18215MES@MSU.BITNET (05/02/89)
I thinnk the product WingZ is great, but it needs a bit of work
Wingz review-MES-
I normally create charts with cricket graph, but after seeing a knockout
demo of wingz in Ann Arbor, I decided to get a copy for myself and to
possibly use it instead of cricket graph. The Spreadsheet and DB seem to be
adequate, but it's the charting capabilities that sold me. I like the parsing -
getting headers, title etc from spreadsheet, and the multitude of chart types.
However, it is flexible but demanding in it's user interface. That is, there is
no shortcut double clicking such as to change an axis range, and just try to
get the height of a single ten item data set in a 3d bar chart to be of a
reasonable height. The printing is ok, but you must constantly size the chart,
then do a page preview to get the chart to fit properly on the page. There is
a reduced view mode ("scale") which would help one properly arrange items
on the screen, but your document is printed at this reduced view also!
(cricket of course lets you stretch and position the chart on the page easily in
a reduced view). Also, when creating a chart, the document will not scroll
outside the normal bounds of the screen. One of my biggest pet peeves, is the
decided lack of undo almost throughout. Also, page breaks don't show
automatically as a layout aid. Also, non-standard multiple selection - control
click instead of shift click. Bottom line -the educational price still a great
deal, WingZ is just as capable as other spreadsheets, and seems rock solid
bug wise, but a bit harder to use in the overall charting and page layout user
interface. It needs a little work (upgrade - when and how much??).rudolph@m.cs.uiuc.edu (05/03/89)
/* Written 9:57 pm May 1, 1989 by 18215MES@MSU.BITNET in m.cs.uiuc.edu:comp.sys.mac */ /* ---------- "WingZ review - MES - natty" ---------- */ click instead of shift click. Bottom line -the educational price still a great deal, WingZ is just as capable as other spreadsheets, and seems rock solid What educational price? How much is it? David Rudolph rudolph@m.cs.uiuc.edu University of Illinois