Professional Typography Expert 2/Professional Typography Expert 2.iso/demos/tablecalc/!iSVManual/Manual

Text File | 1996-03-28 | 14.1 KB | 363 lines

About TableCalc
TableCalc is a sophisticated table generating
program for Acorn RISC OS computers with RISC OS
3.1 or later. As well as simple tables, it allows
the creation of spreadsheets, in which a range of
calculation can be carried out on figures.

Please note that this is a demo copy of TableCalc
and cannot save or print.

Installing TableCalc
TableCalc can be installed on a hard disc by
dragging the !TableCalc application to a directory
viewer. Floppy disc users should make a backup
copy of the TableCalc master disc for personal
use.

Interactive help
When you are running TableCalc, many helpful
messages are available. To view them, run the
!Help application from the Apps folder. Now,
whenever you point at any of TableCalc's windows
or menus, a message will be displayed in the Help
window.

Creating a table
TableCalc can be loaded in the normal way, by
double-clicking on its icon in a directory viewer.
Once TableCalc is loaded, a new table can be
created by clicking on its icon bar icon. Table
files can be loaded by double-clicking, or by
dragging them to the TableCalc icon.

Building tables
Most TableCalc editing functions rely on the
position of the caret. This is a red vertical bar.
When the caret is positioned within a table,
text which is entered from the keyboard is
inserted at the caret. When the caret is
positioned in a slot on the last row of a table,
pressing <RETURN> adds a new row at the bottom of
the table. Similarly, <TAB> can be used to add
columns to the right hand side of the table.

Editing text
Text is entered into a slot by positioning the
caret in the slot, then typing from the keyboard.
If you type more text than can be held by the
slot, the slot is extended downwards,
word-wrapping the text appropriately. If you type
a word which is too long to fit on one line, the
width of the column is increased. A single
character can be deleted by pressing the <DELETE>
key. A complete slot can be cleared by pressing
MENU and selecting the "Slots->Clear" item.
The tool bar
Attached to the top of each TableCalc window is a
tool bar allowing certain important operations to
be performed very quickly. A diagram showing the
functions of each of the buttons is included on
the quick reference card, which can be printed
using the !QuickRefs application, supplied on the
TableCalc master disc.

Adding rows and columns
A row can be added after the row on which the
caret is positioned by pressing MENU and choosing
the "Grid->Add row" item. If, instead of clicking
on "Add row", you move the pointer to the right, a
submenu is displayed, allowing you to add a row
before or after the current row. The "Add column"
item works in exactly the same way.

Deleting rows and columns
A row or column can be deleted by positioning the
caret, then using the "Grid->Delete Row" or
"Grid->Delete Column" item. A dialog box will
appear requesting confirmation. Click on the YES
button to perform the deletion. If you find this
annoying, you can turn it off. See the section on
global choices.

Column widths
The width of any column within the table can be
adjusted by pointing at a line separating columns,
and dragging with SELECT. When you point at a line
which can be dragged, the shape of the mouse
pointer changes. A column width can be set
automatically to the minimum width needed to
accomodate all the text without using word wrapby
double-clicking SELECT over a column boundary.

Selecting a block
Certain TableCalc operations require a block of
slots to work on. Other operations which work on
single slots can also be applied to all the slots
in a specified block. The easiest way to specify a
block is to drag select from one corner of the
desired region to the diagonally opposite corner.
Alternatively, position the caret in one corner,
then click ADJUST in the other. Either way, the
selected block is show in inverse video.

Keyboard short cuts
Almost all TableCalc operations which are normally
performed from menus can also be performed from
the keyboard. The keyboard short cuts are all
shown on the menus. The !QuickRefs application can
be used to print a quick reference card, which
includes a complete listing of all short cuts.

TableCalc styles
The appearance of text in slots is controlled by a
system of styles. Styles are controlled from the
style browser, which is accessed by pressing menu
and selecting the "Styles..." item (Ignore the
arrow symbol). This opens a window showing an
example of each available style. Each table has
its own set of styles, and its own style browser.
To apply a style to a slot, position the caret,
then double-click SELECT over the desired style.
Styles can be applied to blocks in the same way.
Editing a style
A style can be edited from the style browser by
double-clicking ADJUST over a style's entry. This
opens a window allowing all the style's attributes
to be altered. Style attributes are divided into
four groups. In all styles (except the normal
style) each group can be turned on and off. When a
group is turned off, the default values from the
normal style are used instead. The style editor
can also be accessed by pressing <CTRL-T>. This
edits the style used in the current slot.
Styles: An example
Open a new table by clicking on the TableCalc icon
bar icon, then open the style browser. Edit the
Heading style, and notice that the Colours section
is not ticked. Close the style editor, then edit
the Highlight 3 style. You will see that the
colours item is ticked. Now edit Normal, and
change the background colour, then click on the
Set button. Notice that this changes the
background colour for all styles except Highlight 3.
All styles inherit options from Normal unless overridden.
The Styles menu
If, for any reason, you do not wish to have the
style browser window open, you can access the
style system directly from the menu. The Styles...
item leads to a menu listing all the available
styles. Each of these items in turn lead to a menu
offering Apply and Edit options.

Joining a slot
If slots in more than two columns are selected,
the "Grid->Join slots" menu item will be
available. This can be used to join slots from two
or more columns together to make a wider
"super-slot". These wide slots can be split up
again by positioning the caret and using the
"Grid->Split slots" item.

Line control
The horizontal lines between rows can be
controlled using two options from the "Grid"
submenu. These are both used in the same way:  A
block is selected, covering at least two rows,
then the menu item is used to turn all row lines
contained within that block on or off. When a line
has been turned off, it is shown with a "dotting"
effect. "Off" lines are never shown in printouts,
or when draw files are exported. Column lines can
be controlled in a similar way.
Saving a table
To save your table, press MENU and follow the
"File->Save" item. This displays a standard RISC
OS save box, allowing the table to be saved. There
are two slightly different formats in which the
table can be saved. See the section "OLE support
II" for more information.

Printing a table
To print a table, ensure that you have a RISC OS
printer driver loaded and correctly set up. Now
select the "File->Print..." item. A dialog box
will appear, telling you how many pages will be
needed to print the table. Enter the number of
copies you wish to print, then click on the Print
button.

Working with DTP packages
TableCalc can export standard draw files for use
with a wide range of DTP and multimedia packages.
To export a draw file, press MENU and follow the
"File->Export->Draw" item. This leads to a save
box. Having saved a draw file, it can be dropped
straight into a DTP program, or loaded into !Draw
for further editing. Note that certain DTP
packages support OLE, which provides an easier
alternative. See the next section for more
details.
OLE support
TableCalc supports object linking and embedding
(OLE) with appropriate programs. Programs which
currently support OLE include Computer Concepts'
Impression. To perform OLE, simply drop a table
file into a frame or document. It will be
displayed as normal. If you wish to edit the
table, hold down <CTRL> and double click on the
frame. Having edited a table which was loaded by
OLE, the original can be altered by pressing <F3>
then <RETURN>
OLE support II
OLE only works correctly if the "save with
graphics" option is turned on from the table
choices dialog box. Note, however, that files which
are saved with graphics are significantly larger
than those which are not. Therefore, it is
recommended that the "Save with graphics" option
is turned off if you are not using OLE. The global
choices dialog box allows you to specify the
default value of the "Save with graphics" option.

Spreadsheets
As well as normal text, slots in TableCalc tables
can contain number slots. To create a number slot,
position the caret in a blank slot, then select
the "Slots->Edit Expression" menu item. Enter a
number into the writable icon, then click on the
Set button, or press return.

Other number entry methods
If you wish to enter a sequence of numbers with a
constant difference (e.g. 1,3,5,...), the slot
initialiser can be used. To use it, select a block
then press MENU and select the
Slots->Initialise... item. Enter the initial value
and difference, then click on the Fill button. If
you wish to enter a large number of figures with
no constant difference, they can be entered in
standard text slots, then converted to numbers
slots using the "Slots->Text to numbers" item.
Expressions
As well as simple numbers, number slots can
contain mathematical expressions. Expressions can
be in terms of numbers (e.g. 2+2), or they can
refer to other slots within the table. Slots are
referred to by a letter and a number. (e.g. B4).
The letter refers to the column (B being the
second from the left), and the number refers to
the row. A typical expression using a slot
reference would be (C3+2)*3.

The expression editor
Any expression can be entered into the writable
field in the expression editor from the keyboard,
but many expressions can be "built" using the
other buttons in the expression editor. There are
buttons to insert the basic arithmetic operators,
functions (see later sections), pairs of brackets,
and also the ^ symbol which is used to raise one
number to the power of another. Slot references
can be inserted by clicking on a slot in the main
window.
Functions
TableCalc provides a range of functions which act
on numbers, slot references, or expressions. A
function is used from within an expression by
entering the name of the function followed by a
pair of brackets containing the number or
expression on which you wish the function to work.
Functions can be inserted into expressions using
the mouse by clicking on the fn() button, and
selecting a function from the resulting menu.

Functions available
Tablecalc currently provides a square root
function, a VAT function and a set of trigonometric
and inverse trigonometric functions, together with
a pair of functions to convert from degrees to
radians and back again. Note that all the trig
functions currently work in degrees, NOT radians.

Spreadsheet block functions
As well as the functions described above, which
act on numbers, TableCalc provides several
functions which act on blocks of slots. Currently
available block  functions are sum() and
average(). Both these functions should be passed
TWO slot references referring to diagonally
opposite corners of a block e.g. sum(a2b6). These
functions have special buttons to insert them. The
"sigma" (strange 'E') button inserts sum(), and the
"X bar" button inserts average().
Constant functions
TableCalc provides two "constant" functions,
namely const_pi() and const_e(). These take no
arguments, and return the appropriate mathematical
constant (correct to 10 significant figures). A
typical use would be in the expression
(const_pi()*(10^2)), which returns the area of a
circle of radius 10 units.

Formula replication
If you have entered an expression into a slot, it
is possible to copy it into the slots below or to
the right, by selecting a block then using the
"Slots->Copy down" or "Copy right" menu items. If
the expression contains slot references, these are
adjusted appropriately (e.g., if A1+1 was copied
down, it would become A2+1 in the next slot down).

Absolute slot references
If you do not wish a reference to be adjusted when
a formula replication is performed (see the
previous section), it should be prefixed by the
hash character (#). Such a slot reference can be
inserted by clicking on a slot with the adjust
button, instead of select.

Other spreadsheet operations
As well as the operations described in the
previous sections, there are two other menu
options concerning spreadsheets. They are both
located on the "Slots" submenu. The "Snapshot"
item converts expressions into numbers, making
them independent of any changes to referenced
slots. The "Numbers to text" item converts both
number and expression slots to text slots. Both
these operations work both on single slots and
selected blocks.
CSV file support
TableCalc can load and save standard Comma
Separated Value (CSV) files. To load a CSV file,
drop it on the TableCalc icon on the icon bar (CSV
files cannot be loaded by double-clicking). To
save a table as a CSV file, use the
File->Export->CSV menu item. If a block is
selected, you will be offered the choice to save
only the selected region.

Table choices
Each table currently has two options associated
with it. Saving of graphics with table files can
be turned on and off (see the section "OLE support
II"), as can a spreadsheet border surrounding the
table, which show row letters and column numbers.

TableCalc global preferances
A number of TableCalc's features can be customised
by the user. Such features are controlled by
clicking MENU over the icon bar icon, then
selecting "Preferances...". Choices currently
available include: Confirmation when rows and
columns are deleted, the initial state of the
"Save with graphics" flag for newly created
documents, automatic display of the spreadsheet
border when the expression editor is used, and the
current VAT rate.
Copyright message
TableCalc   is © iSV/Thomas Down 1994/5/6
!iSVManual is © iSV Products 1993/4/5/6
The author acknowledges the use of the DeskLib
library in the production of this program.