simon@alberta.UUCP (Simon Tortike) (02/28/88)
Someone earlier made a request for software suggestions for the Macintosh.
Amoung these was a request for spreadsheets. Excel and a few others were
mentioned by various people, but I would like to promote the spreadsheet
program `Trapeze'. I used Excel for about two years before being shown
Trapeze and I find that as someone who is quite comfortable with linear
algebra, Trapeze is much easier to comprehend. Bar a few inconsistancies, I
could best describe it as APL on a spreadsheet, with the added benefits of
text fields and a far more sensible implementation of plotting facilities
than Excel or Chart. All numbers are two-dimensional arrays, usually named,
and can be used as arrays in all arithmetic on the worksheets. The results
are all autosized, as in APL. There is even a ravel function.
My only complaint so far is the convoluted way in which a trivial array
operation such as
vector_a(index(i)) = vector_b(i)
can be implemented, where i=1..n. Of course, I might be missing something
trivial.
Traditional spreadsheets stick too close to the limitations of the original
paper spreadsheet for me, and appear to be designed for those who are not
familiar with linear algebra. I would like to hear from other users of
Trapeze, via e-mail, and would like to see some discussion on the net of the
merits and deficiencies of spreadsheets in general.
-------------------
W. Simon Tortike
Dept Min, Met & UUCP: ...{ubc-vision,ihnp4,mnetor}!alberta!simon
Petroleum Engg BITNET: stortike@ualtavm
Univ. of Alberta AGT: (403) 432-3338
Edmonton, AB
Canada T6G 2G6