation are copyrighted and are subject to certain restrictions. Things you may do with QubeCalc: - Distribute copies of QubeCalc on a non-commercial basis. - Post QubeCalc on a bulletin board. Things you may NOT do with QubeCalc: - Charge anything for QubeCalc (except for registered users groups, which may charge a cost based fee not to exceed $10). - Copy the written documentation in any form or manner. - Distribute versions of QubeCalc which have been modified in any way. 3 WHAT CAN I DO WITH QUBECALC? ---------------------------- Welcome to the world of QubeCalc. QubeCalc is a TRUE three dimensional spreadsheet (as opposed to a two dimensional spreadsheet which lets you link cells of multiple spreadsheets together). It gives you the ability to look at your data in more ways than you ever imagined. You can enter data into the QubeCalc WorkQube just as you would with any other spreadsheet. You could treat the WorkQube as if it were 64 separate spreadsheets which are linked together, but it is much more flexible than just that. Regular spreadsheets allow you to enter data in a row and column format. For example, you might have a spreadsheet which displays the number of sales listed by month and salesman as shown below: 1983 jan feb mar apr may jun ---------------------------------------------- bill 12 13 14 14 13 12 sam 11 15 13 12 11 10 joe 10 10 12 13 11 11 With regular spreadsheets you would be need to create a separate sheet for each year's data... and consolodating these spreadsheets into a total overview spreadsheet would require major rehashing and re-entering of the spreadsheet data. With QubeCalc you can enter each year's data into its own page in the WorkQube... and one of the WorkQube's pages can be easily used to link each year's data together as a total overview spreadsheet. But the real power of QubeCalc is its ability to rotate the WorkQube to allow you to look at your data from many different perspectives. The perspective can be changed so that what were once pages are now columns, and your data is now displayed as the number of sales during a given month each year as shown below: feb81 feb82 feb83 feb84 feb85 feb86 ---------------------------------------------- bill 10 10 13 12 11 11 sam 11 13 15 14 11 12 joe 12 15 10 13 13 10 Try doing that with a regular spreadsheet!!!! 4 ADVANCED FEATURES ----------------- QubeCalc provides many advanced features found only in expensive spreadsheets, as well as features which can't be found elsewhere at any price!! - Recalculation does not have to be just ON and OFF. QubeCalc can recalculate only a specific block if you wish. - The ability to turn rows into columns, columns into pages, etc. to allow you to look at your data in any perspective you desire. - A DataFill command which is not limited to a constant step size. It can generate sine curves, exponential curves, and just about any other curve you can think of. - The ability to recalulate, graph, and DataFill in all 6 possible orders of rows, columns, and pages. - Context sensitive Help screens - The ability to search for any text in the WorkQube - Plus Graphing and a powerful Macro facility. - And many, many more features. - At a price you can't beat anywhere. MAKING A BACKUP --------------- The first thing you should do is make a backup copy of all the files on the QubeCalc disk. Put this backup away in a safe place in case you waste your working copy. The files which you should find on your disk are: QUBECALC.COM - The QubeCalc program. QUBECALC.000 - An overlay file (part of the program). QUBECALC.HLP - The help file. INSTALL.BAT - A program to install QubeCalc on a hard disk. SETUP.COM - The setup program. IMPORT.COM - A program for reading in ASCII files. EXAMPLE.QUB - An example data file. QUBECALC.DOC - The QubeCalc documentation. PRINTDOC.BAT - A program to print out the documentation. README - A listing of the files on the disk. In addition there may be a file named QUBECALC.PRO which is a configuration file created by SETUP.COM. There may also be a file named QC.BAT which is a batch file for running QubeCalc. 5 FLOPPY DISK BASED SYSTEM ------------------------ Place the QubeCalc disk into the current drive and type QUBECALC at the dos prompt. If you wish to make use of the Help facility you must leave the QubeCalc disk in the drive (because that is where the help file is located). HARD DISK BASED SYSTEM ---------------------- Change to the A: drive. Then place the QubeCalc disk into the A: drive and run the program named INSTALL.BAT. This will create a directory named \QUBECALC on the C: drive and will copy all of the files from the QubeCalc disk into the new directory. It will also create a batch file named QC.BAT. QubeCalc can then be run by first changing to the QUBECALC directory and typing QUBECALC (or QC) at the DOS prompt. If you want to be able to start QubeCalc from any directory then you must add the QUBECALC directory to your path name in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. For example, your path statement might look something like this: PATH \;\QUBECALC This statement means that if a command is entered and the program isn't found in the current directory, DOS should look for it in the main directory next, and then in the QUBECALC directory. If you do not start QubeCalc from the directory where the overlay, help, and configuration files are located, you must specify the name of this directory on the command line when you run QubeCalc. For example: C> QUBECALC C:\QUBECALC When QubeCalc is run it normally uses the current directory as the location for its overlay, help, and configuration files. So if you start QubeCalc from a directory other than the C:\QUBECALC directory, it needs to know where to find its overlay, help, and configuration files. (In fact, the program will exit with a Run Time error #F0 if it can't find its overlay). The INSTALL program creates a batch file (named QC.BAT) which contains the line above. Once you have run INSTALL and placed the QUBECALC directory in your path you may start QubeCalc from anywhere by simply typing QC. 6 THE QUBECALC SCREEN ------------------- The QubeCalc spreadsheet (known as the WorkQube) may be most easily thought of as a large cube containing 262,144 cells (64 rows x 64 columns x 64 pages). Each one of the cells may contain some text, a number, or a formula. The three (3) dimensions (axes) of the WorkQube are designated by the letters X, Y, and Z as shown in Figure 1. There are six (6) different faces to the WorkQube, each providing a different perspective (or alignment of the axes) for the data stored within the WorkQube. These faces are designated in QubeCalc by the letters A thru F as shown in Figure 1. Face D is opposite Face A, Face E is opposite Face B, and Face F is opposite Face C. 63___________ / /| Z C / | / / | / / | 0---- X ----63 | | | B | | | | Y A | / | | / | | / 63___________|/ Figure 1. The WorkQube The QubeCalc screen looks much like the screen of any other spreadsheet. It consists of cells laid out in rows and columns. A highlighted axis across the top of the screen displays the numbers of the columns which are currently visible on the screen, and a highlighted axis down the left side of the screen displays the numbers of the rows which are currently visible on the screen. Theses axes are also labeled with the current X, Y, and Z orientation. At the intersection of these two highlighted axes (upper left corner) are the 3 characters X, Y, and Z. The relative position of these 3 characters lets you know which axes of the WorkQube correspond to the axes drawn on the screen. 7 For example, if the X, Y, and Z are positioned like this: Z X Y then the columns lie along the X axis, the rows lie along the Y axis, and the pages lie along the Z axis (this is the case when you are looking at your data from Face A). Each cell in the WorkQube has its own name. This name consists of the X, Y, and Z coordinate of the cell separated by semicolons (;). For example 11;22;33 is the name of the cell whose X coordinate is 11, and whose Y coordinate is 22, and whose Z coordinate is 33. The QubeCalc screen provides information such as the number of bytes available for data, the current directory/file, the current block for recalculation, and a cell status line. The cell status line is located in the top lefthand corner of the screen and looks something like this: [C]3;4;5: NUMBER (9) Each component of the above line tells you certain information about the current perspective and cell. The [C] tells you that you are currently viewing perspective C. The 3;4;5 tells you that the cell you are at is at X, Y, and Z coordinates 3, 4, and 5 respectively. The next item "NUMBER" tells you what type of item is in the current cell (either Blank, Text, Number, Formula, or Error). And finally, the (9) tells you what the width of the current cell is. CONTEXT SENSITIVE HELP SCREENS ------------------------------ If you need help while using QubeCalc it is only a keystroke away. The [F1] HELP key will bring up a context sensitive help screen. These HELP screens also allow you to summon HELP screens on related subjects. You simply use the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the HELP screen desired, then hit the Return key. To exit from the HELP facility you simply press the ESC key. 8 MOVING AROUND THE WORKQUBE -------------------------- QubeCalc provides several ways of moving the cell pointer around in the WorkQube. Any of these methods of moving can be used anytime you need to move the cell pointer to another location, including when you are defining a 3D block of cells. The arrow keys on the cursor pad can be used to move the cell pointer up, down, left, or right one cell position. The PgUp key moves you up to the next higher page number. The PgDn key moves you down to the next lower page number. The Home key moves you to the top left corner of the current page. The End key moves you to the lower right corner of the current page. QubeCalc also allows you to go to another cell using either the [F5] GOTO key or the [F6] FIND key. The [F5] GOTO function asks you which cell you want to go to. You just type in the X, Y, and Z coordinates separated by semicolons and hit return... and off you go! The [F6] FIND function will search the WorkQube for a match of a string which you enter. It will compare your string with either the contents of a cell or with the cell display (you select). If you select 'REPEAT' then the most recent string will be searched for again. The search follows a Y, then X, then Z order (rather than the global order). This is so the search will not miss any cells if you happen to change to another face. 9 ENTERING DATA INTO THE WORKQUBE ------------------------------- Numbers ------- A number can be entered into a QubeCalc cell by simply typing in the number. A number can be anything in the range from -1.0E+37 to +1.0E+37, and can have up to 11 significant places. A number may be entered in either standard notation (i.e. 12.345) or in scientific notation (i.e. 12.345e-2). Text ---- Text strings may be entered into a QubeCalc cell simply by typing in the string. There are four (4) special characters which may begin a text string and which affect the way the text is displayed. These characters are: ' causes the text to be left justified " causes the text to be right justified ^ causes the text to be center justified \ causes the next character to be repeated If text is entered without one of the above special characters as the first character, the global (WorkQube) justification character is placed on the text automatically. When QubeCalc first starts up the WorkQube justification is set as left ' justified. You can change this by selecting / WorkQube Justify and making a new choice. Formulas -------- A QubeCalc cell may contain a formula which is made up of numbers, references to values in other cells, predefined functions, and mathematical and logical operators. A formula must begin with an equal sign '=' and may be as complex as desired. For example... =-2*@SIN(@IF(R11;22;33,@PI,@PI/2))/(@AVG(R1;2;3..A4;5;6)) The items beginning with an @ symbol in the example above (@SIN, @IF, etc.) are just a few of QubeCalc's predefined functions. These functions are listed in a later section. The following operators are available when entering a formula into a cell: MATHEMATICAL LOGICAL COMPARISON ------------------ --------- ------------------------ + Addition & And = Equal to - Subtraction | Or <> Not equal to * Multiplication ~ Not < Less than / Division > Greater than ^ Exponentiation <= Less than or equal to >= Greater than or equal to 10 THE COMMAND MENU ---------------- QubeCalc provides many powerful commands which are available through the Command Menu. You may call up the Command Menu by pressing the slash "/" key. This will provide a list of Menu options across the top of the WorkQube. The first item in the Menu list will be in a highlighted box. This box is known as the Menu Bar. Items from the Menu may be selected in one of two ways. The first way is to simply type the first letter of the Menu option desired. The second way is to use the arrow keys to move the Menu Bar to the desired Menu item and then press the return key to select the item. If you get into a Menu that you don't want to be in, just hit the escape key (ESC) to get out. CELL This command provides options dealing with the contents of a single cell. BLOCK This selection provides options dealing with the contents of a defined block of cells. WORKQUBE This selection provides options dealing with the contents of all cells in the QubeCalc workspace. INSERT/DELETE These commands provide the capability to insert and delete rows, columns, and pages of cells. PRINT This command provides the capability and options to print defined blocks of cells on a printer. GRAPH This command provides the capability and options to create graphs from data within QubeCalc. FILE This command provides the capability to save and load all or part of the cells to/from a file. QUIT This command exits QubeCalc. The WorkQube is not automatically saved... remember to save first! 11 SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS --------------------- QubeCalc provides several special functions which have been assigned to the 10 function keys F1, F2, .. F10. These special functions are listed below. [F1] HELP Calls up a context sensitive help screen [F2] EDIT Allows you to edit the contents of a cell [F3] BLOCK Allows you to define blocks when entering formulas [F4] ABS Toggles cell references between absolute & relative [F5] GOTO Allows you to go to a designated cell [F6] FIND Searches for a given string in the WorkQube [F7] STATUS Displays the status/defaults of the WorkQube [F8] MACRO Allows you to define/undefine user macros [F9] CALC Performs a recalculation of the WorkQube [F10] GRAPH Displays the graph defined by the current settings 12 PREDEFINED FUNCTIONS -------------------- QubeCalc provides a large assortment of predefined functions which may be used in formulas. Most of these functions require one or more arguments (which are enclosed within parentheses). The function will return a mathematical value and may be treated exactly like a number would be. Functions may be nested as deeply as desired (just remember that there is a 70 character per cell limit, though). The function names must begin with an @ and must be CAPITALIZED. The available functions generally fall into six catagories; Mathematical, Trigonometry, Statistical, Logical, Financial, and Date/Time. Mathematical Functions ---------------------- QubeCalc provides the 13 mathematical functions listed below. Illegal arguments will return ERROR as the value. @ABS(X) Returns the absolute value of X. @EXP(X) Returns e to the X power (e = 2.7) @LN(X) Returns the natural log of X. @LOG(X) Returns the log base 10 of X. @INT(X) Returns the integer part of X. @FRAC(X) Returns the fractional part of X. @MOD(X,Y) Returns X modulo Y @RAND Returns a random number in the range 0 <= X < 1 @ROUND(X,Y) Returns X rounded to Y decimal places. @SQRT(X) Returns the square root of X (for X >= 0). @FACT(X) Returns X factorial (for 0 <= X <= 30). @SGN(X) Returns the sign of X (-1 for X<0, 1 for X>0, 0 for=0) @CELL Returns the value of the cell currently pointed to by the cell pointer. This function is provided mainly as a way for a macro to obtain the value of the current cell. Trigonometry Functions ---------------------- @COS(x) Returns the Cosine of X @SIN(x) Returns the Sine of X @TAN(x) Returns the Tangent of X @PI Returns the value of Pi (3.14159...) @ACOS(x) Returns the Arc Cosine of X @ASIN(x) Returns the Arc Sine of X @ATAN(x) Returns the Arc Tangent of X 13 Statistical Functions --------------------- @AVG(list) Returns the average of all items in the list @COUNT(list) Returns the number of items in the list @MAX(list) Returns the maximum value in the list @MIN(list) Returns the minimum value in the list @STD(list) Returns the standard deviation of all items in the list @SUM(list) Returns the sum of all items in the list @VAR(list) Returns the variance of all items in the list Financial Functions ------------------- QubeCalc provides 4 financial functions. In these functions the number of periods must be greater than zero and the interest rate must be greater than or equal to -1. @FV(Payment, Interest, Periods) returns the future value of an annuity where Payment dollars are invested per period for the number of Periods at the given percentage of Interest. @PV(Payment, Interest, Periods) returns the present value of an annuity where Payment dollars are received per period for the number of Periods at the given percentage of Interest. @PMT(Principal, Interest, Periods) returns the payment per Period due for borrowing Principal dollars for the number of Periods at the given percentage of Interest. @CGR(Present Value, Future Value, Life) returns the compound growth rate for an annuity growing from the present value to the future value over the given number of periods. 14 Date and Time Functions ----------------------- QubeCalc represents dates as serial numbers where Jan 1,1900 = 1, Jan 2,1900 = 2, and so on. Time is represented as a fraction where midnight = .0, noon = .5, 6:00PM = .75, and so on. This allows dates and times to be manipulated with ordinary math operations. @NOW returns a number whose integer part is the serial number for the current date and fraction part represents the current time. @DATE(y,m,d) returns the serial number for the given year,month,& day @TIME(h,m,s) returns the fraction for the given hour,minute, & second @YEAR(X) returns the year for the serial date X. @MONTH(X) returns the month for the serial date X. @DAY(X) returns the day for the serial date X. @HOUR(X) returns the hour for the fraction time X. @MINUTE(X) returns the minute for the fraction time X. @SECOND(X) returns the second for the fraction time X. Logical Functions ----------------- @TRUE returns the value 1. @FALSE returns the value 0. @IF(CONDITION, ARG1, ARG2) If the value of CONDITION is true (not equal to 0) then ARG1 is returned, otherwise ARG2 is returned. @CHOOSE(SELECTOR, ARG1, ARG2,..., ARGN) If the value of SELECTOR is 1 then ARG1 is returned, if SELECTOR is 2 then ARG2 is returned, and so on. If SELECTOR is greater than the number of arguments provided, ERROR is returned. 15 ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE CELL REFERENCES ------------------------------------- Cell references in formulas can be either relative or absolute, and begin with either 'R' or 'A' (R1;2;3 or A1;2;3). The value of a formula is the same regardless of whether cell references are relative or absolute. The purpose of relative/absolute references is to let QubeCalc know what to do when moving formulas around (copy, insert, delete). ABSOLUTE cell references will ALWAYS point to the same cell no matter where the formula is moved to. Example: if the cell at location 0;0;0 contains the formula =A8;8;8 and is copied to location 1;1;1 then the new cell at location 1;1;1 will also contain =A8;8;8. RELATIVE cell references point to a cell relative to the cell which contains the formula. Example: if the cell at location 0;0;0 contains the formula =R8;8;8 and is copied to location 1;1;1 then the contents of the new cell at location 1;1;1 will be adjusted during the copy and will contain the formula =R9;9;9 16 DEFINING A 3D BLOCK OF CELLS ---------------------------- QubeCalc lets you define or describe a cell or 3D block of cells by highlighting the desired block and then pressing the return key. When a block is being defined all the cells in the block (which are visible) will be highlighted on the screen. On the command line you will see either a single cell address or a block address (2 cell addresses separated by ..). A single cell address means that an "anchor" cell has not been selected. In this case, moving around with the arrows simply moves the cell pointer to a new cell, but does not highlight (or define) any other cells. If an anchor cell has been selected then ALL cells between the anchor cell and the current cell are defined (and highlighted if visible). The following keys are useful (or necessary) when defining a block: Typing a . (period) when defining a block sets the anchor to the current cell. If an anchor was set before you pressed the . then it is released before the new one is set. The ESC key releases the anchor if it is set. If the anchor is not set and you type the ESC key then you are returned to whatever you were doing before you started defining the block. The [F4] ABS key toggles the block cell references between absolute & relative types. If no anchor is set then the first coordinate is toggled. If the anchor has been set then the [F4] key will toggle the non-anchor reference. This command is described above in the section called ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE CELL REFERENCES. The [F5] & [F6] keys allow you to GOTO a given cell or FIND a given string during a block definition. These commands are described above in the section called MOVING AROUND IN THE WORKQUBE. 17 EDITING THE CONTENTS OF A CELL ------------------------------ QubeCalc provides the ability to edit the data in a cell. You can call this editing capability by hitting [F2] (if there is anything in the cell to edit). Also, if you make an error when entering a formula this editing capability will be called automatically. The left and right arrow keys let you move left or right. The Home and End keys let you move to the beginning and end. The backspace key deletes the character to the left of the cursor. Ctrl-Backspace deletes the entire line. The Delete keys deletes the character underneath the cursor. The Insert key toggles between insert and overwrite modes. The [F3] BLOCK key allows you to define a cell or block reference to be placed in the formula (or any other type of line for that matter). The [F4] ABS key, when used in conjunction with the [F3] key, toggles the cell and block references between absolute and relative. 18 CELL COMMANDS ------------- QubeCalc provides several commands to manipulate the contents of a single cell. The cell which is affected is the one which is currently highlighted on the screen by the cell pointer and is known as the current cell. These commands are accessed from the /CELL menu. Format ------ QubeCalc provides a number of ways to display numeric data. These available formats are described below. CURRENCY Numbers are displayed with a leading dollar sign. Negative values are enclosed within parentheses. FIXED Numbers are displayed with a specified number of places after the decimal point displayed. PERCENT Numbers are converted to a percentage value and are displayed with a trailing percentage sign. SCIENTIFIC Numbers are displayed in scientific notation. DATE The date represented by the integer part of the number is displayed. There are 4 available date formats. TIME The time represented by the fraction part of the number is displayed. There are 2 available time formats. 19 Width ----- QubeCalc assigns a width to each individual cell in the WorkQube (rather than to columns like in 2-D spreadsheets). This is because each cell is a member of 6 different columns (depending on which Perspective you are looking at). Columns are automatically adjusted to be the same width as the widest cell in the column. If all the cells in a column are blank, the column width is set to the global (WorkQube) width. This allows column widths to remain flexible regardless of which perspective you are viewing. The width of the current cell is always displayed at the end of the cell status line in the upper left hand corner. It is the number which is enclosed in parenthesis... i.e. (9). Cell widths may be changed either individually or as a block. When the WorkQube width setting is changed it will affect only those cells which will be filled in the future and will not affect those cells which already contain data. Erase ----- The erase commands allow you to remove data from cells. You may erase data from a single cell, from a block of cells, or from the entire WorkQube. If the WorkQube erase command is selected you will be prompted to verify that you really want to erase everything. When data is erased, all cells which are erased are reset to the global (WorkQube) settings. This includes format, decimal places, and cell width. The cell type will be set to BLANK and the memory used by the cell will be deallocated for use by future data. 20 Justify ------- The justify command allows you to change the justification of a cell which contains a text string. There are four (4) special characters which may begin a text string and which affect the way the text is displayed. These characters are: ' causes the text to be left justified " causes the text to be right justified ^ causes the text to be center justified \ causes the next character to be repeated If text is entered without one of the above special characters as the first character, the global (WorkQube) justification character is placed on the text automatically. When QubeCalc first starts up the WorkQube justification is set as left ' justified. You can change this by selecting / WorkQube Justify and making a new choice. Copying a Cell to a Block (Replicating) --------------------------------------- QubeCalc allows you to copy a single cell to a 3 dimensional block of cells. First, move the cell pointer to the cell to be copied, then select the /Cell Copy command. You will then be asked to define the block to copy the cell to. Once the block has been defined the contents of the original cell will be copied into each cell in the block. If the original cell contains a formula with relative cell references, those references will be adjusted when they are copied to the new cells. 21 BLOCK COMMANDS -------------- QubeCalc provides several commands to manipulate the contents or status of a defined block of cells. The defined block may consist of a single cell, a 2 dimensional range of cells, or a 3 dimensional block of cells. All block commands (except DataFill and Copy) operate only on non-blank cells within the block. For example, doing a block format will set the format on all cells within the block that contain data. Empty (BLANK) cells however, will retain the global (WorkQube) format. The block is defined as described in the section above called DEFINING A 3D BLOCK OF CELLS. Format, Width, Erase, and Justify --------------------------------- SEE CELL COMMANDS FOR MORE DETAILS ON THESE COMMANDS. Copying a Block of Cells ------------------------ QubeCalc allows you to copy a 3D block of cells to another location. First, move the cell pointer to the cell where you want the block of cells copied to. Then select the /Block Copy command. You will then be asked to define the block which is to be copied. Once the block has been defined the block of cells will be copied to the new location. The cell in the block which has the lowest X, Y, and Z coordinates will be the one which is copied into the "cell to be copied to". If any cells in the block contain a formula with relative cell references, those references will be adjusted during the copy to the new location. DataFill -------- The DATAFILL command provides a way to fill a specified block of cells with a sequence of numbers. You are asked for an equation which is used to determine the values placed in each of the cells to be filled. The DATAFILL command provides a variable named # which is initialized to 0 and is incremented by 1 for each cell in the block. This variable may be used anywhere within the equation to provide an endless number of sequences which may be generated. A sample of the types of sequences which may be generated is: =# (or simply hitting return) generates a sequence from 0 to the of cells in the block. =#*3+5 generates a sequence starting with 5 and incrementing by 3 =@EXP(#) generates an exponential sequence (notice that sequences are not limited to fixed step sizes as in other spreadsheet fill commands!) 22 WORKQUBE COMMANDS ----------------- QubeCalc provides the following commands which affect the contents or status of the entire WorkQube. The format, width, and justify commands affect only future entries and not cells which already contain data. Format, Width, Erase, and Justify --------------------------------- SEE CELL COMMANDS FOR MORE DETAILS ON THESE COMMANDS Changing the Perspective ------------------------ QubeCalc allows you to look at (or enter) your data in any of the six possible perspectives (or faces). The six faces are designated by the first six letters of the alphabet (A thru F, see below) Information on the current perspective (or face) is provided in two places on the QubeCalc screen. The current face letter is provided in the upper left corner in front of the current cell name. In addition the X, Y, and Z axes are also labeled. The current orientation of the axes may be changed using the /WorkQube Perspective command. This will in effect rotate your data so that you may view it from another perspective. FACE A: 0---X---63 FACE D: 0---Y---63 | | Y Z(pages) X Z(pages) | | 63 63 FACE B: 0---Z---63 FACE E: 0---Y---63 | | Y X(pages) Z X(pages) | | 63 63 FACE C: 0---Z---63 FACE F: 0---X---63 | | X Y(pages) Z Y(pages) | | 63 63 23 AutoCalc -------- QubeCalc automatically recalculates the WorkQube after any cell value is changed. The recalculation follows the order set by the /WorkQube Order command. This automatic recalculation feature (AutoCalc) has 3 possible settings: WorkQube: the entire WorkQube is recalculated each time a cell value is changed. Off: the WorkQube is not recalculated except for when the [F9] CALC key is pressed. Block: The cells in the defined 3D block are the only cells which are recalculated. The [F9] CALC key recalculates the current AutoCalc block shown at the bottom of the screen (even if AutoCalc is turned off). Order ----- Because QubeCalc is a TRUE 3-D spreadsheet there are six (6) possible orders in which recalculation, datafilling, etc. may be performed. You may select any one of these possible orders, which are: A) Columns change fastest, then Rows, then Pages B) Pages change fastest, then Rows, then Columns C) Rows change fastest, then Pages, then Columns D) Rows change fastest, then Columns, then Pages E) Pages change fastest, then Columns, then Rows F) Columns change fastest, then Pages, then Rows The WorkQube order will be followed as above according to the perspective you are currently looking at. The order is used when performing the following functions: recalculation, copying blocks of cells, graphing, and datafilling. Color ----- The color command simply toggles the QubeCalc display between color and black/white (if you have a color card installed). Sometimes the contrast of black and white is preferable to the preset colors. 24 INSERTING AND DELETING ROWS, COLUMNS, AND PAGES ----------------------------------------------- QubeCalc allows you to insert a blank row, column, or page into the WorkQube. When a new row is inserted it is placed at the point where the cell pointer is located and the rows at and below the cell pointer are shifted down to make room for the new one. The bottom row in the WorkQube is pushed off the end and is lost. Inserting a new column or page operates in a similar manner. All formulas in the WorkQube which contain relative cell references will be adjusted if necessary except for one exception. Relative references which point to a cell which is lost due to being pushed off the end of the WorkQube are NOT adjusted to point somewhere off in HyperSpace. These references will continue to point to the same cell location as if they were absolute references. QubeCalc allows you to delete a row, column, or page from the WorkQube. When row deletion is selected the row that the cell pointer is on is removed and the rows below the cell pointer are shifted up to fill in the deleted one. The bottom row in the WorkQube is then filled with blank cells. Deleting a column or page operates in a similar manner. All formulas in the WorkQube which contain relative cell references will be adjusted if necessary except for one exception. Relative references which point to a cell which is deleted are NOT adjusted to point off somewhere in HyperSpace. These references will continue to point to the same cell location as if they were absolute references. 25 SAVING AND LOADING DATA FILES ----------------------------- QubeCalc provides several ways of saving and loading data to and from a disk file. The file name must be a legal DOS name. The file will be written to (or read from) the current active directory. The LOAD command asks you for a file to be read in, clears the WorkQube, and loads in the specified file. The SAVE command asks you for a file name to save the WorkQube to, and then writes the data to disk. The COMBINE command asks you for a file to be read in, and loads the file without clearing the WorkQube. The EXTRACT command asks you for a block of cells to save, then saves that block to the named file. The DIRECTORY command allows you to change to another directory. You may enter either a full DOS pathname or simply a subdirectory name to be appended to the current directory. The FILES command displays the files in the current directory. 26 GRAPHING YOUR DATA ------------------ QubeCalc provides you with the ability to create graphs representing blocks of your data. The order in which the cells are graphed follows the /WorkQube Order setting. Shift PrtSc will print a graph. The TYPE command lets you choose between Bar graphs and Line graphs. Line graphs can be plotted using lines, symbols, or both. X, A, B, C Lets you select the blocks to be graphed. X is the block which contains the values to be placed along the X axis. A, B, & C, are the blocks containing the data to be graphed. The OPTIONS command lets you change Title, Labels, Legends, Formats, and Spacing. The RESETBLOCK command releases (undefines) any one or all of the blocks to be graphed. The VIEW command displays the defined blocks graphically using the settings selected with the TYPE and OPTIONS commands. The [F10] GRAPH key also does this when you are in the data entry mode (not in the menus). A separate Legend may be provided for each of the 3 data blocks (A, B, and C). The Legend is a short text string which tells a little bit about the data block (i.e. why it is different from the other data blocks). A Title may be provided which describes the graph as a whole. This title is placed over the top of the graph if it is provided. Labels which describe the X and Y axes may be provided and will be placed along the X and Y axes if provided. The values along the Y axis may be formatted using any of QubeCalc's standard formats (currency, fixed, date, etc.). The SPACING option lets you decide how to space the values along the X axis. If SPACING=1 then every value from the X block will be placed along the X axis. If SPACING=3 then every third value from the X block will be used. SPACING can range anywhere between 1 and 240. 27 PRINTING YOUR DATA ------------------ QubeCalc allows you to print out your data to either a printer or a file. The BLOCK command lets you define the block to be printed. The LINE command advances the printer a single line. The PAGE command advances the printer to the top of the next page. The ALIGN command tells QubeCalc that the printer paper is at the top of the page (use this after adjusting the paper). The RESETBLOCK command releases (undefines) the block to be printed. The OPTIONS command allows you to change the print margins, page length, and Setup string. The GO command begins printing the defined block of cell. Printing can be in 2 formats: Contents (which prints the cell name & contents of each cell, one per line) or Display (which prints the block of cells as they would be displayed on the screen). The Setup string is sent to the printer each time the /Print Go command is selected (before the actual data is sent). You may set this string to anything you wish. It is generally used to send control sequences to the printer to select printer options (italics or compressed print for example). To send a control character to the printer simply place a slash character / followed by the ascii code (in decimal) for the control character into the Setup string. EXAMPLE: /027E sends an ESC E to the printer (this selects emphasized print on an EPSON printer). The Page Length option lets you select how many physical lines are on a page (on 8 1/2" x 11" paper at 6 lines per inch there are 66 lines). The Top and Bottom margin options let you select how many blank lines you want at the top & bottom of the page (the printing starts on the fourth line if Top is 3. If Bottom is 2 then there are 2 blank lines at the end. The Left margin option lets you select how many characters from the left edge you wish to begin printing. 28 DEFINING AND USING MACROS ------------------------- QubeCalc allows you to assign multiple keystrokes to one of the 26 letters of the alphabet. This group of keystrokes is known as a "Macro". The macro is created by simply typing the desired keystroke sequence as text entries into consecutive cells down a column (you may have to start each cell with a ' character to make it a text entry). Once the macro has been created in this manner it must be defined using the [F3] DEF MACRO function key. This key will pop up the macro selection window to ask whether you want to define or undefine a macro. You will then be asked to select the letter to assign the macro to (or to undefine). Finally, you will be asked to define the beginning cell where your macro resides. NOTE that the macro MUST be defined ([F3] key) IN THE FACE where the macro APPEARS as a column!! The macro is then run simply by hitting Alt and the macro's letter. You can halt a Macro while it is running by hitting the ESC key. When creating a macro you may generally just type the desired keys. In the case of Function Keys, cursor movement keys, and a few other special keys it is necessary to type the name of the key CAPITALIZED and enclosed in square brackets, i.e. []. Below is a list. [UP] Up Arrow [INS] Insert Key [DOWN] Down Arrow [DEL] Delete Key [LEFT] Left Arrow [EDIT] Edit Key (F2) [RIGHT] Right Arrow [BLOCK] Block Key (F3) [HOME] Home Key [ABS] Abs/Rel (F4) [END] End Key [GOTO] Goto Key (F5) [PGUP] PgUp Key [FIND] Find Key (F6) [PGDN] PgDn Key [STAT] Status Key (F7) [RET] Return Key [CALC] Recalc Key (F9) [ESC] Escape Key [GRAPH] Graph Key (F10) [BS] Backspace [BEEP] Control G [ERASE] Erase Line 29 In addition to the regular menu commands, there are 4 menu commands available only during macro execution. These commands are selected in the same manner as regular menu commands (use the / key, choose the Macro [M] option, and one of the 4 suboptions [I,G,?,Q]). The I and G suboptions require an additional argument. /MI equation [RET] If the equation evaluates true (not = 0) the Macro will continue reading keystrokes from the same cell, otherwise the Macro will begin reading keystrokes from the following cell. /MG x;y;z [RET] The Macro will continue reading keystrokes from the specified cell x;y;z. /M? The user is prompted for a line of input which is placed in the current cell. /MQ Macro execution is halted. 30 EXITING FROM QUBECALC --------------------- This command is used to exit the program. When you exit QubeCalc you will be asked whether you really want to exit or not. This is because your data is not automatically saved when you exit. If you haven't saved your data yet you should select NO, save your data using the /File Save (or Extract) command, and then exit. 31 THE SETUP PROGRAM ----------------- A setup program is included to let you customize QubeCalc. This setup program (named SETUP.COM) allows you to set several parameters and then creates a file named QUBECALC.PRO. This program is run by changing to the QUBECALC directory and typing SETUP at the DOS prompt. You may choose your own favorite colors for the QubeCalc screen (if you have a color monitor). You can also set a startup data drive and directory which QubeCalc will use as the location for data files when it is first run. When you run QubeCalc it looks for the QUBECALC.PRO file in the same directory as the QubeCalc program. If this file is not found or doesn't exist (because you haven't run SETUP.COM) then QubeCalc will use its own preset values. THE IMPORT PROGRAM ------------------ An import program is included to let you import ASCII (text) files into QubeCalc. This import program (named IMPORT.COM) reads in text files one line at a time and places each line into a cell in the WorkQube. You may select where in the WorkQube you want the input data to be placed (starting cell), how many rows, columns, and pages you want to fill, and what order you want to fill them. The lines may be text, numbers, or equations. Any illegal equations will be entered as text into the WorkQube. Any blank lines in the input file generate a blank cell in the WorkQube. Both the input and output file names support full DOS paths. The input file may have any legal DOS name, but the output filename must NOT be given an extension (the program automatically adds a .QUB extension... and if the file already exists it will be backed up before the new one is written). 32 QubeCalc Registration Form -------------------------- QubeCalc is distributed as ShareWare and is completely supported by user registrations. You may register your copy of QubeCalc by filling out the form below and mailing it along with $54.95 ($49.95 + $5 s/h) to: The FormalWare Co. Product Registration P.O. Box 21726 San Jose, Ca. 95151-1726 You will receive the latest version of QubeCalc, a printed manual, and will be placed on our update list to receive automatic notification of QubeCalc updates and new software releases from The FormalWare Co. Name: ___________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________ City/State: _____________________________________________ Zip Code: _______________________________________________ Where did you find out about QubeCalc or get your copy from? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ The FormalWare Co. is currently working on new features and add-on programs to make QubeCalc even more powerful. Just a few of these features and add-ons include: Lotus file importing, user definable formats, sorting by row, column, or page, a report generating package, and an enhanced graphics package. If there are any features you would like to see added to QubeCalc, The FormalWare Co. welcomes your comments. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ 33 34