CHANGE FORMAT››The default (normal) format for numeric data is flush right with rounding to two decimal places. In other words, the number is displayed in the rightmost part of the cell, with two numbers after the decimal point. Text and formulas are also displayed flush right. SpeedCalc offers several commands for changing cell formats.››Change Format (CTRL-F). This command changes the location of data in the cell. When you press CTRL-F, the SpeedCalc command line displays the question FORMAT: LEFT, CENTER, OR RIGHT JUSTIFY?. Press L, C, or R to move the data to the left, center or right of the cell.››Change Decimal Places (CTRL-.). SpeedCalc also lets you change the nimber of decimal places for any cell. The default number of decimal places is 2, but you may change it to anything from 0-15. Press CTRL and the period key (CTRL-.) to change this value: SpeedCalc prompts you to enter a number from 0-15. If you choose zero decimal places, any number in that cell is rounded off to the nearest integer (whole number). If you choose 15, a number in that cell is not rounded off at all - SpeedCalc displays it exactly as you entered it or as it was calculated from a formula.››Width (CTRL-W). The width command changes the width of an entire column of cells. Move the cursor to any cell in the desired column, then press CTRL-W. When SpeedCalc displays the prompt WIDTH:, respond with a number from 4-36. The entire screen is redrawn to accommodate the new format, and may look very different depending on what value you chose. For instance, if you increase a column's width, the rightmost column of the former display may disappear: SpeedCalc only displays as many complete columns as it can fit on the screen. If you decrease the width of a column, you may see asterisks where numbers used to be (indicating the cell is now too small to display the entire number). To get rid of the asterisks, expand the column as necessary.››Global Format (OPTION-CTRL-F). This is the same as the ordinary format command, but operates globally, changing every cell in the sheet instead of just one.››Global Width (OPTION-CTRL-W). This is a global version of the width command. Every column in the sheet changes to the designated width.››SCREEN COLOR AND LUMINANCE››SpeedCalc makes it easy to change the screen background and character colors to your liking.››Background Color (CTRL-B). Press CTRL-B to cycle forward through the available screen background colors.››Text Color (CTRL-T). This command increases the luminance of characters on the screen, cycling forward through all of the available text colors.››Previous Background Color (OPTION-CTRL-B). The reverse of CTRL-B, this command cycles backward through the range of background colors.››Previous Text Color (OPTION-CTRL-T). The reverse of CTRL-T, this command cycles backward through the range of text colors.››MACRO EDITING››After typing in a large spreadsheet, you may decide to make a major change. You may want to add new data somewhere in the middle, delete a section, or move a group of cells from one location to another. SpeedCalc's macro (large-scale) editing commands simplify such operations, affecting an entire block of cells at once. A block is simply a group of cells connected in rectangular fashion. You can define it as a single cell, a row or column, or any rectangular area within the spreadsheet.››There are two ways macro commands work: verbatim or relative. To take a simple example, say that cell AA2 contains the formula =AA1*5 and you want to move its contents to cell AB2. When this is done in verbatim mode, AB2 contains an exact copy of what was in AA2 (=AA1*5). Note that the cell name used in the formula does not change: The formula still refers to AA1. If you perform the same operation in relative mode, the cell name in the formula is adjusted to fit the new location. In this case, AB2 would contain the formula =AB1*5.››Copy (CTRL-C). The copy command copies a block of cells into a different location without disturbing the original cells. Place the cursor on the upper-left corner of the block you want to copy, then press CTRL-C. SpeedCalc prompts you to move the cursor to the lower-right corner of the block you want to copy. Once the cursor is in place, press RETURN. Now SpeedCalc prompts you to move the cursor to the place where you want to put the block: This is the upper-left corner of the new position. Once the cursor is there, press RETURN again. The new data replaces whatever was contained in the designated cells. Note that if you define an impossible block (for instance, moving the cursor to the upper-left of the original position, rather than below and to the right), SpeedCalc does not copy any data. Press ESC if you change your mind and wish to cancel this command.››Move (CTRL-M). This command works like a copy, but it fills the original cells with blanks. Though SpeedCalc has no express insert command, you can use this command to make space for new data in the middle of a spreadsheet. Simply move everything below the insertion point down as far as you need. As with the copy command, you can press ESC to cancel this command.››Relative Copy (OPTION-CTRL-C). This form of the copy command adjusts the cell names used in formulas within the copied block (see explanation above). When copying or moving data in relative mode, you may see some strange characters displayed very briefly in the input buffer area of the screen: This harmless effect occurs because SpeedCalc uses that area for temporary storage during these operations, conserving memory for other purposes.››Relative Move (OPTION-CTRL-M). This is the relative form of the move command. Cell names in formulas are adjusted to reflect the move.››MEMORY MANAGEMENT››SpeedCalc makes about 20K (roughly 20,000 characters) of memory available for data. As noted earlier, SpeedCalc lets you spread your data out over a much larger number of cells than you can actually fill with data. The extra space is provided to give you full control over the final format of the spreadsheet and to leave some elbow room for move and copy operations.››Because memory is limited, you should keep careful track of how much is free while using the program. Press CTRL-A to display the amount of free memory. We suggest limiting your spreadsheets to 1,600 cells (equivalent to 40 rows by 40 columns). If you've filled nearly all of free memory, you may have to break the spreadsheet into two smaller sheets.››Although SpeedCalc checks the amount of available memory and displays an error message if you run out, you should be careful not to exhaust free memory. Any move or copy operation in process will be aborted if sufficient memory is not available.››DISK OPERATIONS››SpeedCalc has three disk commands for saving and loading data from disk and displaying the disk directory. The disk directory command is the easiest to use: Simply press CTRL-D. To save a spreadsheet to disk, press CTRL-S. SpeedCalc prints SAVE: on the command line, followed by a cursor. Enter a valid Atari filename (including D:) and press RETURN. (If you change your mind and decide not to save anything, press RETURN without typing a filename.) If no disk error occurs while the spreadsheet is being saved, SpeedCalc displays NO ERRORS in the command line and returns you to command mode. If there was an error, you'll hear a beep and see the message I/O ERROR # followed by an error number in the command line. Your DOS manual explains the meaning of the various DOS errors.››To load a saved file from disk, press CTRL-L. Again, you can cancel the operation by pressing RETURN without entering a filename. SpeedCalc prompts you to enter the filename and displays the error status when the operation is complete. SpeedCalc clears the partially loaded sheet to prevent a program crash.››PRINTING››SpeedCalc lets you print data to three different devices: to the screen for previewing output (E:), to a printer for permanent documentation (P:), or to a disk file for integrating the data with a SpeedScript document (D:filename).››To print a hardcopy of the spreadsheet to a printer, press CTRL-P and then enter P: when asked for (Device:Filename). Before using this command, you must position the cursor below and to the right of the block of cells you wish to print. The upper-left corner of the printout starts at cell AA1. To preview the printed output on the screen, enter E: in response to the same prompt.››You can also print SpeedCalc data to a disk file for use in a SpeedScript document. When SpeedCalc prints the prompt (Device:Filename), enter D:filename. The data is saved as a disk file of that name. Note that printing to disk creates a different type of file than saving to disk, and SpeedCalc cannot reload files in the print format. You should save files you wish to reload into SpeedCalc, and print files you wish to load into SpeedScript.››SPEEDSCRIPT INTEGRATION››SpeedCalc sends data to the printer in simple, plain vanilla form. That may be fine for personal use, but if you're creating a document for others to view, you may want special features such as boldface, underlining, italics, and so on. Since Atari SpeedScript - COMPUTE!'s popular word processor - already offers a way to access these features (and many more), no attempt has been made to duplicate them in SpeedCalc.››No special tricks are needed to load a SpeedCalc file into SpeedScript. After printing the file to disk as explained above, exit SpeedCalc, then load and run SpeedScript. Now load the file as you would any SpeedScript document. The data appears on the screen, ready to be edited in any way you wish. Again, keep in mind that SpeedScript can load only those files which have been printed to disk, not saved.››[End of article]›