stovsky@elephant.cis.ohio-state.edu (Stovsky) (10/09/89)
Hello, I am about to take the plunge & purchase a spreadsheet and am having a tough time deciding between Excel & Wingz. The most difficult part of my decision revolves around linked spreadsheets. My understanding is that Wingz requires all linked spreadsheets to be in memory (i.e. open) in order to update calculations across all of the spreadsheets while Excel does not require me to open all of the linked spreadsheets. Is this true? (I am planning to use the spreadsheets for, among other things, to track budgets and investments. It seems reasonable to me to have "summary" spreadsheets to give me a capsule view of the state of my finances etc. Hence, my desire to NOT have to open each speadsheet manually.) If you can shed any light on my dilemma or point out any errors in my thinking I'd appreciate it. If you have any experiences with either/both Excel & Wingz I'd appreciate your informed opinion(s). If this discussion has been beaten to death on the net, send me mail and I will summarize. Thanks in advance! Mike (stovsky@cis.ohio-state.edu)
daver@dg.dg.com (Dave Rudolph) (10/11/89)
In article <65816@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <stovsky@cis.ohio-state.edu> writes: >My understanding is that >Wingz requires all linked spreadsheets to be in memory (i.e. open) in order >to update calculations across all of the spreadsheets while Excel does not >require me to open all of the linked spreadsheets. Is this true? Yes, this is true, and it is one of the more annoying features of Wingz. Aside from a few minor annoyances like that, I highly recommend Wingz. David Rudolph uunet!dg!daver
malczews@girtab.usc.edu (Frank Malczewski) (10/13/89)
In article <216@dg.dg.com> uunet!dg!daver (Dave Rudolph) writes: >In article <65816@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <stovsky@cis.ohio-state.edu> writes: > >>My understanding is that >>Wingz requires all linked spreadsheets to be in memory (i.e. open) in order >>to update calculations across all of the spreadsheets while Excel does not >>require me to open all of the linked spreadsheets. Is this true? > >Yes, this is true, and it is one of the more annoying features of Wingz. >Aside from a few minor annoyances like that, I highly recommend Wingz. > >David Rudolph >uunet!dg!daver Just read today (in MacWeek) that Wingz is upgrading everyone to 1.1 sometime within the next week or so; a number of feature enhancements to appease ex-Excel users were apparently added, a new graph type or two, etc. But, no mention was made of the spreadsheet linking weakness. Anyone have any info on whether this was enhanced? (I will likely be finding out sometime soon, I guess, one way or the other :) -- -- Frank Malczewski (malczews@girtab.usc.edu)
benw@microsoft.UUCP (Benjamin Waldman) (10/22/89)
>In article <65816@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <stovsky@cis.ohio-state.edu> writes: > >My understanding is that >Wingz requires all linked spreadsheets to be in memory (i.e. open) in order >to update calculations across all of the spreadsheets while Excel does not >require me to open all of the linked spreadsheets. Is this true? Excel distinguishes between simple and complex external references. Updating values for simple external references does not require that the supporting sheets be open, while updating values for complex external references does require this (if the supporting sheets are not open, though, you just get a #REF! in the dependent sheet, NOT a wrong value). A simple external reference is an absolute reference to a cell, cell range, named cell or range or named constant in another worksheet. If an external reference is not simple, it's complex. BUT, you can do just about anything with a simple external reference--see the Excel manual for details (for Excel 2.2, see pages 429-441, espcially pps 433-34. So the bottom line is that for most cases (and just about every case if you design things right), you don't need the supporting sheets open in order to properly update the dependent sheet. Ben Waldman Software Design Engineer Microsoft Corp. uunet!microsoft!benw Disclaimer: These are my thoughts, opinions, and ideas, not my employers.