Geek Speak…What Is A Spreadsheet?

A spreadsheet program is the computer version of the old general ledger in its basic form,but it can be much more than that.  If you haven’t seen a general ledger,it is usually a wide paper divided into columns that can be used to write information and track numbers.  The columns were used to record different types of income and expenses.  You would total each column at the bottom of each page and carry the totals forward to the next page where you would start the process over again.  For business people or those who tried to keep a home budget,it was an indispensable aid to knowing how you were doing and where the money was coming from and going.

Along came computers and programmers realized that this is one thing computer users could do better,faster and more efficiently than those who used paper and pencil.  In the first place,you could scroll through hundreds of pages and hundreds of columns instead of stacks of paper.  The computer did the math so you didn’t have calculation errors.  The computer could do many repetitive tasks,automatically saving hundreds of hours.  You didn’t have to total each page,but could total the whole sheet.  Comparisons were easy and projections were quick and accurate.

The first program to gain wide acceptance was Lotus 1,2,3 but there were many others.  The symbols (@,sum,*,<=,^,etc.) used in Lotus gained acceptance and have become the standard for most programs of this type.  These symbols are still useable by most programs today.  However,the capability of modern spreadsheets has increased to include things like data and information lookups,pictures,database capabilities and much more.

If you really want to get the most from your modern spreadsheets,you should pick up a user’s manual for your program.  I generally recommend the “for Dummies”series of books or the “Video Professor”videos.  They are more accessible than most of the books put out by Microsoft and other manufacturers.

The Microsoft adaptation of Lotus 1,2,3 is Excel.  It is powerful and flexible and has tons of features.  It is sold separately or as part of the Office Suite of programs mentioned last week.  The Corel (Word Perfect) version is called Quattro Pro and also has a wide range of capabilities at a lower price than Excel.  I have also been playing with the Open Office suite of programs and find their spreadsheet program quite easy to use (and the added benefit is that it’s free).  You can get it from www.openoffice.org.

As always,keep backups of anything important,stay safe and happy computing.

Shaun McCausland has been in the computer industry for 27 years (locally with Muicomp &Bits ‘N’Bytes) and currently does in-home and on-site computer consultation,service,training and repair. If you have questions,you can reach him at 668-7118.