flowers@lanai.cs.ucla.edu (Margot Flowers) (06/15/89)
>I have been using Wingz on my Plus, and it is perfectly useable, and >much faster than Excel. Then only problem is when you do 3D graphs - >these are real slow, and it updates them (redrawing the entire graph) >much too often. The 3D graph redrawing is very painful (9000 floating point datapoints on a 5mb MacII takes a minute or so, depending on which 3D graph is chosen). Fortunately, you can abort graph redrawing by command-. The graphs themselves, and options, are nice. My current problem with Wingz is printing these graphs. Output takes several minutes to prepare on the Mac and then over 40 minutes to come out of the laserwriter (I don't know how much over because I went to lunch). This is with superlaserspool -- without it the document preparation freezes my mac even longer, although overall output may be less. When I called them, they said that the output is in quickdraw, and with so many datapoints, takes a long time to convert to postscript. Does anyone have any suggestions for speeding up graph printing? Is there some utility or method for converting quickdraw to postscript that would make output less painful? How do the other graphing programs do with this kind of data? thanks, Margot Flowers Flowers@CS.UCLA.EDU ...!(uunet,rutgers,ucbvax,randvax)!cs.ucla.edu!flowers
rudolph@m.cs.uiuc.edu (06/15/89)
/* Written 12:38 pm Jun 14, 1989 by flowers@lanai.cs.ucla.edu in m.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.mac */ Does anyone have any suggestions for speeding up graph printing? Is there some utility or method for converting quickdraw to postscript that would make output less painful? How do the other graphing programs do with this kind of data? /* End of text from m.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.mac */ I've seen similar 3D graphs from Mathematica (not on the Mac) in postscript which take close to an hour to print on our LN03, so I wouldn't blame Wingz entirely. Postscript can be slow.
jb28+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jeffrey Joseph Barbose) (06/18/89)
Margot, Most applications output Quickdraw. In fact, it's almost foolish not to, because that's what LaserPrep and LaserWriter files are there for! I have heard that Apple has been breathing down Adobe's neck to speed up postscript, but don't quote me on that. Jeff
kevin@kosman.UUCP (Kevin O'Gorman) (06/23/89)
>I have been using Wingz on my Plus, and it is perfectly useable, and >much faster than Excel. Then only problem is when you do 3D graphs - >these are real slow, and it updates them (redrawing the entire graph) >much too often. Well, I just got my copy of Wingz by the special offer. I was a bit tired of MS software, and it was worth $99 to take a peek at an alternative. My impression: a neat tool, but I can't use it without a significant change to how I do things. For one thing, I use a number of spreadsheets in different folders, with a couple of master sheets that are linked to the scattered detail sheets. As near as I can tell, you can't link spreadsheets at all in Wingz. I really like having changes to my bank balances or receivables charts show up immediately in the Net Worth spreadsheet. I could do this with one big sheet in Wingz, but then I would lose some of the flexibility I now enjoy about how the sheet looks, and where it is. The other thing is that some of my spreadsheets are HUGE. Of course, Wingz can handle the size, but when I'm in the midst of the sheet, I can't see the row and column heads. In Excel, I handle this by splitting the window. I can't see a way to do that in Wingz. So it looks like it's a tool I'll use for presentations, which is where it's got itself positioned. Too bad, I don't do that very much. I keep hoping for the one tool that will do it all for me. I know, dream on....
cortesi@infmx.UUCP (David Cortesi) (06/24/89)
In article <796@kosman.UUCP> kevin@kosman.UUCP (Root) writes: > For one thing, I use a number of spreadsheets >in different folders, with a couple of master sheets that are linked to >the scattered detail sheets. As near as I can tell, you can't link >spreadsheets at all in Wingz. It may not be exactly what you want, but any expression may refer to the value of a cell in any other open spreadsheet, so that "Sales:C20" is that cell in the sheet named Sales. The catch is that the other sheets have to be open at the same time; Wingz won't go get them. But if a group was always used together you could start work by dragging a Finder rectangle around them and double-clicking... >The other thing is that some of my spreadsheets are HUGE. Of course, >Wingz can handle the size, but when I'm in the midst of the sheet, I >can't see the row and column heads. In Excel, I handle this by splitting >the window. I can't see a way to do that in Wingz. Again it's not exactly the same thing, but you can open multiple windows onto any sheet and drag and resize them, so you could open a window showing just column heads and then overlap it with a window in which you scroll to the detail rows. (And other windows on other sections of your HUGE sheet, in sizes & shapes as you want...) /////// / ////// // David Cortesi Disclaimer: I work on //// / /// Informix Software databases, I don't know /// / //// Menlo Park, CA USA anything about spreadsheets! // / ///// infmx!cortesi Mac? Whozza Mac? z'run VMS? / ////////
simon@alberta.uucp (Simon Tortike) (06/24/89)
In article <796@kosman.UUCP> kevin@kosman.UUCP (Root) writes: ....lots of wishes for things in a spreadsheet.... >Wingz can handle the size, but when I'm in the midst of the sheet, I >can't see the row and column heads. In Excel, I handle this by splitting >the window. I can't see a way to do that in Wingz. > >So it looks like it's a tool I'll use for presentations, which is where >it's got itself positioned. Too bad, I don't do that very much. > >I keep hoping for the one tool that will do it all for me. I know, >dream on.... Trapeze suports spreadsheet linking and has window splitters. It also has much better graphics than Excel, supports colour, imported PICTs, text blocks with styles, etc. It doesn't do 3D graphs, but has everything else you mentioned. It is also one of the best for scientific and engineering applications---try doing linear algebra in Excel with the notation one normally learns at school (presuming it is still taught). Trapeze is also fast with good FP support, in calculations and graph plotting. ------------------- Simon Tortike, Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineering, The University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, CANADA T6G 2G6. simon@alberta.uucp || simon@cs.UAlberta.CA || Tel. +1 403 492-3338
kevin@kosman.UUCP (Kevin O'Gorman) (06/25/89)
In article <796@kosman.UUCP> I write: For one thing, I use a number of spreadsheets in different folders, with a couple of master sheets that are linked to the scattered detail sheets. As near as I can tell, you can't link spreadsheets at all in Wingz. In article <1604@infmx.UUCP> cortesi@infmx.UUCP (David Cortesi) writes: It may not be exactly what you want, but any expression may refer to the value of a cell in any other open spreadsheet, so that "Sales:C20" is that cell in the sheet named Sales. The catch is that the other sheets have to be open at the same time; Wingz won't go get them. But if a group was always used together you could start work by dragging a Finder rectangle around them and double-clicking... Not a solution: remember my sheets are in different folders, and you can't do that trick across folders. Besides, there's quite a few of them scattered about, and the whole reason this looks like a useful thing to do is that I don't have to think about where the other sheets are or what they are unless I'm working with their data. Also, where is this documented? I can't find linking in the index, and I'm not sure what else to look for. In article <796@kosman.UUCP> I write: The other thing is that some of my spreadsheets are HUGE. Of course, Wingz can handle the size, but when I'm in the midst of the sheet, I can't see the row and column heads. In Excel, I handle this by splitting the window. I can't see a way to do that in Wingz. In article <1604@infmx.UUCP> cortesi@infmx.UUCP (David Cortesi) writes: Again it's not exactly the same thing, but you can open multiple windows onto any sheet and drag and resize them, so you could open a window showing just column heads and then overlap it with a window in which you scroll to the detail rows. (And other windows on other sections of your HUGE sheet, in sizes & shapes as you want...) Oh. I didn't try that. It still sounds like an awkward solution, though, because the headings won't scroll as I navigate in the "entry" window. Plus, I would need two windows of headings so that I could navigate independently along both margins. The size of the toolbox means this would cost a lot of real estate, but I do have a 19" monitor, so it sort of fits. Overall, it's a possible kludge. Without a solution to the first problem, though, I'm afraid Wingz goes on the shelf for now.
rudolph@m.cs.uiuc.edu (06/28/89)
/* Written 9:46 pm Jun 22, 1989 by kevin@kosman.UUCP in m.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.mac */ The other thing is that some of my spreadsheets are HUGE. Of course, Wingz can handle the size, but when I'm in the midst of the sheet, I can't see the row and column heads. In Excel, I handle this by splitting the window. I can't see a way to do that in Wingz. /* End of text from m.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.mac */ No one seems to have mentioned the obvious Wingz solution to this - there is a command to lock row and/or column headings in place so they don't scroll. I find this much better than splitting the windows. I don't remember which menu the command is in, and I'm not at a Mac now so I can't find it. If you have trouble finding it, send mail and I'll figure out where it is. David Rudolph rudolph@m.cs.uiuc.edu University of Illinois