Rows and columns revolution; Windows spreadsheets: they sure ain't VisiCalc

Home Office Computing, Nov, 1993 by Kay Yarborough Nelson

Windows Spreadsheets: They Sure Ain't VisiCalc

Some of us remember VisiCalc, the first computer spreadsheet. Looking back, it was little more than an electronic ledger, but it revolutionized an industry. Speaking of revolutionary, the latest round of Windows-based spreadsheets--including Quattro Pro 5, Excel 5.0, Lotus's Improv, and Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows, release 4--leave their DOS predecessors in the dust.

Today's high-powered spreadsheets integrate charting and graphics. Most, like Excel, include audio capabilities for voice annotation, and some, such as Improv, even have built-in presentation graphics modules. All have incredibly sophisticated data analysis features that let you examine your numbers from every conceivable angle.

Putting you in the driver's seat. We're seeing two major trends in Windows spreadsheets: They're getting easier to use and much more powerful. To begin with, you no longer have to jump around highlighting cells via arrow keys, as drag-and-drop editing allows you to move and copy cell ranges with ease. Some of these number-crunching wonders will even automatically fill in text boxes. This feature is called SpeedFill in Quattro Pro and AutoFill in Excel. For example, enter JAN in a cell, highlight a range, choose AutoFill, and the other months of the year will be entered automatically in consecutive cells.

Most of these programs have dozens of much-appreciated small touches that make life easier. 1-2-3, for example, has in-place editing: Instead of moving to the top of a worksheet after you've highlighted the contents of a cell, just double-click on the cell and edit away. And who's ever had to play where's the missing parenthesis will appreciate Quattro Pro's ability to display an opening parenthesis in red until you enter a closing one--when they both change to green. Learning one of these giant spreadsheet packages is easier than you might think. Most come with interactive tutorials, so you can use your own data and see the results step by step. Excel's Wizards interview you about what you want to do before you do it. In Quattro Pro, Expert features show you how a complex task like spreadsheet consolidation or scenario management is accomplished.

Analyze until you drop. Paradoxically, while these monster applications are getting easier to use, they're also becoming incredibly complex. For one thing, many--like Quattro Pro and Improv--are three-dimensional: Instead of being limited to a traditional two-dimensional row-and-column worksheet, your spreadsheets can be made up of several pages of data. You then build formulas, say, to sum the values in the same cells on these pages in a group of budget spreadsheets.

Lotus's Improv is the real innovator in multidimensional spreadsheets. Improv changes the basic row-and-column metaphor. Categories can be set up to focus on specifics, emphasize a particular result, or provide several different slants on the same data. Say that your quarterly report spreadsheet places months across the top in columns and departments down the side in rows. By placing the departments in columns and months in rows, you emphasize departmental results rather than of elapsed time.

More traditional spreadsheets such as Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows and Excel provide built-in what-if analysis features that store different sets of data for rethinking business plans or adjusting variables on the fly as circumstances change. 1-2-3 for Windows even includes a Backsolver that enables you to specify the result you want and work backward to figure out what variables you need to achieve that result.

Features that just won't quit. These spreadsheets offer either built-in database capabilities (like 1-2-3 for Windows) or accessory database programs (like Excel's Query). Most support local area networks (LANs) and provide built-in connections to electronic mail systems such as MCI Mail. All let you build customized applications for part-time employees and clerical help so that your workers don't have to learn the entire spreadsheet package.

What more could you ask for? In Windows, the vision of the future is networked servers tht enable you to collaborate and communicate instantaneously with other users--clients, colleagues, informaton sources. You'll be able to concentrate on data analysis, database access, and presentation graphics rather than day-to-day input and formula creation. Sound like fun? Sure beats working with formulas like @IF@ISNA(K22), L21 0, L21 K22)!