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Hurricane Electric Internet Services
NAME
pname - spreadsheet calculator
SYNOPSIS
pname [ -c ] [ -m ] [ -n ] [ -r ] [ -x ] [ file ]
DESCRIPTION
The spreadsheet calculator pname is based on rectangular
tables much like a financial spreadsheet. When invoked it
presents you with a table organized as rows and columns of
cells. If invoked without a file argument, the table is
initially empty. Otherwise file is read in (see the Get
command below). Each cell may have associated with it a
numeric value, a label string, and/or an expression (for-
mula) which evaluates to a numeric value or label string,
often based on other cell values.
For a on-line tutorial, type the command:
pname #LIBDIR#/tutorial.pname
To print a quick reference card, type the command:
pnameqref | [your_printer_commmand]
OPTIONS
-c Start the program with the recalculation being done
in column order.
-m Start the program with automatic recalculation dis-
abled. The spreadsheet will be recalculated only
when the ``@'' command is used.
-n Start the program in quick numeric entry mode (see
below).
-r Start the program with the recalculation being done
in row order (default option).
-x Cause the Get and Put commands (see below) to
encrypt and decrypt data files.
-R Start the program with automatic newline action set
to increment the row (see below).
-C Start the program with automatic newline action set
to increment the column (see below).
All of these options can be changed with the ^T and S com-
mands (see below) while pname is running. Options speci-
fied when pname is invoked override options saved in the
data file.
General Information
The screen is divided into four regions. The top line is
for entering commands and displaying cell values. The
second line is for messages from pname. The third line
and the first four columns show the column and row num-
bers, from which are derived cell addresses, e.g. A0 for
the cell in column A, row 0. Note that column names are
case-insensitive: you can enter A0 or a0.
The rest of the screen forms a window looking at a portion
of the table. The total number of display rows and
columns available, hence the number of table rows and
columns displayed, is set by curses(3) and may be overrid-
den by setting the LINES and COLUMNS environment vari-
ables, respectively.
The screen has two cursors: a cell cursor, indicated by a
highlighted cell and a ``<'' on the screen, and a charac-
ter cursor, indicated by the terminal's hardware cursor.
The cell and character cursors are often the same. They
differ when you type a command on the top line.
If a cell's numeric value is wider than the column width
(see the f command), the cell is filled with asterisks.
If a cell's label string is wider than the column width,
it is truncated at the start of the next non-blank cell in
the row, if any.
Cursor control commands and row and column commands can be
prefixed by a numeric argument which indicates how many
times the command is to be executed. You can type ^U
before a repeat count if quick numeric entry mode is
enabled or if the number is to be entered while the char-
acter cursor is on the top line.
Commands which use the terminal's control key, such as ^N,
work both when a command is being typed and when in normal
mode.
Changing Options
^To Toggle options. This command allows you to switch
the state of one option selected by o. A small
menu lists the choices for o when you type ^T. The
options selected are saved when the data and formu-
las are saved so that you will have the same setup
next time you enter the spreadsheet.
a Automatic Recalculation. When set, each
change in the spreadsheet causes the entire
spreadsheet be recalculated. Normally this
is not noticeable, but for very large
spreadsheets, it may be faster to clear
automatic recalculation mode and update the
spreadsheet via explicit ``@'' commands.
Default is automatic recalculation on.
c Current cell highlighting. If enabled, the
current cell is highlighted (using the ter-
minal's standout mode, if available) in
addition to being marked by the cell cursor.
e External function execution. When disabled,
external functions (see @ext() below) are
not called. This saves a lot of time at
each screen update. External functions are
disabled by default. If disabled, and
external functions are used anywhere, a
warning is printed each time the screen is
updated, and the result of @ext() is the
value from the previous call, if any, or a
null string.
l Autolabeling. If enabled, using the define
command (/d) causes a label to be automati-
cally generated in the cell to the left of
the defined cell. This is only done if the
cell to the left is empty. Default is
enabled.
n Quick numeric entry. If enabled, a typed
digit is assumed to be the start of a
numeric value for the current cell, not a
repeat count, unless preceded by ^U. The
cursor controls (^P, ^N, ^B, ^F) in this
mode will end a numeric entry.
t Top line display. If enabled, the name and
value of the current cell is displayed on
the top line. If there is an associated
label string, the first character of the
string value is ``|'' for a centered string,
``<'' for a leftstring or ``>'' for a right-
string (see below), followed by "string" for
a constant string or {expr} for a string
expression. A constant string may be pre-
ceeded with a backslash (`\'). In this case
the constant string will be used as a
``wheel'' to fill a column, e.g. "\-" for a
line in a column, and "\Yeh " for
"Yeh Yeh Ye". If the cell has a numeric
value, it follows as [value], which may be a
constant or expression.
x Encryption. See the -x option.
$ Dollar prescale. If enabled, all numeric
constants (not expressions) which you enter
are multipled by 0.01 so you don't have to
keep typing the decimal point if you enter
lots of dollar figures.
r Newline action. This option toggles between
three cases. The default is no action. If
this option is used once, after each command
which is terminated by a newline character
is completed, the current cell will be moved
down one row. If this option is used again,
after each command which is terminated by a
newline character is completed, the current
cell will be moved right one column.
Another use of this option will restore the
default action.
z Set newline action limits. This option sets
limits to the newline action option above.
When this option is invoked, the row and
column of the current cell are remembered.
If a later newline action would take the
current cell to the right of the remembered
column, then the current cell is instead
moved to the first column of the next row.
If a newline action would take the current
cell below the remembered row, then the cur-
rent cell is instead moved to the top row of
the next column.
The quick numeric entry, newline action and set
newline action limits options can be combined to
allow very quick entry of large amounts of data.
If all the data to be entered is in a single row or
column then setting the quick numeric entry and the
appropriate newline action will allow the numbers
to be entered without any explicit commands to
position the current cell or enter a number.
If the data entry involves several entries in each
row for many rows, then setting the quick numeric
entry option, setting the newline action to move
right after each entry and setting the newline
action limits on the last column on which data
should be entered will allow the data to entered
quickly. If necessary, columns which do not need
data to be entered can be hidden with the z com-
mand. Similar arrangements can be made for enter-
ing several rows of data in each column.
S Set options. This command allows you to set vari-
ous options. A small menu lists the options that
cannot be changed through ^T above.
byrows/bycols
Specify the order cell evaluation when
updating. These options also affect the
order in which cells are filled (see /f) and
whether a row or column is cleared by an x
command.
iterations=n
Set the maximum number of recalculations
before the screen is displayed again. Iter-
ations is set to 10 by default.
tblstyle=s
Control the output of the T command. s can
be: 0 (default) to give colon delimited
fields, with no tbl control lines; tbl to
give colon delimited fields, with tbl(1)
control lines; latex to give a LaTeX tabular
environment; slatex to give a SLaTeX (Scan-
dinavian LaTeX) tabular environment; tex to
give a TeX simple tabbed alignment with
ampersands as delimiters; and frame to give
a tblstyle output for FrameMaker.
Other Set options are normally used only in pname
data files since they are available through ^T.
You can also use them interactively
autocalc/!autocalc
Set/clear auto recalculation mode.
numeric/!numeric
Set/clear numeric mode.
prescale/!prescale
Set/clear numeric prescale mode.
extfun/!extfun
Enable/disable external functions.
cellcur/!cellcur
Set/clear current cell highlighting mode.
toprow/!toprow
Set/clear top row display mode.
rndinfinity/!rndinfinity
default: round-to-even (banker's round), *.5
will round to the closest even number; doing
a 'set rndinfinity' will round *.5 up to the
next integer (rounding to infinity).
craction=n
Set the newline action. n can be: 0
(default) to give no action; 1 to move down
after each entry; or 2 to move right after
each entry.
rowlimit=n
Set the remembered limit for the maximum row
below which the current cell will be moved
to the top of the next column if the newline
action is set to move the current cell down.
n can be -1 (default) to disable this facil-
ity.
collimit=n
Set the remembered limit for the maximum
column to the right of which the current
cell will be moved to the left of the next
row if the newline action is set to move the
current cell right. n can be -1 (default)
to disable this facility.
Cursor Control Commands
^P Move the cell cursor up to the previous row.
^N Move the cell cursor down to the next row.
^B Move the cell cursor backward one column.
^F Move the cell cursor forward one column.
h, j, k, l
If the character cursor is not on the top line,
these are alternate, vi-compatible cell cursor con-
trols (left, down, up, right). Space is just like
l (right).
H, J, K, L
If the character cursor is not on the top line,
these move the cursor by half pages (left, down,
up, right).
^H If the character cursor is not on the top line, ^H
is the same as ^B.
SPACE If the character cursor is not on the top line, the
space bar is the same as ^F.
TAB If the character cursor is on the top line, TAB
starts a range (see below). Otherwise, it is the
same as ^F.
Arrow Keys
The terminal's arrow keys provide another alternate
set of cell cursor controls if they exist and are
supported in the appropriate termcap entry. Some
terminals have arrow keys which conflict with other
control key codes. For example, a terminal might
send ^H when the back arrow key is pressed. In
these cases, the conflicting arrow key performs the
same function as the key combination it mimics.
^ Move the cell cursor up to row 0 of the current
column.
# Move the cell cursor down to the last valid row of
the current column.
0 Move the cell cursor backward to column A of the
current row. This command must be prefixed with ^U
if quick numeric entry mode is enabled.
$ Move the cell cursor forward to the last valid col-
umn of the current row.
b Scan the cursor backward (left and up) to the pre-
vious valid cell.
w Scan the cursor forward (right and down) to the
next valid cell.
^Ed Go to end of range. Follow ^E by a direction indi-
cator such as ^P or j. If the cell cursor starts
on a non-blank cell, it goes in the indicated
direction until the last non-blank adjacent cell.
If the cell cursor starts on a blank cell, it goes
in the indicated direction until the first non-
blank cell. This command is useful when specifying
ranges of adjacent cells (see below), especially
when the range is bigger than the visible window.
g Go to a cell. pname prompts for a cell's name, a
regular expression surrounded by quotes, or a num-
ber. If a cell's name such as ae122 or a the name
of a defined range is given, the cell cursor goes
directly to that cell. If a quoted regular expres-
sion such as " Tax Table " or " ^Jan [0-9]*$ " is
given, pname searches for a cell containing a
string matching the regular expression. See
regex(3) or ed(1) for more details on the form of
regular expressions. If a number is given, pname
will search for a cell containing that number.
Searches for either strings or numbers proceed for-
ward from the current cell, wrapping back to a0 at
the end of the table, and terminate at the current
cell if the string or number is not found. You may
also go to a cell with an ERROR (divide by zero,
etc in this cell) or INVALID (references a cell
containing an ERROR). g error will take you to the
next ERROR, while g invalid take you to the next
invalid. The last g command is saved, and can be
re-issued by entering g<return>.
Cell Entry and Editing Commands
Cells can contain both a numeric value and a string value.
Either value can be the result of an expression, but not
both at once, i.e. each cell can have only one expression
associated with it. Entering a valid numeric expression
alters the cell's previous numeric value, if any, and
replaces the cell's previous string expression, if any,
leaving only the previously computed constant label
string. Likewise, entering a valid string expression
alters the cell's the previous label string, if any, and
replaces the cell's previous numeric expression, if any,
leaving only the previously computed constant numeric
value.
= Enter a numeric constant or expression into the
current cell. pname prompts for the expression on
the top line. The usual way to enter a number into
a cell is to type ``='', then enter the number in
response to the prompt on the top line. The quick
numeric entry option, enabled through the -n option
or ^T command, shows the prompt when you enter the
first digit of a number (you can skip typing
``='').
< Enter a label string into the current cell to be
flushed left against the left edge of the cell.
" Enter a label string into the current cell to be
centered in the column.
> Enter a label string into the current cell to be
flushed right against the right edge of the cell.
F Enter a format string into the current cell. This
format string overrides the precision specified
with the ``f'' command. The format only applies to
numeric values. The following characters can be
used to build a format string:
# Digit placeholder. If the number has fewer
digits on either side of the decimal point
than there are `#' characters in the for-
mat, the extra `#' characters are ignored.
The number is rounded to the number of digit
placeholders as there are to the right of
the decimal point. If there are more digits
in the number than there are digit place-
holders on the left side of the decimal
point, then those digits are displayed.
0 Digit placeholder. Same as for `#' except
that the number is padded with zeroes on
either side of the decimal point. The num-
ber of zeroes used in padding is determined
by the number of digit placeholders after
the `0' for digits on the left side of the
decimal point and by the number of digit
placeholders before the `0' for digits on
the right side of the decimal point.
. Decimal point. Determines how many digits
are placed on the right and left sides of
the decimal point in the number. Note that
numbers smaller than 1 will begin with a
decimal point if the left side of the deci-
mal point contains only a `#' digit place-
holder. Use a `0' placeholder to get a
leading zero in decimal formats.
% Percentage. For each `%' character in the
format, the actual number gets multiplied by
100 (only for purposes of formatting -- the
original number is left unmodified) and the
`%' character is placed in the same position
as it is in the format.
, Thousands separator. The presence of a `,'
in the format (multiple commas are treated
as one) will cause the number to be format-
ted with a `,' separating each set of three
digits in the integer part of the number
with numbering beginning from the right end
of the integer.
\ Quote. This character causes the next char-
acter to be inserted into the formatted
string directly with no special interpreta-
tion.
E- E+ e- e+
Scientific format. Causes the number to
formatted in scientific notation. The case
of the `E' or `e' given is preserved. If
the format uses a `+', then the sign is
always given for the exponent value. If the
format uses a `-', then the sign is only
given when the exponent value is negative.
Note that if there is no digit placeholder
following the `+' or `-', then that part of
the formatted number is left out. In gen-
eral, there should be one or more digit
placeholders after the `+' or `-'.
; Format selector. Use this character to
separate the format into two distinct for-
mats. The format to the left of the `;'
character will be used if the number given
is zero or positive. The format to the
right of the `;' character is used if the
number given is negative.
Some example formats are integer (``0'' or ``#''),
fixed (``0.00''), percentage (``0%'' or ``0.00%''),
scientific (``0.00E+00''), and currency
(``$#,0.00;($#,0.00)'').
Strings you enter must start with ". You can leave off
the trailing " and pname will add it for you. You can
also enter a string expression by backspacing over the
opening " in the prompt.
e Edit the value associated with the current cell.
This is identical to ``='' except that the command
line starts out containing the old numeric value or
expression associated with the cell. The editing
in this mode is vi-like.
^h Move back a character
+ Forward through history (neat) (same as j)
- Backward through history (neat) (same as k)
ESC Done editing
TAB Mark && append a range (ex: A0:A0)
TAB, move around within a range; TAB, append
range string.
CR Save
$ Goto last column
. Insert current dot buffer
/ Search for a string in the history
ESC edit the string you typed
CR search
^h backspace
0 Goto column 0
D Delete to send
I Insert at column 0; ESC revert back to edit
mode
R Replace mode; ESC revert back to edit mode
X Delete the char to the left
a Append after cursor; ESC revert back to edit
mode
b Move back a word
c Change mode; ESC revert back to edit mode
d Delete ...
b back word
f forward (right)
h back char
l forward
t delete forward up to a given char (next
char typed)
w delete next word forward
f Find the next char typed
h Move left a char
i Insert before cursor; ESC revert back to
edit mode
j Forward through history (neat) (same as +)
k Backward through history (neat) (same as -)
l Move right a char
n Continue search
q Stop editing
r Replace char
t Goto a char
u Undo
w Forward a word
x Delete the current char (moving to the
right)
E Edit the string associated with the current cell.
This is identical to ``<'', ``"'', or ``>'' except
that the command line starts out containing the old
string value or expression associated with the
cell. SEE e ABOVE.
To enter and edit a cell's number part, use the ``='' and
e commands. To enter and edit a cell's string part, use
the ``<'', ``"'', ``>'', and E commands. See the sections
below on numeric and string expressions for more informa-
tion.
x Clear the current cell. Deletes the numeric value,
label string, and/or numeric or string expression.
You can prefix this command with a count of the
number of cells on the current row to clear. The
current column is used if column recalculation
order is set. Cells cleared with this command may
be recalled with any of the pull commands (see
below).
m Mark a cell to be used as the source for the copy
command.
c Copy the last marked cell to the current cell,
updating row and column references in its numeric
or string expression, if any.
+ If not in numeric mode, add the current numeric
argument (default 1) to the value of the current
cell. In numeric mode, ``+'' introduces a new
numeric expression or value, the same as ``=''.
- If not in numeric mode, subtract the current
numeric argument (default 1) from the value of the
current cell. In numeric mode, ``-'' introduces a
new, negative, numeric expression or value, like
``=''.
RETURN If you are not editing a cell (top line is empty),
pressing RETURN will make pname enter insert mode.
At this point you may type any valid command or
press ESC once to edit.
File Commands
G Get a new database from a file. If encryption is
enabled, the file is decrypted before it is loaded
into the spreadsheet.
P Put the current database into a file. If encryp-
tion is enabled, the file is encrypted before it is
saved.
W Write a listing of the current database into a file
in a form that matches its appearance on the
screen. This differs from the Put command in that
its files are intended to be reloaded with Get,
while Write produces a file for people to look at.
Hidden rows or columns are not shown when the data
is printed.
T Write a listing of the current database to a file,
but include delimiters suitable for processing by
the tbl, LaTeX, or TeX table processors. The
delimiters are controlled by the tblstyle option.
See Set above. The delimiters are are a colon (:)
for style 0 or tbl and an ampersand (&) for style
latex or tex.
With the Put, Write, and Table commands, the optional
range argument writes a subset of the spreadsheet to the
output file.
With the Write and Table commands, if you try to write to
the last file used with the Get or Put commands, or the
file specified on the command line when pname was invoked,
you are asked to confirm that the (potentially) dangerous
operation is really what you want.
The three output commands, Put, Write, and Table, can pipe
their (unencrypted only) output to a program. To use this
feature, enter ``| program'' to the prompt asking for a
filename. For example, to redirect the output of the
Write command to the printer, you might enter ``| lpr
-p''.
M Merge the database from the named file into the
current database. Values and expressions defined
in the named file are read into the current spread-
sheet overwriting the existing entries at matching
cell locations.
R Run macros. Since pname files are saved as ASCII
files, it is possible to use them as primitive
macro definition files. The Run command makes this
easier. It's like the Merge command, but prints a
saved path name as the start of the filename to
merge in. The string to use is set with the Define
command. To write macros, you must be familiar
with the file format written by the Put command.
This facility is still primitive and could be much
improved.
D Define a path for the Run command to use.
All file operations take a filename as the first argument
to the prompt on the top line. The prompt supplies a " to
aid in typing in the filename. The filename can also be
obtained from a cell's label string or string expression.
In this case, delete the leading " with the backspace key
and enter a cell name such as a22 instead. If the result-
ing string starts with ``|'', the rest of the string is
interpreted as a UNIX command, as above.
Row and Column Commands
These commands can be used on either rows or columns. The
second letter of the command is either a row designator
(one of the characters r, ^B, ^F, h, l) or a column desig-
nator (one of c, ^P, ^N, k, j). A small menu lists the
choices for the second letter when you type the first let-
ter of one of these commands. Commands which move or copy
cells also modify the row and column references in
affected cell expressions. The references may be frozen
by using the fixed operator or using the $ character in
the reference to the cell (see below).
ir, ic Insert a new row (column) by moving the row (col-
umn) containing the cell cursor, and all following
rows (columns), down (right) one row (column). The
new row (column) is empty.
ar, ac Append a new row (column) immediately following the
current row (column). It is initialized as a copy
of the current one.
dr, dc Delete the current row (column).
pr, pc, pm
Pull deleted rows (columns) back into the spread-
sheet. The last deleted set of cells is put back
into the spreadsheet at the current location. pr
inserts enough rows to hold the data. pc inserts
enough columns to hold the data. pm (merge) does
not insert rows or columns; it overwrites the cells
beginning at the current cell cursor location.
vr, vc Remove expressions from the affected rows
(columns), leaving only the values which were in
the cells before the command was executed.
zr, zc Hide (``zap'') the current row (column). This
keeps a row (column) from being displayed but keeps
it in the data base. The status of the rows and
columns is saved with the data base so hidden rows
and columns will be still be hidden when you reload
the spreadsheet. Hidden rows or columns are not
printed by the W command.
sr, sc Show hidden rows (columns). Enter a range of rows
(columns) to be revealed. The default is the first
range of rows (columns) currently hidden. This
command ignores the repeat count, if any.
f Set the output format to be used for printing the
numeric values in each cell in the current column.
Enter three numbers: the total width in characters
of the column, the number of digits to follow deci-
mal points, and the format type. Format types are
0 for fixed point, 1 for scientific notation, 2 for
engineering notation, and 3 for dates. Values are
rounded off to the least significant digit dis-
played. The total column width affects displays of
strings as well as numbers. A preceding count can
be used to affect more than one column. This com-
mand has only a column version (no second letter).
@myrow, @mycol
Are functions that return the row or column of the
current cell respectively. ex: The cell directly
above a cell in the D column could then be accessed
by @nval("d",@myrow-1). NOTE: @myrow and @mycol
can't be used in specifying ranges.
Range Commands
Range operations affect a rectangular region on the screen
defined by the upper left and lower right cells in the
region. All of the commands in this class start with a
slash; the second letter of the command indicates which
command. A small menu lists the choices for the second
letter when you type ``/''. pname prompts for needed
parameters for each command. Phrases surrounded by square
brackets in the prompt are informational only and may be
erased with the backspace key.
Prompts requesting variable names may be satisfied with
either an explicit variable name, such as A10, or with a
variable name previously defined in a /d command (see
below). Range name prompts require either an explicit
range such as A10:B20, or a range name previously defined
with a /d command. A default range shown in the second
line is used if you omit the range from the command or
press the TAB key (see below). The default range can be
changed by moving the cell cursor via the control commands
(^P, ^N, ^B, ^F) or the arrow keys. The cells in the
default range are highlighted (using the terminal's stand-
out mode, if available).
/x Clear a range. Cells cleared with this command may
be recalled with any of the pull commands.
/v Values only. This command removes the expressions
from a range of cells, leaving just the values of
the expressions.
/c Copy a source range to a destination range. The
source and destination may be different sizes. The
result is always one or more full copies of the
source. Copying a row to a row yields a row.
Copying a column to a column yields a column.
Copying a range to anything yields a range. Copy-
ing a row to a column or a column to a row yields a
range with as many copies of the source as there
are cells in the destination. This command can be
used to duplicate a cell through an arbitrary range
by making the source a single cell range such as
b20:b20.
/f Fill a range with constant values starting with a
given value and increasing by a given increment.
Each row is filled before moving on to the next row
if row order recalculation is set. Column order
fills each column in the range before moving on to
the next column. The start and increment numbers
may be positive or negative. To fill all cells
with the same value, give an increment of zero.
/d Use this command to assign a symbolic name to a
single cell or a rectangular range of cells on the
screen. The parameters are the name, surrounded by
"", and either a single cell name such as A10 or a
range such as a1:b20. Names defined in this fash-
ion are used by the program in future prompts, may
be entered in response to prompts requesting a cell
or range name, and are saved when the spreadsheet
is saved with the Put command. Names defined must
be more than two alpha characters long to differen-
tiate them from a column names, and must not have
embedded special characters. Names may include the
character ``_'' or numerals as long as they occur
after the first three alpha characters.
/l Use this command to lock the current cell or a
range of cells, i.e make them immune to any type of
editing. A locked cell can't be changed in anyway
until it is unlocked.
/U This command is the opposite of the /l command and
thus unlocks a locked cell and makes it editable.
/s This command lists (shows) the currently defined
range names. If there are no defined range names,
then a message is given, otherwise it pipes output
to sort, then to less. If the environment variable
PAGER is set, its value is used in place of less.
/u Use this command to undefine a previously defined
range name.
/F Use this command to assign a value format string
(see the ``F'' cell entry command) to a range of
cells.
Miscellaneous Commands
Q
q
^C Exit from pname. If you made any changes since the
last Get or Put, pname asks about saving your data
before exiting.
^G
ESC Abort entry of the current command.
? Enter an interactive help facility. Lets you look
up brief summaries of the main features of the pro-
gram. The help facility is structured like this
manual page so it is easy to find more information
on a particular topic.
! Shell escape. pname prompts for a shell command to
run. End the command line with the RETURN key. If
the environment variable SHELL is defined, that
shell is run. If not, /bin/sh is used. Giving a
null command line starts the shell in interactive
mode. A second ``!'' repeats the previous command.
^L Redraw the screen.
^R Redraw the screen with special highlighting of
cells to be filled in. This is useful for finding
values you need to provide or update in a form with
which you aren't familiar or of which you have for-
gotten the details.
It's also useful for checking a form you are creat-
ing. All cells which contain constant numeric val-
ues (not the result of a numeric expression) are
highlighted temporarily, until the next screen
change, however minor. To avoid ambiguity, the
current range (if any) and current cell are not
highlighted.
^X This command is similar to ^R, but highlights cells
which have expressions. It also displays the
expressions in the highlighted cells as left-
flushed strings, instead of the numeric values
and/or label strings of those cells. This command
makes it easier to check expressions, at least when
they fit in their cells or the following cell(s)
are blank so the expressions can slop over (like
label strings). In the latter case, the slop over
is not cleared on the next screen update, so you
may want to type ^L after the ^X in order to clean
up the screen.
@ Recalculates the spreadsheet.
^V Type, in the command line, the name of the current
cell (the one at the cell cursor). This is useful
when entering expressions which refer to other
cells in the table.
^W Type, in the command line, the expression attached
to the current cell. If there is none, the result
is ``?''.
^A Type, in the command line, the numeric value of the
current cell, if any.
The ^V, ^W, and ^A commands only work when the character
cursor is on the command line and beyond the first charac-
ter.
TAB When the character cursor is on the top line,
defines a range of cells via the cursor control
commands or the arrow keys. The range is high-
lighted, starts at the cell where you typed TAB,
and continues through the current cell cursor.
Pressing TAB again causes the highlighted range to
be entered into the command line and the highlight-
ing to be turned off. This is most useful for
defining ranges to functions such as @sum().
Pressing ``)'' acts just like typing the TAB key
the second time and adds the closing ``)''. Note
that when you give a range command, you don't need
to press the first TAB to begin defining a range
starting with the current cell.
Variable Names
Normally, a variable name is just the name of a cell, such
as K20. The value is the numeric or string value of the
cell, according to context.
When a cell's expression (formula) is copied to another
location via copy or range-copy, variable references are
by default offset by the amount the formula moved. This
allows the new formula to work on new data. If cell ref-
erences are not to change, you can either use the fixed
operator (see below), or one of the following variations
on the cell name.
K20 References cell K20; the reference changes when the
formula is copied.
$K$20 Always refers to cell K20; the reference stays
fixed when the formula is copied.
$K20 Keeps the column fixed at column K; the row is free
to vary.
K$20 Similarly, this fixes the row and allows the column
to vary.
These conventions also hold on defined ranges. Range
references vary when formulas containing them are copied.
If the range is defined with fixed variable references,
the references do not change.
fixed To make a variable not change automatically when a
cell moves, put the word fixed in front of the ref-
erence, for example: B1 * fixed C3.
Numeric Expressions
Numeric expressions used with the ``='' and e commands
have a fairly conventional syntax. Terms may be con-
stants, variable names, parenthesized expressions, and
negated terms. Ranges may be operated upon with range
functions such as sum (@sum()) and average (@avg()).
Terms may be combined using binary operators.
-e Negation.
e+e Addition.
e-e Subtraction.
e*e Multiplication.
e/e Division.
e1%e2 e1 mod e2.
e^e Exponentiation.
e<e
e<=e
e=e
e!=e
e>=e
e>e Relationals: true (1) if and only if the indicated
relation holds, else false (0). Note that ``<='',
``!='', and ``>='' are converted to their ``~()''
equivalents.
~e Boolean operator NOT.
e&e Boolean operator AND.
e|e Boolean operator OR.
@if(e,e,e)
e?e:e Conditional: If the first expression is true then
the value of the second is returned, otherwise the
value of the third.
Operator precedence from highest to lowest is:
-, ~
^
*, /
+, -
<, <=, =, !=, >=, >
&
|
?:
Built-in Range Functions
These functions return numeric values.
@sum(r) Sum all valid (nonblank) entries in the
region whose two corners are defined by
the two variable names (e.g. c5:e14) or
the range name specified.
@prod(r) Multiply together all valid (nonblank)
entries in the specified region.
@avg(r) Average all valid (nonblank) entries in
the specified region.
@count(r) Count all valid (nonblank) entries in
the specified region.
@max(r) Return the maximum value in the speci-
fied region. See also the multi argu-
ment version of @max below.
@min(r) Return the minimum value in the speci-
fied region. See also the multi argu-
ment version of @min below.
@stddev(r) Return the sample standard deviation of
the cells in the specified region.
@lookup(e,r)
@lookup(se,r) Evaluates the expression then searches
through the range r for a matching
value. The range should be either a
single row or a single column. The
expression can be either a string
expression or a numeric expression. If
it is a numeric expression, the range is
searched for the the last value less
than or equal to e. If the expression
is a string expression, the string por-
tions of the cells in the range are
searched for an exact string match. The
value returned is the numeric value from
the next row and the same column as the
match, if the range was a single row, or
the value from the next column and the
same row as the match if the range was a
single column.
@hlookup(e,r,n)
@hlookup(se,r,n) Evaluates the expression then searches
through the first row in the range r for
a matching value. The expression can be
either a string expression or a numeric
expression. If it is a numeric expres-
sion, the row is searched for the the
last value less than or equal to e. If
the expression is a string expression,
the string portions of the cells in the
row are searched for an exact string
match. The value returned is the
numeric value from the same column n
rows below the match.
@vlookup(e,r,n)
@vlookup(se,r,n) Evaluates the expression then searches
through the first column in the range r
for a matching value. The expression
can be either a string expression or a
numeric expression. If it is a numeric
expression, the column is searched for
the the last value less than or equal to
e. If the expression is a string
expression, the string portions of the
cells in the column are searched for an
exact string match. The value returned
is the numeric value from the same row n
columns to the right of the match.
@index(e,r) Use the value of the expression e to
index into the range r. The numeric
value at that position is returned. The
value 1 selects the first item in the
range, 2 selects the second item, etc.
R should be either a single row or a
single column.
@stindex(e,r) Use the value of e to index into the
range r. The string value at that posi-
tion is returned. The value 1 selects
the first item in the range, 2 selects
the second item, etc. The range should
be either a single row or a single col-
umn.
Built-in Numeric Functions
All of these functions operate on floating point numbers
(doubles) and return numeric values. Most of them are
standard system functions more fully described in math(3).
The trig functions operate with angles in radians.
@sqrt(e) Return the square root of e.
@exp(e) Return the exponential function of e.
@ln(e) Return the natural logarithm of e.
@log(e) Return the base 10 logarithm of e.
@floor(e) Return the largest integer not greater
than e.
@ceil(e) Return the smallest integer not less
than e.
@rnd(e) Round e to the nearest integer.
default: round-to-even (banker's round),
*.5 will round to the closest even num-
ber; 'set rndinfinity' will round *.5 up
to the next integer.
@round(e,n) Round e to n decimal places. n may be
positive to round off the right side of
the decimal, and negative to round off
the left side. See @rnd(e) above for
rounding types.
@abs(e)
@fabs(e) Return the absolute value of e.
@pow(e1,e2) Return e1 raised to the power of e2.
@hypot(e1,e2) Return sqrt(e1*e1+e2*e2), taking precau-
tions against unwarranted overflows.
pi @pi A constant quite close to pi.
@dtr(e) Convert e in degrees to radians.
@rtd(e) Convert e in radians to degrees.
@sin(e)
@cos(e)
@tan(e) Return trigonometric functions of radian
arguments. The magnitude of the argu-
ments are not checked to assure meaning-
ful results.
@asin(e) Return the arc sine of e in the range
-pi/2 to pi/2.
@acos(e) Return the arc cosine of e in the range
0 to pi.
@atan(e) Return the arc tangent of e in the range
-pi/2 to pi/2.
@atan2(e1,e2) Returns the arc tangent of e1/e2 in the
range -pi to pi.
@max(e1,e2,...) Return the maximum of the values of the
expressions. Two or more expressions
may be specified. See also the range
version of @max above.
@min(e1,e2,...) Return the minimum of the values of the
expressions. Two or more expressions
may be specified. See also the range
version of @min above.
@ston(se) Convert string expression se to a
numeric value.
@eqs(se1,se2) Return 1 if string expression se1 has
the same value as string expression se2,
0 otherwise.
@nval(se,e) Return the numeric value of a cell
selected by name. String expression se
must evaluate to a column name
(``A''-``AE'') and e must evaluate to a
row number (0-199). If se or e is out
of bounds, or the cell has no numeric
value, the result is 0. You can use
this for simple table lookups. Be sure
the table doesn't move unexpectedly!
See also @sval() below.
String Expressions
String expressions are made up of constant strings (char-
acters surrounded by double quotation marks), variables
(cell names, which refer to the cells's label strings or
expressions), and string functions. Note that string
expressions are only allowed when entering a cell's label
string, not its numeric part. Also note that string
expression results may be left or right flushed or cen-
tered, according to the type of the cell's string label.
# Concatenate strings. For example, the string
expression
A0 # "zy dog"
displays the string ``the lazy dog'' in the cell if
the value of A0's string is ``the la''.
Built-in String Functions
@substr(se,e1,e2) Extract and return from string expres-
sion se the substring indexed by charac-
ter number e1 through character number
e2 (defaults to the size of se if beyond
the end of it). If e1 is less than 1 or
greater than e2, the result is the null
string. For example,
@substr ("Nice jacket", 4, 7)
returns the string ``e jac''.
@fmt(se,e) Convert a number to a string. The argu-
ment se must be a valid printf(3) format
string. e is converted according to the
standard rules. For example, the
expression
@fmt ("**%6.3f**", 10.5)
yields the string ``**10.500**''. e is
a double, so applicable formats are e,
E, f, g, and G. Try ``%g'' as a start-
ing point.
@sval(se,e) Return the string value of a cell
selected by name. String expression se
must evaluate to a column name
(``A''-``AE'') and e must evaluate to a
row number (0-199). If se or e is out
of bounds, or the cell has no string
value, the result is the null string.
You can use this for simple table
lookups. Be sure the table doesn't move
unexpectedly!
@upper(e) and @lower(e) will case the string
expression to upper or lower.
@capital(e) will convert the first letter of words
in a string into upper case and other
letters to lower case (the latter if all
letters of the string are upper case).
@upper(e) and @lower(e) will case the string
expression to upper or lower.
@capital(e) will convert the first letter of words
in a string into upper case.
@ext(se,e) Call an external function (program or
script). The purpose is to allow arbi-
trary functions on values, e.g. table
lookups and interpolations. String
expression se is a command or command
line to call with popen(3). The value
of e is converted to a string and
appended to the command line as an argu-
ment. The result of @ext() is a string:
the first line printed to standard out-
put by the command. The command should
emit exactly one output line. Addi-
tional output, or output to standard
error, messes up the screen. @ext()
returns a null string and prints an
appropriate warning if external func-
tions are disabled, se is null, or the
attempt to run the command fails.
External functions can be slow to run,
and if enabled are called at each screen
update, so they are disabled by default.
You can enable them with ^T when you
really want them called.
A simple example:
@ext ("echo", a1)
You can use @ston() to convert the
@ext() result back to a number. For
example:
@ston (@ext ("form.sc.ext", a9 +
b9))
Note that you can built a command line
(including more argument values) from a
string expression with concatenation.
You can also "hide" the second argument
by ending the command line (first argu-
ment) with `` #'' (shell comment).
@coltoa(e) Returns a string name for a column from
the numeric argument. For example:
@coltoa(@mycol-1)
@nval(coltoa(@mycol-1), @myrow+1)
Built-in Financial Functions
Financial functions compute the mortgage (or loan) pay-
ment, future value, and the present value functions. Each
accepts three arguments, an amount, a rate of interest
(per period), and the number of periods. These functions
are the same as those commonly found in other spreadsheets
and financial calculators
@pmt(e1,e2,e3) @pmt(60000,.01,360) computes the monthly
payments for a $60000 mortgage at 12%
annual interest (.01 per month) for 30
years (360 months).
@fv(e1,e2,e3) @fv(100,.005,36) computes the future
value for of 36 monthly payments of $100
at 6% interest (.005 per month). It
answers the question: "How much will I
have in 36 months if I deposit $100 per
month in a savings account paying 6%
interest compounded monthly?"
@pv(e1,e2,e3) @pv(1000,.015,36) computes the present
value of an a ordinary annuity of 36
monthly payments of $1000 at 18% annual
interest. It answers the question: "How
much can I borrow at 18% for 30 years if
I pay $1000 per month?"
Built-in Date and Time Functions
Time for pname follows the system standard: the number of
seconds since 1970. All date and time functions except
@date() return numbers, not strings.
@now Return the current time encoded as the
number of seconds since the beginning of
the epoch (December 31, 1969, midnight,
GMT.)
@dts(e1,e2,e3) @dts(9,14,1988) converts the date
September 14, 1988 to the number of sec-
onds from the epoch to the first second
of 9/14/88, local time. For example,
@date(@dts(12,14,1976)) yields
Tue Dec 14 00:00:00 1976
The month should be range from 1 to 12,
the day should range from 1 to the num-
ber of days in the specified month, and
the year should range from 1970 to 1999.
@tts(e1,e2,e3) @tts(8,20,45) converts the time 8:40:45
to the number of seconds since midnight,
the night before. The hour should range
from 0 to 23; the minutes and seconds
should range from 0 to 59.
The following functions take the time in seconds (e.g.
from @now) as an argument and return the specified value.
The functions all convert from GMT to local time.
@date(e) Convert the time in seconds to a date
string 24 characters long in the follow-
ing form:
Sun Sep 16 01:03:52 1973
Note that you can extract parts of this
fixed-format string with @substr().
@year(e) Return the year. Valid years begin with
1970. The last legal year is system
dependent.
@month(e) Return the month, encoded as 1 (January)
to 12 (December).
@day(e) Return the day of the month, encoded as
1 to 31.
@hour(e) Return the number of hours since mid-
night, encoded as 0 to 23.
@minute(e) Return the number of minutes since the
last full hour, encoded as 0 to 59.
@second(e) Return the number of seconds since the
last full minute, encoded as 0 to 59.
Spreadsheet Update
Re-evaluation of spreadsheet expressions is done by row or
by column depending on the selected calculation order.
Evaluation is repeated up to iterations times for each
update if necessary, so forward references usually work as
expected. See set above. If stability is not reached
after ten iterations, a warning is printed. This is usu-
ally due to a long series of forward references, or to
unstable cyclic references (for example, set A0's expres-
sion to ``A0+1'').
@numiter Returns the number of iterations per-
formed so far.
FILES
#LIBDIR#/tutorial.pname tutorial spread-
sheet
SEE ALSO
bc(1), dc(1), crypt(1), ppname(1)
BUGS
Top-to-bottom, left-to-right evaluation of expressions is
silly. A proper following of the dependency graph with
(perhaps) recourse to relaxation should be implemented.
Only one previous value is saved from any call of @ext().
If it is used more than once in a spreadsheet and external
functions are enabled and later disabled, the last
returned value pops up in several places.
On some systems, if the cell cursor is in column 0 with
topline enabled (so the current cell is highlighted), or
if any cell in column 0 is highlighted, the corresponding
row number gets displayed and then blanked during a screen
refresh. This looks like a bug in curses.
Many commands give no indication (a message or beep) if
they have null effect. Some should give confirmation of
their action, but they don't.
AUTHORS
This is a much modified version of a public domain spread
sheet originally authored by James Gosling, and subse-
quently modified and posted to USENET by Mark Weiser under
the name vc. The program was subsequently renamed sc, and
further modified by numerous contributors, Jeff Buhrt of
Proslink, Inc. ({sequent, uunet}!sawmill!prslnk!buhrt)
and Robert Bond of Sequent, prominent among them. Other
contributors include: Tom Anderson, Glenn T. Barry, Gre-
gory Bond, Stephen (Steve) M. Brooks, Peter Brower, John
Campbell, Lawrence Cipriani, Jim Clausing, Dave Close,
Chris Cole, Jonathan Crompron, David I. Dalva, Glen Ditch-
field, Sam Drake, James P. Dugal, Paul Eggert, Andy Fyfe,
Jack Goral, Piercarlo "Peter" Grandi, Henk Hesselink, Jef-
frey C Honig, Kurt Horton, Jonathan I. Kamens, Peter King,
Tom Kloos, Casey Leedom, Jay Lepreau, Dave Lewis, Rick
Linck, Soren Lundsgaard, Tad Mannes, Rob McMahon, Chris
Metcalf, Mark Nagel, Ulf Noren, Marius Olafsson, Gene H.
Olson, Henk P. Penning, Rick Perry, Larry Philps, Eric
Putz, Jim Richardson, Michael Richardson, R. P. C.
Rodgers, Kim Sanders, Mike Schwartz, Alan Silverstein,
Lowell Skoog, Herr Soeryantono, Tim Theisen, Tom Tkacik,
Andy Valencia, Adri Verhoef, Rick Walker, Petri Wessman,
and Tim Wilson.
Hurricane Electric Internet Services
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Hurricane Electric.
All Rights Reserved.