Boston 2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Boston 2 / boston-2.iso / DOS / ANWENDUN / FREECALC / FC.HLP < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-12-01 | 25KB | 503 lines

H E L P Please select the item you would like help with: 1. Attributes 12. Load 2. Blank 13. Move 3. Color of screen 14. New 4. Copy 15. Print 5. Cursor movement 16. Quit 6. Delete 17. Recalc 7. Directory 18. Save 8. Enter 19. Teach (Macros) 9. Formula 20. The FreeCalc Auditor 10. GoTo 21. User supported software 11. Insert 22. WP (Word Processing) 23. Xport ESC Return to main menu { A T T R I B U T E S There are two options available on the Attributes Menu. The first option is used to change the width of a column(s). The second option is to change the number of decimal places of the numeric values in your spreadsheet. To change the column width, select the column width option on the Attributes Menu. You will then be asked for the starting column number and the ending column number (the "thru" number). You can change one column or several columns. Column widths may range from zero (for a "hidden" column - the column exist, but it is not displayed on the screen) to 70. To change the number of decimals, select the number of decimals option on the Attributes Menu. The number of decimals can range from zero (only whole numbers will be displayed) to six. Changing the number of decimals only effects the display of the numbers on the screen and when you print your spreadsheet. FreeCalc will always use six decimal places when it computes the formulas you create. { B L A N K The Blank option will erase the value of a single cell (if you want to erase an entire row or column see the Delete option, if you want to erase all the cells see the New option). After selecting the Blank option you will be asked for the location of the row and column for the cell you want to blank. If you want to remove the contents of the current cell, just press the ENTER key twice, since FreeCalc will assume that it is the current cell that you want to remove. If you want to blank another cell, merely insert the row and column number for that cell when prompted. { C O L O R If you have a color monitor and a color card in your computer you can change the color of the text that appears on the screen and the color of the border that is around the screen. Find the diskette that has the file called COLOR.EXE on it. Type in the word "color" to start the program. You will be asked what you want to change and will be shown the available colors. You may have a monochrome (not a color) monitor, but find the images are indistinct because you have a color circuit board in your computer. To make these images more clear, boot the DOS disk and, after you get the "A>" prompt, put in the FreeCalc disk and type the following: "copy no-color.fil color.fil". Press the ENTER key. NOTE: This option will work only if you have a color card on your computer. { C O P Y The Copy option allows you to copy a group of cells to another part of your spreadsheet. You can copy a row, column or a range of cells. The original cells will remain intact (if you want to move the cells see the Move option). After selecting the Copy option you will be asked to enter the starting row and column of the cells to be copyed. You can use any of the cursor movement keys (see the Cursor movement help for more info) to move around in the spreadsheet if you are uncertain of the starting and ending points. The cursor keys allow you to "point" to the cell rather than having to type in the number. Enter the starting row and press either the ENTER or TAB key to move to the starting column. Next enter the ending row and column. You can change any of the starting or ending points my pressing the ENTER or TAB key until the cursor returns to the item you want to edit. Once you have correctly entered the starting and ending points, press the ESC key. You will then be asked for the row and column that you want to copy the cells to. Enter that number (or use the cursor movement keys to point to the row you want to copy to). If you are copying a formula, you will be asked if you want to "adjust" the formula. Adjusting the formula will alter the formula's reference to any specific cell. { C U R S O R M O V E M E N T The white box located in row 1 column 1 when you start FreeCalc is called the Cursor. The following keys will move the Cursor: UP - Move to the line above the current line DOWN - Move to the line below the current line LEFT - Move one column to the left RIGHT - Move one column to the right HOME - Top left corner of the screen END - Bottom right corner of the screen PGUP - Move up one screen PGDN - Move down one screen CTRL & RIGHT - Move one screen to the right CTRL & LEFT - Move one screen to the left CTRL & HOME - Move to the beginning of the spreadsheet CTRL & END - Move to the last row of the spreadsheet The second white box on the screen is called the Action Cursor, and it is located on one of the two lines on the bottom of the screen. Move this cursor my pressing the F9 function key to move left, and the F10 function key to move right. { D E L E T E The Delete option will allow you to delete a row(s) or a column(s). Any reference to a specific cell in any formulas will be automatically adjusted. After selecting the Delete option you will be asked if you want to delete a row or a column. Select the desired action. Next, you will be asked for the number of rows (or columns if deleting columns) to be deleted. The last item you will be required to enter is the starting row (or column if deleting columns) to be deleted. At any prompt asking for you to enter a number, you may use the cursor movement keys (see the Cursor Movement help for more info) to point to the row or column you want to use. { D I R E C T O R Y The directory lists all filenames on a disk. Directories can be obtained for either the Load or Save Menus by selecting the "Display Directory" option. To obtain a directory, press the D key. FreeCalc will default to displaying only spreadsheet files (files ending in ".FC") on the current drive. You can easily change the drive the directory will be created on by entering the drive letter and a colon, e.g., type "b:*.*" if you want a directory of all files on the disk in drive B. Type "b:*.fc" to list only spreadsheet files on drive B. The directory will display free space (in bytes) left on your disk. It will also list the filenames, number of bytes each file occupies, and the date and time they were created or last revised. You can move the cursor around on the screen using UP, DOWN, LEFT, and the RIGHT arrow keys, as well as the HOME, END, PGUP, and PGDN. Two options are available - load and delete. First move the cursor so that the desired filename is highlighted. To load, press the "1" key (NOTE: Be sure it is a spreadsheet file.); to delete, press the "2" key. When your disk is full, use the Delete option to remove old files from the disk to make room for new ones. { E N T E R The Enter option allows you to inform FreeCalc what type of data you wish to enter into your spreadsheet. The two types are numeric, and alpha. Numeric data are numbers, the negative sign, the plus sign, and the decimal point. Alpha data can be any character from the keyboard. You can enter numeric data without selecting the Enter option by just starting to type in a number. Alpha data cannot be entered without first selecting the Enter option though. Alpha data can be left justified, centered, or right justified. After selecting the Alpha option from the Enter Menu you can select the justification for the information you are entering by pressing the F9 function key to move the Justification Cursor to the left, and by pressing the F10 function key to move the Justification Cursor to the right. If you continue to type once the current cell is full you will be automatically moved to the cell to your right, if that cell is empty and if the Word Processing mode is not selected (see the help option for Word Processing for more info on Word Processing). Once you have completed entering the value for a cell, you may press the ENTER key to exit the Enter mode. If you want to continue to enter data, you may press the UP, DOWN, LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys to end entering data for the current cell, and to move the cursor in the desired direction. { F O R M U L A Select the Formula option to define a relationship between a cell or cells. For example, you might want to define a cell as the sum of a column of numbers. After selecting the Formula option you will be asked to name the cell where you would want the results to be placed. Next you will be prompted for the type of formula. There are two types. The first type is called System Supplied Formulas. These formulas include; Sum, Minus, Average, Greatest value, Least value, and Count. System Supplied Formulas perform their action on a range of cells, e.g., you might want to find the average of a column of numbers. You will be asked to enter the starting row and column. The cursor keys allow you to "point" to the cell rather than having to type in the number. You can change any of the starting or ending points my pressing the ENTER or TAB key until the cursor returns to the item you want to edit. Once you have correctly entered the starting and ending points, press the ESC key. The second type of formulas is the User Supplied formula. This type of formula is written by you, the user. You can, for example, multiple the number in Row 1 Column 1 by .25 by entering the formula: "R1C1 * .25". User Supplied formulas can utilize the four arithmetic functions by using the following signs: +, -, *, and /. { G o T o The GoTo option will allow you to move about in your spreadsheet quickly. Although there are many ways of moving about, the GoTo option allows you to reference a specific cell and move directly to that cell. The first item you will need to provide FreeCalc with is the row you want to move to. You can enter the numeric value, or use the cursor movement keys to "point" to the row you want to go to. Next you will be asked for the column you want to move to. Again, you can enter the numeric value, or use the cursor movement keys to "point" to the desired cell. { I N S E R T The Insert option is used to insert a blank row(s) or a blank column(s). Any reference to a specific cell in any formulas will be automatically adjusted. After selecting the Insert option you will be asked if you want to insert a row(s) or a column(s). Select the desired action. Next, you will enter the number of rows (or columns if inserting columns) to be inserted. The last item you will be required to enter is the row (or column if inserting columns) you would like the blank cells to follow. At any prompt requesting a numeric entry, you may use the cursor movement keys (see the Cursor Movement help for more info) to point to the row or column you want to use. { L O A D The Load option allow will take a spreadsheet from your disk and "load" it into the FreeCalc program. With this option you can work on a spreadsheet one day, save it, and then return to work on it at a later time. The Load Menu has two options. You can load a spreadsheet, or display a directory (see the Directory help section for more info on this option). When you load a spreadsheet, FreeCalc will look for the spreadsheet on the current drive, in the current subdirectory. If you want FreeCalc to look for a spreadsheet elsewhere, you will need to include that information when asked to name the file to be loaded. For example, if your spreadsheet named expenses was on your B drive, you would type "b:expenses". You can also load files that were not created by FreeCalc if they follow two rules. First, the extension (the period and up to three letters that can follow the filename) must be "FC" (e.g., "expenses.fc"), and second, they must be comma delimited fields (BASIC uses this approach - Alpha files have quotes around them, numeric fields do not). { M O V E The Move option is used to move a group of cells to another part of your spreadsheet. You can move a row, column or a range of cells. The original cells will be erased (if you want to leave the original cells intact, see the Copy option). After selecting the Move option you will be asked to enter the starting row and column. You can use any of the cursor movement keys (see the Cursor movement help for more info) to move around in the spreadsheet if you are uncertain of the starting and ending points. The cursor keys allow you to "point" to the cell rather than having to type in the number. Enter the starting row and press either the ENTER or TAB key to move to the starting column. Next, enter the ending row and column number. You can change any of the starting or ending points my pressing the ENTER or TAB key until the cursor returns to the item you want to edit. Once you have correctly entered the starting and ending points, press the ESC key. You will be asked for the row you want to move the cells to. Enter that number (or use the cursor movement keys to point to the row you want to move to). You will then be asked for the column number. Type that number and press ENTER. If you are moving a formula, you will be asked if you want to "adjust" the formula. Adjusting the formula will alter the formula's reference to any specific cell. { N E W The New option will clear the current spreadsheet form your cumputer's memory. If you have "saved" your spreadsheet to your disk the spreadsheet will still exist on your disk - it is only removed from the computer's active memory. Before erasing the current spreadsheet, FreeCalc will tell you that it is about to remove your current active sheet, and ask if you want to continue with this action. This is a safety feature which will allow you to change your mind should you recall that you have not yet "saved" this spreadsheet, or if you selected this option by mistake. Press the "N" key to instruct FreeCalc not to continue with your original request. Press "Y" to instruct FreeCalc to continue. { P R I N T The Print option will create a "hard"copy" (i.e., a printed copy) of your spreadsheet. You can select to send the copy of your spreadsheet to your printer, or select to "print to disk". The Print Menu has two options. The first option is "Print sheet". This option will start the printing of the spreadsheet. If you want to print only a portion of your spreadsheet, or if you want to "print to disk", you will need to select "Change print option" from the Print Menu. If you are uncertain as to what you want to do, select the "Print sheet" option the first time you print. This will print out the sheet, and if you later decide that you want to change the print options, you can always do it and reprint the spreadsheet. If you select to change the print options, FreeCalc will present you with the Change Print Options Menu. There are two options on this menu. First, to change the cells to print, the second, to print to disk. To change the cells to print, select that option, and then enter the starting row and column along with the ending row and column to print. Press the ESC key when you have selected the desired range of cells. You will then be returned to the Print Menu, where you can select the "Print sheet" option. If you want to print to disk, you will have to select that option, and then enter a filename. This will create an ASCII file that will look just like the printed spreadsheet. { Q U I T If you are working on a spreadsheet when you select the Quit option you will be asked to confirm that you do in fact want to end this session with FreeCalc. Respond "Y" to end the current session; and a "N", or the ESC key, to continue working on the current spreadsheet. { R E C A L C The normal (or "default") setting is for FreeCalc to always recalculate each formula whenever a number or formula is entered. If you have a very large spreadsheet with many formulas, this can cause a slight pause while FreeCalc is performing this task. You might find that you would like for FreeCalc not to recalculate each formula while you are entering a lot of new numbers. This change is easily accomplished by selecting the Recalc option from the Main Action Menu. The Recalc Menu will ask you if you want to recalculate after each numeric entry. Type an "N" to turn off the Recalc option, and a "Y" to turn it back on. While that Recalc option is off, you can still cause the spreadsheet to be recalculated without having to turn the Recalc option back on. Press the "!" (without the quotes), and FreeCalc will recalculate the spreadsheet for you. { S A V E The Save option will allow you to store a spreadsheet on a disk for use later. The Save Menu has two options. You can save a spreadsheet, or display a directory (see the Directory help section for more info on this option). When you save a spreadsheet, FreeCalc will save the spreadsheet on the current drive, in the current subdirectory. If you want FreeCalc to store your spreadsheet elsewhere, you will need to include that information when asked to name the file to be saved. For example, if your spreadsheet named expenses was to be saved to your B drive, you would type "b:expenses". You will not need to type an extension (the extension is the period and up to three letters that can follow the filename), since FreeCalc will always use the extension ".FC". If you want to save a spreadsheet to disk so that you can use it by another program (e.g, Stilwell Software Products's database program FreeFile), you will need to use the Xport option (see the Xport help section). { T E A C H You can assign a sequence of keystrokes to a single key, thus saving time when performing repetitive tasks (this feature is sometimes called "Macros"). First, select the Teach Menu to "teach" FreeCalc to perform some task for you. You will be instructed to hold down the ALT key and to then press any alpha or numeric key to name your macro. You will then be returned to the Main Action Menu. The word "Teach" will be blinking to inform you that you are in the Teach mode. Every keystroke (up to 250 of them) will be recorded and saved on your default disk for later use by any spreadsheet. Once you have completed creating your macro you must tell FreeCalc to end the Teach mode. You may do that in one of two ways. You can select the Teach option again from the Main Action Menu, or you can just press the ALT key and whatever alphanumeric key you selected when naming your macro. Macros cannot be "nested" (one macro cannot call another one). To invoke a macro (to playback the keystrokes you entered), just press the ALT key and the alphanumeric key you used when you named your macro. { T H E F R E E C A L C A U D I T O R The FreeCalc Auditor is a separate program available to anyone who has contributes the $47.50 for FreeCalc at no extra charge. Here is a list of its features: (1) List all the places your spreadsheet's cells are referenced (a cross-reference). (2) List for any forward references. (3) List any circular references. (4) List all formulas. (5) List stats about the spreadsheet (i.e., number of alpha cells, number of numeric cells, number of formulas, total cells used, total cells available, last row used, last column used, and the number of decimal places used when displaying or printing). To obtain your copy of The FreeCalc Auditor, and to get a copy of the printed manual, the current version of FreeCalc, and support from Stilwell Software Products, send $47.50 to: Stilwell Software Products 16403 North 43rd Drive Glendale, AZ 85306 { U S E R S U P P O R T E D S O F T W A R E FreeCalc is a "user supported" program. What is meant by that is, FreeCalc is available to anyone who wants to use it at a no cost (if you get the program from Stilwell Software Products we charge $10 to help cover the cost of postage and handling). This method of distributing computer software allows you to try the program without having to pay for it in advance. It also allows you to freely share the program with other users without the fear of prosecution by the owner of the program. If you find FreeCalc of use, you are asked to send a contribution of $47.50 to its author: Stilwell Software Products 16403 North 43rd Drive Glendale, AZ 85306 By sending a contribution you will become a register owner of FreeCalc. You will received a printed copy of the manual and will be eligible for support from us. You will also receive a program called The FreeCalc Auditor at no extra cost. The Auditor program will search your spreadsheets looking for possible errors, will print out a listing of all formulas, and will list all the places your spreadsheets' cells are referenced. { W P It is possible to do limited word processing using FreeCalc (if you find your need additional word processing features you might want to look at Stilwell Software Products' word processor called FreeWord). To preform word processing with FreeCalc, change the width of column 1 (see the help section for the Attributes option if you are uncertain how to do this) to be whatever you want for a left margin (e.g., 7). Next, change the width of column 2 for the width of the document (e.g., 65). Select the WP option from the Main Action Menu. Normally when entering a cell defined as "Alpha", FreeCalc will automatically move you to the next column once the cell if filled if that next column is empty. By selecting the WP option and entering a "Y" to enter the WP mode, you can turn that feature off. FreeCalc will then beep when you have reached the end of the cell. Select the Enter option from the Main Action Menu, and then select to enter Alpha data. You can now start typing. When you get to the end of the cell, FreeCalc will beep. You can press the DOWN arrow key to move to the next row and remain in the enter alpha data mode. You can also select to center the text you are typing, to alien flush on the left side, or to alien flush on the right side. { X P O R T The Xport option will create an ASCII file that can be used by other programs (such as Stilwell Software Products database program FreeFile, or BASIC). The file created will not contain the formulas from your spreadsheet, it will contain the results of the formulas, as well as any alpha or numeric values you have entered. Alpha value will have double quotes around them. All cell will be separated by commas. Each row will be written to the file on one line, i.e., each row will end with a carriage return. The first item you will be asked to respond to is whether you would like to xport the entire spreadsheet. If you respond with a "N" (for No), you will need to provide FreeCalc with the starting row and column numbers as well as the ending row and column number. The second and final item that FreeCalc needs is the name of the file you want FreeCalc to xport to. Enter the filename (include the drive and/or path if desired) and press the ENTER key.