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- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
- INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
-
- *****************************************************************
- ** See the file 'Instruct' for instructions on building 'ss' **
- *****************************************************************
-
- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
- ss
-
- This is ``ss'' release 1.3.3
-
- SS is a spreadsheet program. It is based upon the well known(?)
- public domain spreadsheet program sc 6.19.
-
- ss is Curses based. It should function on any ASCII terminal, or in
- any terminal window in a windowing environment.
-
- ss is a major overhaul of the _user_interface_ of sc. I tried to
- make it much more similar to the spreadsheets found on personal
- computers. It makes use of hierarchical menus, and has a full range
- of `standard' spreadsheet functions.
-
- I toyed around with starting off at version number 7.0, since I used
- sc 6.19 (and later 6.21) as my starting point, but I decided that
- would be a bit presumptuous. So I hope this low release/version
- number doesn't scare away too many people. There really is a *LOT*
- of work put in by a lot of people over a long period of time in the
- sc 6.19 code, which serves as the heart of ss.
-
- This is an ASCII spreadsheet program. This is not Lotus 1-2-3. It
- is not Microsoft Excel. It does not do graphs or charts. It does
- not do drawings. It does not use a mouse.
-
- It _does_ do a fine job of manipulating rows and columns of numbers.
- Want a simple way of managing your students' grades, calculating class
- averages, etc? No problem. Want to figure out how much money you
- can borrow from the bank for a mortgage? We can do that.
-
- Jan 24, 1994
- Art Mulder (email: art@cs.ualberta.ca)
- Department of Computing Science
- University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- TESTED SYSTEMS
-
- ``ss'' has been tested (clean compile by me) on:
- Sun 4 (Sparc - SunOS 4.1.3)
- Sun 3 (SunOS 4.1.3)
- Mips (Risc/os 5.0)
- Dec (Ultrix 4.2A)
- Dec alpha (OSF/1 version 1.2)
- Silicon Graphics (4D340S - IRIX Release 4.0.5)
-
- Also, confirmed builds (by other users) on:
- BSDI's BSD/386 1.3.1: Mike Durian <durian@advtech.uswest.com>
- Linux 1.3: Brooks David Smith <brooks@csd4.csd.uwm.edu> )
- HP/Apollo (SR10.3.5) 1.2b: Tom Dickey <dickey@software.org>
- Convex 1.2b: dquah@lse.ac.uk
- Dos/djgpp 1.2b: dquah@lse.ac.uk
- NeXT 2.1 1.3.2: russell@alpha3.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca
- Interactive SVR3 2.2.1 1.2b: Pat Myrto <pat@rwing.UUCP>
- RS/6000 1.3: Richard K. Thompson <rkt@cs.umt.edu>
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- INSTALLATION NOTES
-
- About the "sunfkeys" directory:
-
- IF you are running X11R4 on a Sun workstation, and IF you use
- "xterm(1)" for your terminal sessions, then you probably should look
- at the README file in the "sunfkeys" directory. In its basic state,
- Xterm does not let you use/access most of the keypad or the function keys.
- The contents of "sunfkeys" will help you modify your terminfo/termcap
- files so that you can.
-
- You can use 'ss' without the sunfkeys stuff. Conversely, you can use the
- 'sunfkeys' stuff with programs other than 'ss'. I developed sunfkeys when
- I was working on 'ss', because I wanted to be able to use the arrow keys,
- Home, End, PgUp and PgDn keys with it.
-
- See sunfkeys/README for details.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- BUGS:
-
- I'd be dreaming if I thought that this were bug-free. For one thing,
- I've never tested it on anything but a Sun. (I've compiled it on
- few others, but have not made extensive use of it there.) If you
- find bugs, I'd like to hear about them (I say that with a certain
- amount of trepidation). However, I would be much more interested in
- hearing about bugs WHICH YOU HAVE FIXED, complete with code patches,
- etc.
-
- The original sc ran on a number of platforms: VMS, MS-DOS and many
- Unix variants. I don't have all those at my disposal. (Neither do I
- have the time nor inclination to try them all out) I don't *THINK*
- I've changed anything which would limit its portability, but no
- guarantees are given. (In all honesty, considering the cheap cost of
- DOS spreadsheets, and the many free/shareware ones, I can't imagine
- why anyone would really want to use this simple spreadsheet on a DOS
- box. I even use Excel on my Mac at home! :-)
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- COPYRIGHT
-
- Please see the file "Copyright"
-
- I'm not trying to restrict anyone's free use of ``ss'', I just
- don't want anyone turning around and (a) claiming that they
- wrote it or (b) selling it.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- LIMITATIONS
-
- The many spreadsheet functions have NOT been tested in any great
- detail. (I mostly made cosmetic/User Interface modifications, so I
- did not anticipate needing any major changes in the functions)
-
- Hooks exist in the code for the inclusion of calls to context-sensitive
- (sort-of) help functions.
- -> writing "help" has begun, but only just, and so it is
- currently not installed. I'm not sure whether it is
- worth the work involved to install it.
-
- There is no tutorial (either text or spreadsheet).
-
- There is no quick reference card.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- POSTSCRIPT
-
- I've had two email comments about the fact that 'SS' was also
- the name of Hitler's ``Schutzstaffel'' (The SS). Neither person was
- offended, it was just for informational purposes.
-
- I was taken completely by surprise the first time I heard this connection
- being made, as it had not crossed my mind at all during the months of
- development work.
-
- I'd rather not change the name, as that always confuses those who've
- already started using it under this name. However, If popular opinion
- favours a change, I will bow to it. In which case, I'll need a new
- (preferably short!) name.
-
- All installers of 'ss' are also reminded that in the Makefile you can
- change the name of the software. For example, you could call it "sheet",
- in which case the program would be built as "sheet", pss would be built as
- psheet, and the man page would be called sheet.l -- furthermore,
- throughout the man page you would see "sheet" wherever you see "ss" right
- now.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- End
-