ldo@waikato.ac.nz (Lawrence D'Oliveiro, Waikato University) (12/28/90)
Wouldn't it be nice if you could...
* determine the position of a selected object on the worksheet. You
can *change* this position with the "object location" command, but
you can't find out what the existing position is.
* find out what view of the worksheet is currently being shown
in a window (without reference to the current selection). Change
this view (without affecting the current selection).
* split the worksheet view into multiple panes, a la Excel.
* switch between absolute/relative references in a way that didn't
leave you in a mode that affected subsequent entry of cell references.
Again, this is something that Excel does better.
* have a "reference name" for a tool or script file, that can be
different from the actual file name.
That last point is pretty subtle, so I'll try to explain its
usefulness with an example. Currently, you can load a Wingz tool with
a command like
Get external "MyDisk:Wingz:ToolHacking:MyTool"
and then you can invoke the tool functions with expressions like
MyTool:MyFunc(Arg1, Arg2)
But if the name of the file has spaces or other funny characters in it,
you need to use single quotes, as follows:
'My Tool:MyFunc'(Arg1, Arg2)
Also, it is possible to store the CODE resources for a tool in the
resource fork of the Wingz worksheet itself. However, this will break
if the user should rename the worksheet, or take a copy under a different
name. But it would continue to work if you could write something like
Get external NameOfThisWorksheet() as "MyTool"
and thereafter use "MyTool" to qualify references to the tool functions
(as in "MyTool:MyFunc()"), regardless of the actual name of the tool file.
Finally, I should admit that those two comparisons to Excel pretty much
sum up the areas where I think Microsoft still has the edge: in practically
every other respect, Wingz is the more powerful product.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro fone: +64-71-562-889
Computer Services Dept fax: +64-71-384-066
University of Waikato electric mail: ldo@waikato.ac.nz
Hamilton, New Zealand 37^ 47' 26" S, 175^ 19' 7" E, GMT+13:00
And now, the theological version: "Where in Hell is Carmen Sandiego?"Lawrence.DOliveiro@f20.n226.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Lawrence DOliveiro) (12/28/90)
Reply-To: ldo@waikato.ac.nz
Wouldn't it be nice if you could...
* determine the position of a selected object on the worksheet. You
can *change* this position with the "object location" command, but
you can't find out what the existing position is.
* find out what view of the worksheet is currently being shown
in a window (without reference to the current selection). Change
this view (without affecting the current selection).
* split the worksheet view into multiple panes, a la Excel.
* switch between absolute/relative references in a way that didn't
leave you in a mode that affected subsequent entry of cell references.
Again, this is something that Excel does better.
* have a "reference name" for a tool or script file, that can be
different from the actual file name.
That last point is pretty subtle, so I'll try to explain its
usefulness with an example. Currently, you can load a Wingz tool with
a command like
Get external "MyDisk:Wingz:ToolHacking:MyTool"
and then you can invoke the tool functions with expressions like
MyTool:MyFunc(Arg1, Arg2)
But if the name of the file has spaces or other funny characters in it,
you need to use single quotes, as follows:
'My Tool:MyFunc'(Arg1, Arg2)
Also, it is possible to store the CODE resources for a tool in the
resource fork of the Wingz worksheet itself. However, this will break
if the user should rename the worksheet, or take a copy under a different
name. But it would continue to work if you could write something like
Get external NameOfThisWorksheet() as "MyTool"
and thereafter use "MyTool" to qualify references to the tool functions
(as in "MyTool:MyFunc()"), regardless of the actual name of the tool file.
Finally, I should admit that those two comparisons to Excel pretty much
sum up the areas where I think Microsoft still has the edge: in practically
every other respect, Wingz is the more powerful product.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro fone: +64-71-562-889
Computer Services Dept fax: +64-71-384-066
University of Waikato electric mail: ldo@waikato.ac.nz
Hamilton, New Zealand 37^ 47' 26" S, 175^ 19' 7" E, GMT+13:00
And now, the theological version: "Where in Hell is Carmen Sandiego?"
+ Organization: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
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