rapatel@khnphwzhn.njin.net ( Rakesh Patel) (09/08/90)
I would like information on spreadsheets for Suns that support X. There is an article in the latest Unix Today comparing Lotus 123, 20/20, and WingZ, unfortunately, only 20/20 runs under X. There was a comment in the article about the lack of ease when dealing with multiple worksheets which cross reference each other. I would like to hear from people who have acutally used 20/20 to comment on it's strengths and weaknesses. I am also interested in hearing about other spreadsheets that people are using. Anyone have comments on UltraCalc II from Olympus Software Inc. or Q-Plan/CliqCalc from Quadratron Systems Inc.? These are listed in the latest Catalyst catalog from Sun. Please send mail to me directly (rapatel@pilot.njin.net). I will post the collected information if many people request it. Thanks, Rakesh Patel.
jac@sundance.llnl.gov (James Crotinger) (09/11/90)
I would be very interested in a summary of your responses. I was quite excited after reading a review of WingZ the other day, until I read it was a SunView product. What I don't understand is why they went to the trouble to write a SunView product with the OPEN LOOK UI (and it must have been trouble, since Sun doesn't supply tools to do this, as far as I know). Sheesh! Jim -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- James A. Crotinger Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab // The above views jac@gandalf.llnl.gov P.O. Box 808; L-630 \\ // are mine and are not (415) 422-0259 Livermore CA 94550 \\/ necessarily those of LLNL.
de5@de5.CTD.ORNL.GOV (Dave Sill) (09/11/90)
In article <67778@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>, jac@sundance.llnl.gov (James Crotinger) writes: > > I would be very interested in a summary of your responses. I >was quite excited after reading a review of WingZ the other day, >until I read it was a SunView product. What I don't understand >is why they went to the trouble to write a SunView product with >the OPEN LOOK UI (and it must have been trouble, since Sun doesn't >supply tools to do this, as far as I know). Sheesh! I called Informix last winter and they said they were working on a Motif version of WingZ and expected it to be shipping Q4 of this year. This is confirmed somewhat by the inclusion of WingZ in NCD's eXport Catalog which lists WingZ for the DECstation 2100/3100 at $599. Other speadsheets listed include eXclaim! by Quality Software Products and a couple bundled with the Office Automation packages Uniplex Business Software (by Uniplex) and Alis (by Applix). I have no first-hand experience with any of these packages. -- Dave Sill (de5@ornl.gov) Martin Marietta Energy Systems Workstation Support
willis@ecovsb.ncsu.edu (Bill Willis) (09/11/90)
Applied Information Systems will begin shipping a product named Xess in
mid-October. It is a full functioned X11/Motif based spreadsheet which
offers special capabilites in the area of scientific computation,
statistics, and has the ability to program client process which connect
with the sheet.
Notably it is a true X11 program and makes full use of X11 cpabilities
including cut-paste between other sheets and other X applications.
Those interested should contact Applied Information Systems in Chapel
Hill, North Carolina. Their number is 1 800 334 5510
BTW, I must admit to an interest in the program. I was one of the developers...
Bill Willis, Director willis@ecovsa.ncsu.edu
Engineering Computer Operations willis%ecovsa@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
Box 7901, School of Engineering
North Carolina State University
(919) 737-2458
We have met the enemy, and they are us --- Pogochris@SALT.ACC.COM (Chris VandenBerg) (09/11/90)
>In article <67778@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>, jac@sundance.llnl.gov (James Crotinger) writes: >> >> I would be very interested in a summary of your responses. I >>was quite excited after reading a review of WingZ the other day, >>until I read it was a SunView product. What I don't understand >>is why they went to the trouble to write a SunView product with >>the OPEN LOOK UI (and it must have been trouble, since Sun doesn't >>supply tools to do this, as far as I know). Sheesh! >I called Informix last winter and they said they were working on a >Motif version of WingZ and expected it to be shipping Q4 of this year. >This is confirmed somewhat by the inclusion of WingZ in NCD's eXport >Catalog which lists WingZ for the DECstation 2100/3100 at $599. I have used the WINGZ package to create and display reports using data that we collect through our network management station and I think it is fantastic! No, Informix, doesn't pay me to say such things but when someone like me can sit down and learn a product in a day and create a custom report with interactive buttons to graph data in a dozen ways I'M IMPRESSED. I would suggest you give it a "testflight"... Chris VandenBerg ACC(chris@salt.acc.com) 805-963-9431
jac@gandalf..llnl.gov (James Crotinger) (09/12/90)
Will these Motif-based spreadsheets (and other products, for that matter) work under a non-motif window manager? In particular, will they work under TWM and OLWM? Jim -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- James A. Crotinger Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Lab // The above views jac@gandalf.llnl.gov P.O. Box 808; L-630 \\ // are mine and are not (415) 422-0259 Livermore CA 94550 \\/ necessarily those of LLNL.
prc@erbe.se (Robert Claeson) (09/12/90)
In a recent article jac@sundance.llnl.gov (James Crotinger) writes: > I would be very interested in a summary of your responses. I >was quite excited after reading a review of WingZ the other day, >until I read it was a SunView product. What I don't understand >is why they went to the trouble to write a SunView product with >the OPEN LOOK UI (and it must have been trouble, since Sun doesn't >supply tools to do this, as far as I know). Sheesh! Quality Software Products (QSP) has a Motif-based Excel-alike spreadsheet named "eXclaim!". It reads & writes Lotus 1-2-3 files and can even use Lotus commands if one really want to. -- Robert Claeson |Reasonable mailers: rclaeson@erbe.se ERBE DATA AB | Dumb mailers: rclaeson%erbe.se@sunet.se | Perverse mailers: rclaeson%erbe.se@encore.com These opinions reflect my personal views and not those of my employer (ask him).
mikeh@bryant.NCD.COM (Mike Harrigan) (09/14/90)
In article <67791@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>, jac@gandalf..llnl.gov (James Crotinger) writes: |> |> Will these Motif-based spreadsheets (and other products, for that |> matter) work under a non-motif window manager? In particular, will |> they work under TWM and OLWM? |> |> Jim |> Well, Jim, you said a mouthfull. I've had the opportunity to try many X applications at NCD and this is one of the biggest problems. Application developers seem to choose a particular toolkit, then use the window manager from that toolkit throughout development, never testing with another wm. In some cases (I won't mention names, but you know who you are) they even do real no-no's like making the application depend on click-to-focus capability. Other problems I've seen include not being able to use X cut-and-paste (again, you know who you are) and requiring their own special fonts (like there aren't enough different fonts in the standard X release, so they invent a few new ones). It's up to us users to keep these guys on their toes. Mike Harrigan Network Computing Devices mikeh@ncd.com
rick@cstr.ed.ac.uk (Rick Innis) (09/14/90)
In article <1774@hugo.erbe.se> prc@erbe.se (Robert Claeson) writes:
Quality Software Products (QSP) has a Motif-based Excel-alike spreadsheet
named "eXclaim!". It reads & writes Lotus 1-2-3 files and can even use
Lotus commands if one really want to.
--
And as long as Lotus Development Copr doesn't find out.... 1/2 :-)
--Rick.jip@alw.nih.gov (john powell) (09/14/90)
In article <67791@lll-winken.LLNL.GOV>, jac@gandalf..llnl.gov (James Crotinger) writes: ||> ||> Will these Motif-based spreadsheets (and other products, for that ||> matter) work under a non-motif window manager? In particular, will ||> they work under TWM and OLWM? ||> ||> Jim ||> |>Well, Jim, you said a mouthfull. I've had the opportunity to try many X |>applications at NCD and this is one of the biggest problems. |>Application developers seem to choose a particular toolkit, then use the |>window manager from that toolkit throughout development, never testing |>with another wm. In some cases (I won't mention names, but you know who |>you are) they even do real no-no's like making the application depend on |>click-to-focus capability. |>Other problems I've seen include not being able to use X cut-and-paste |>(again, you know who you are) and requiring their own special fonts |>(like there aren't enough different fonts in the standard X release, so |>they invent a few new ones). |>It's up to us users to keep these guys on their toes.It's up to us users to |>keep these guys on their toes. If we want to keep them on their toes, then we should IDENTIFY those products that depend on OLWM or MWM or click-to-focus or .... jip@alw.nih.gov (John Powell)
rapatel@khnphwzhn.njin.net ( Rakesh Patel) (09/15/90)
>If we want to keep them on their toes, then we should IDENTIFY those products >that depend on OLWM or MWM or click-to-focus or .... > > jip@alw.nih.gov > (John Powell) I agree. That is one of the things I need to know. The person that needs to use the spreadsheet is using an NCD16 X terminal, served off of a Sun 4/280. I am also interested in problems people ran accross when attempting to things like merging worksheets, referencing data from another worksheet, etc., along with how well it integrates with X and X terminals. Anyone have comments on these types of "features"? Rakesh Patel.
mikew@fx.com (Mike Wexler) (09/18/90)
>Well, Jim, you said a mouthfull. I've had the opportunity to try many X >applications at NCD and this is one of the biggest problems. >Application developers seem to choose a particular toolkit, then use the >window manager from that toolkit throughout development, never testing >with another wm. In some cases (I won't mention names, but you know who >you are) they even do real no-no's like making the application depend on >click-to-focus capability. This is not really the applications vendor fault. Its more of a time to market issue. When Motif 1.0 was being developed, the ICCCM was not yet complete. Motif 1.0 was based on a draft version of the ICCCM. Between that draft version and the release of ICCCM there were substantial changes. Because of this, most (probably all) Motif 1.0 based applications will not work properly under any window manager except mwm. This is supposedly fixed in Motif 1.1. As the applications vendors port to Motif 1.1, this situation should get better. -- Mike Wexler (mikew@fx.com)