Loadstar 15/015.d81/sheet text

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       Steinman Spreadsheet


  If you are interested in

spreadsheets, you may want to make a

printout of this now--you'll need it

later.

  The inclusion of a version of the

Steinman Spreadsheet on this issue

begins a new chapter in the history

of Loadstar.  Each issue will feature

a program that's the equivalent of

software you'd have to pay $30 or

more for on the retail market.

  Future issues will include a word

processor, a data base, a file copy

utility, and a dungeon game.

  Spreadsheets, beginning with

Visicalc, enable the user to play the

simulation "What if".  The process

used in the simulation is called

"modeling".  A spreadsheet model can

analyze any problem that can be

reduced to numbers.  It can analyze

future events, keep track of the

present situation, or give new

insights into the past.

  There is one salient point to

remember about spreadsheet models:

their validity depends on the

accuracy of the data, the appropriate

use of formulas, and the quality of

the assumptions that are used in

building the model.

  The old saying that 'Figures don't

lie, but liars figure' never had a

more appropriate setting than when

looking at the results of a model.

With that caveat in mind, let's talk

about Steinman.

           The Display
           -----------

  The Steinman Spreadsheet consists of

four modules--the spreadsheet, a

dimension module, a report generator,

and a series of disk utilities.

Because space on LOADSTAR is limited,

we present here a reduced version of

the spreadsheet module.

  The reduction is significant.

In this version, you have 140 cells

in your spreadsheet, in the full-

blown version, you can have as many

as 2000 cells.  In addition, the

complete package has the extra

ability to change the size of your

spreadsheet.

  But the major difference is that

the complete package contains the

report generator module, the first of

its kind for a spreadsheet.  With it

you have total flexibility in

building reports based on your

spreadsheet models.

  You can still print out reports

from the version of Steinman on

Loadstar with the basic print routine

that is included within the

spreadsheet module.  You'll find this

routine adequate for the models you

can build.

  If you find this diluted version of

Steinman to your liking, you can save

$10 on the purchase of the complete

package by using the coupon included

with this issue.

  Even if you don't buy the complete

Steinman, you'll find this version

adequate to model several small

household tasks.

  With all that explanation out of

the way, let's get on to the task of

telling you how to use Steinman.

  The display is in two sections: the

main spreadsheet and a status

section.  The status section contains

the status bar, the cell locator, the

data entry line, and room for any

messages that may be appropriate.

          The Status Bar


  There are two lines to the status

bar, which is printed in inverse at

the top of Steinman.  On the first

line is the mode indicator, room for

function titles, and the name of your

file.

           Mode Indicator

  The mode indicator will usually

show "INPUT", meaning that you're

ready to enter data into the

spreadsheet.  The alternative mode is

"CONTROL", which indicates that

you're using some other function of

the program.  Usually when you are in

control mode, the name of the

function is displayed in the center

of the top line of the status bar.

       Recalculate Indicator

  The second line of the status bar

displays the current state of the

model.  If you've been entering data,

an asterisk * will appear at the left

to indicate that you need to

recalculate the spreadsheet.

          Paging Indicator

  Next to that, a "P" or "PP" would

indicate that paging has been

activated.

         Precision Indicator

  To the right of the paging

indicator is the precision indicator.

Precision sets the depth to which

your formulas are calculated and is

shown by the at sign, such as @3 for

calculate three decimal places. Legal

values are 0-6.

       Fixed Decimal Indicator

  Next to precision is the fixed

decimal indicator.  This sets the

number of decimal places that will be

shown on your display and is shown by

the letter "F" followed by a number

or X.  Legal entries are 0-6.  X

means to use the number of decimals

in each cell that you entered.

      Negative Number Indicator

  After fixed decimal comes the

indication of how negative numbers

will be displayed.  They can be

prefixed by a minus sign "-", or

surrounded by parentheses ().

          Comma Indicator

  Following the negative number

indicator is the comma indicator.

You can choose to have commas in your

large numbers for easier reading.


    Order of Calculation Indicator

  The next indicator is for order of

calculation.  You can choose to have

your model calculated either line by

line (horizontally) or column by

column (vertically).

           Size Indicator

  The final entry on the second line

of the status bar shows the size of

the spreadsheet, in this case 35x4.

         Other Status Items

  Near the top left of the screen is

the legend "CELL #".  What follows it

is the exact address where you are in

the spreadsheet.

  Under CELL # are the data entry

line and the data entry cursor.

        Cells and Addresses
        -------------------

  The basic unit of a spreadsheet is

a cell.  Each cell has a unique

address that represents the

intersection of the line and column

at the point of the cell.

  The cell at the point where line 6

intersects column 3 has the address

L6C3.  No other cell has that

address.

      Cursors and Data Entry
      ----------------------

  Steinman has two cursors, one above

the spreadsheet on the data entry

line and one in the spreadsheet.  The

data entry cursor indicates your

position relative to the data that

has been (is being) entered in the

cell.  It's activated during data

entry or editing.

  The cell cursor indicates your

position in the spreadsheet.

Whatever you enter on the data entry

line will appear in the cell on which

your cell cursor is placed.  You

accept the data you have entered by

pressing RETURN or by pressing a

cursor control key to move on to the

next cell into which you want to

enter data.

            Data Types

  A spreadsheet recognizes three

kinds of information: values, labels,

and formulas.

  Values are numbers.  They are

entered directly into cells or are

the results of the evaluation of a

formula.

  Labels are descriptors.  They

usually sit at the top of columns and

on the left of lines to indicate what

the numbers mean.

  Formulas cause manipulations to

values.  They contain references to

cell addresses and values.  All

formulas start with the plus sign +.

--------------------------------------

Commands from the Spreadsheet

  F1  Calculate the value of a cell
  F2  Calculate the entire model
  F3  Activate paging.
      "P" paging causes the display
      to move a section at a time
      when a boundary is reached.
      "PP" paging causes the display
      to move a section at a time
      without reaching the screen
      boundary. Paging is controlled
      by the right and down cursor
      control keys.

  F5  Edit (on the data entry line)

  F7  Enter the control mode

  F8  Erase a cell

  \   Go directly to a cell

  +   Start of a formula

  ..  Range (see formulas)

 LxCy Cell address


The cursor keys move as indicated and

the CLR/HOME key always returns you

to L1C1.

Commands accessed by pressing F7:

  Commodore A  Start new file

  B  Bytes (memory) remaining

  C  Copy a block of cells

  D  Delete (line or column)

  E  Erase a range of cells

  F  Change fixed decimals

  G  Go to a specific cell

  I  Insert (line or column)

  L  Set line spacing

  M  Move a block of cells

  O  Change order of calculation

  P  Print

  Commodore Q  Quit

  R  Replicate cell

  Shift R Replicate cell with
     choice of referencing

  S  Save

  T  Fix Titles (set labels to stay
     on the screen while you scroll
     the spreadsheet).  The titles
     indicator is at the intersection
     of the spreadsheet axes. L fixes
     line titles, C fixes column
     titles, and when both L and C
     are showing, both are fixed.

  W  Change column width

  1  Change text color

  2  Change screen color

  3  Change border color

  -  Negative number toggle

  ,  Comma display toggle

  @  Change precision

--------------------------------------

         Formula Formats

Addition (+)
  +L1C2+L3C3+9

Subtraction (-)
  +L2C1-L2C2-6

Multiplication (*)
  +7*L2C2*L3C1

Division (/)
  +12/L4C1

Greater than (>)
  +L2C2>L3C3

Less than (<)
  +L2C3<12

Exponentiation (^)
  +2^2


         Range Formulas

  Range formulas work over a range of

cells and always include the range

indicator: ..

Sum (adds all values in range)
  +L1C2..L4C3

Minimum (gets lowest value in range)
  +MINL2C3..L5C4

Maximum (gets highest value in range)
  +MAXL4C1..L6C3

Average (finds the average of all
nonblank values in specified range)
  +AVGL6C2..L9C4

Count (finds the number of nonblank
entries in the specified range)

  +#L5C1..L9C3

       If-Then-Else Formulas

If-Then-Else formulas enable you to

set conditions upon which certain

values will be entered in a cell.

There is a specific form to this

formula, which contains several

discrete elements:

  +  indicates formula

  [  indicates If-Then-Else

  A  then enter first cell address
     or value or formula

 <>= then you need a Boolean operator

  B  then enter another cell
     address or value or formula

  :  enter a colon (stands for Then)

  C  then enter another cell
     address or value or formula

  ,  enter a comma (stands for Else)

  D  then enter another cell
     address or value or formula

  ]  indicates end of formula

It looks like this:

  +[A>B:C,D]

and it reads like this:

  If A is greater than B then enter
  C, otherwise enter D.

A, B, C, and D can be any value, cell

reference or formula (except another

If-then-Else formula) and > can be <

or = as well.

     Formula error messages

  ERR1  line number error
  ERR2  column number error
  ERR3  End of range error
  ERR4  If-Then-Else syntax error
  ERR5  Parenthesis error


             Nesting

  Sometimes you have to nest values

or formulas.  Steinman calculates

from left to right.  So if you wanted

to multiply 3 times the sum of 2 + 5:

             +3*2+5

Your answer would come out as 11 (3

times 2 is 6 plus 5 equals 11)

  So you'd have to write that formula

as:
             +3*(2+5)


  Steinman will evaluate the

parenthetical expression before

performing the multiplication so

nesting will make the formula come

out as 21.

  You can use parentheses to nest

formulas within other formulas.

  You can nest up to five deep (four

sets of parentheses inside the first

set).

--------------------------------------

     Label Formatting Commands

  All labels print flush to the left

margin of the cell unless you format

them differently:

  Shift C  centers labels

  Shift R  flushes labels right

  >        causes the label to print
           in the right margin

  '        an apostrophe preceding
           numbers allows the numbers
           to be considered a label

  !        sets the character that
           follows it to be repeated
           For example:
             !=
           causes the equal sign to
           printed across the column.

--------------------------------------

       Cell Override Commands

  You can format individual cells to

carry dollar or percent signs and you

can override the global precision or

fixed decimal settings by appending a

suffix to your value, cell reference,

or formula.

  $n  formats the cell for a dollar
      sign: +L2C5*3$2 gets dollars
      and cents

  Pn  formats the cell to show a
      percent sign in the right
      margin: +L3C2/L4C2P3 gets a
      percentage to three decimal
      places

  Fn  changes the fixed decimal
      display for that cell:
      +L12C4/L30C4F6 displays the
      answer to six decimal places

  @n  changes the precision setting
      for that cell:
      +L6C3/L12C2@4 calculates the
      result of the formula to 4
      decimal places.

  In all the above examples, n equals

the number of decimal places and must

be entered.

  Any model you make with this

version of Steinman will be

compatible with the full-blown

Steinman Spreadsheet.

  This explanation has been

necessarily brief.  The manual that

accompanies Steinman is 64 pages

long.  Should you need help

understanding the functions in

Steinman, call Loadstar between 8

a.m. and 5 p.m. Central time.  Ask

for Al Tommervik.

  The Steinman Spreadsheet is

fatal to the LOADSTAR environment.

If you RUN it from here, you will have

to turn your computer completely off

before trying the LOAD anything else.

If you do not turn if off, strange

things are sure to happen.  Because of

this, the Steinman Spreadsheet does

NOT return to LOADSTAR.  If you do

decide to RUN Steinman from here,

please be sure to have another disk

nearby so you can save your data onto

it.  Be Warned:: Do NOT try to save

any Steinman data files onto this

LOADSTAR disk (you won't like the

results, trust me!).  Also, make sure

you make a print-out of these

instructions because Steinman has no

Help Screens or Reminder screens.

 Steinman uses the following files:

    STEINMAN SPREAD and RTL-64

  If you would like to RUN the

Steinman Spreadsheet now, please press
\oad"steinman spread",8
the '\' (English pound) key now.

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