<aside> 💡
Suffering from information overload? We check out a new ST program that does all those complicated statistical analyses, then shows you the answers with complete clarity.
</aside>
Facts and figures set out in columns and tables can often seem just a jumble of numbers. But present the same info as a chart or diagram, and suddenly everything becomes crystal clear. Even more attractive are those fancy new 3D graphs, and they convey information clearly and concisely. So wouldn't it be good if you could produce these with your ST? Well, now you can, using a program called 3D Calc Plus from FaST Club, those specialists in low-cost serious ST software. Using 3D Calc Plus, you can enter numerical or financial figures, perform mathematical operations or statistical analysis if required, then immediately display the results in the form of a sophisticated graph or chart which can be printed or saved to disk.
3D Calc Plus comes on a double-sided disk and runs in medium or high resolution on any ST with a minimum 1 MByte of RAM. You can install 3D Calc Plus onto a hard drive if you wish, but it works happily from your ST's floppy drive. The software is GEM-based and controllable via icons, drop-down menus, or function keys. Run the program and you see a Desktop with three little spreadsheet icons. You can handle three spreadsheets in memory at the same time and easily switch between them by selecting each icon. Before producing a graph, you have to enter data (or load it from disk) into the spreadsheet. Double-clicking on the spreadsheet icon opens it and enables data and text to be input or edited. Up to three GEM windows can be open for each spreadsheet, set their size and position on screen and scroll the sheet to display the bit you're interested in. This is useful with large sheets as you can input data at one end and watch results emerging quickly in a second or a third window displaying other parts of it. On-screen help is available for all the program's features. Click on the Help button in the top-right of the screen and a list of topics appears. Click on the particular function you want, and guidance appears for you to read.
Before you can get graphical results out, you have to put data in. Your figures are entered into the spreadsheet — just type them into the matrix of cells or little boxes provided. There's plenty of room: up to 256 columns across by 2,048 rows deep, giving you 524,288 cells per sheet. You can define formulae and connections between the figures inserted. For instance, if you have, say, 12 monthly rainfall results, you can set up another cell to add them up and show a yearly total. Each spreadsheet is actually 3D, so not only does it have its width and length, it has 13 pages of "depth." Think of this as the sheet you can see, with another 12 identically sized ones underneath it, available if required. All the cells of these layers can be accessed and linked by formula to any other cells in any layer you want, giving a grand total of 6,815,744 cells available.
With your data entered, you can now decide what method is used to display it. You can have various forms of bar graphs, line graphs, or pie charts, and most of these can be given a 3D look. There are other options too, such as the shading you want your chart to have and whether you have a grid. Once these have been set, the graph is drawn almost instantly in a GEM window. You can save your spreadsheet and graph data to disk and recall it later for adjustment. 3D Calc Plus also enables you to export your graph into an art program for further enhancement, save it as a Degas or IMG file then load it into your favorite drawing software. You can add text, color, graphics or other embellishments to your chart and resize it to suit.
3D Calc Plus is an extremely powerful calculation tool with an easy-to-use graph generator. It offers more features than the average user needs but is equally at home carrying out simple operations too. If you need a quick, well-documented, cost-effective way to turn data into good-looking graphs and charts, this program could be just what you want.
PETER CRUSH
Highs • Fast in operation. • Very easy to use.
Lows • Lack of color. • Limited printing facilities.
What else? K-Spread 4, AtariWorks, also from HiSoft.