PNAME

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

For a on-line tutorial, type the command:

pname #LIBDIR#/tutorial.pname

To print a quick reference card, type the command:

pnameqref | [your_printer_commmand]

OPTIONS

-c

Start the program with the recalculation being done in column order.

-m

Start the program with automatic recalculation disabled. The spreadsheet will be recalculated only when the ``@'' command is used.

-n

Start the program in quick numeric entry mode (see below).

-r

Start the program with the recalculation being done in row order (default option).

-x

Cause the Get and Put commands (see below) to encrypt and decrypt data files.

All of these options can be changed with the ^T and S commands (see below) while pname is running. Options specified when pname is invoked override options saved in the data file.  

General Information

The rest of the screen forms a window looking at a portion of the table. The total number of display rows and columns available, hence the number of table rows and columns displayed, is set by curses(3) and may be overridden by setting the LINES and COLUMNS environment variables, respectively.

The screen has two cursors: a cell cursor, indicated by a highlighted cell and a ``<'' on the screen, and a character cursor, indicated by the terminal's hardware cursor. The cell and character cursors are often the same. They differ when you type a command on the top line.

If a cell's numeric value is wider than the column width (see the f command), the cell is filled with asterisks. If a cell's label string is wider than the column width, it is truncated at the start of the next non-blank cell in the row, if any.

Cursor control commands and row and column commands can be prefixed by a numeric argument which indicates how many times the command is to be executed. You can type ^U before a repeat count if quick numeric entry mode is enabled or if the number is to be entered while the character cursor is on the top line.

Commands which use the terminal's control key, such as ^N, work both when a command is being typed and when in normal mode.  

Changing Options

^To

Toggle options. This command allows you to switch the state of one option selected by o. A small menu lists the choices for o when you type ^T. The options selected are saved when the data and formulas are saved so that you will have the same setup next time you enter the spreadsheet.

a

Automatic Recalculation. When set, each change in the spreadsheet causes the entire spreadsheet be recalculated. Normally this is not noticeable, but for very large spreadsheets, it may be faster to clear automatic recalculation mode and update the spreadsheet via explicit ``@'' commands. Default is automatic recalculation on.

c

Current cell highlighting. If enabled, the current cell is highlighted (using the terminal's standout mode, if available) in addition to being marked by the cell cursor.

e

External function execution. When disabled, external functions (see @ext() below) are not called. This saves a lot of time at each screen update. External functions are disabled by default. If disabled, and external functions are used anywhere, a warning is printed each time the screen is updated, and the result of @ext() is the value from the previous call, if any, or a null string.

l

Autolabeling. If enabled, using the define command (/d) causes a label to be automatically generated in the cell to the left of the defined cell. This is only done if the cell to the left is empty. Default is enabled.

n

Quick numeric entry. If enabled, a typed digit is assumed to be the start of a numeric value for the current cell, not a repeat count, unless preceded by ^U. The cursor controls (^P, ^N, ^B, ^F) in this mode will end a numeric entry.

t

Top line display. If enabled, the name and value of the current cell is displayed on the top line. If there is an associated label string, the first character of the string value is ``<'' for a leftstring or ``>'' for a rightstring (see below), followed by "string" for a constant string or {expr} for a string expression. If the cell has a numeric value, it follows as [value], which may be a constant or expression.

x

Encryption. See the -x option.

$

Dollar prescale. If enabled, all numeric constants (not expressions) which you enter are multipled by 0.01 so you don't have to keep typing the decimal point if you enter lots of dollar figures.

 

S

Set options. This command allows you to set various options. A small menu lists the options that cannot be changed through ^T above.

byrows/bycols

Specify the order cell evaluation when updating. These options also affect the order in which cells are filled (see /f) and whether a row or column is cleared by an x command.

iterations=n

Set the maximum number of recalculations before the screen is displayed again. Iterations is set to 10 by default.

tblstyle=s

Control the output of the T command. s can be: 0 (default) to give colon delimited fields, with no tbl control lines; tbl to give colon delimited fields, with tbl(1) control lines; latex to give a LaTeX tabular environment; slatex to give a SLaTeX (Scandinavian LaTeX) tabular environment; and tex to give a TeX simple tabbed alignment with ampersands as delimiters.

Other Set options are normally used only in pname data files since they are available through ^T. You can also use them interactively

autocalc/!autocalc

Set/clear auto recalculation mode.

numeric/!numeric

Set/clear numeric mode.

prescale/!prescale

Set/clear numeric prescale mode.

extfun/!extfun

Enable/disable external functions.

cellcur/!cellcur

Set/clear current cell highlighting mode.

toprow/!toprow

Set/clear top row display mode.

rndinfinity/!rndinfinity

default: round-to-even (banker's round), *.5 will round to the closest even number; doing a 'set rndinfinity' will round *.5 up to the next integer (rounding to infinity).

Cursor Control Commands

^P

Move the cell cursor up to the previous row.

^N

Move the cell cursor down to the next row.

^B

Move the cell cursor backward one column.

^F

Move the cell cursor forward one column.

h, j, k, l

If the character cursor is not on the top line, these are alternate, vi-compatible cell cursor controls (left, down, up, right).

H, J, K, L

If the character cursor is not on the top line, these move the cursor by half pages (left, down, up, right).

^H

If the character cursor is not on the top line, ^H is the same as ^B.

SPACE

If the character cursor is not on the top line, the space bar is the same as ^F.

TAB

If the character cursor is on the top line, TAB starts a range (see below). Otherwise, it is the same as ^F.

Arrow Keys

The terminal's arrow keys provide another alternate set of cell cursor controls if they exist and are supported in the appropriate termcap entry. Some terminals have arrow keys which conflict with other control key codes. For example, a terminal might send ^H when the back arrow key is pressed. In these cases, the conflicting arrow key performs the same function as the key combination it mimics.

^

Move the cell cursor up to row 0 of the current column.

#

Move the cell cursor down to the last valid row of the current column.

0

Move the cell cursor backward to column A of the current row. This command must be prefixed with ^U if quick numeric entry mode is enabled.

$

Move the cell cursor forward to the last valid column of the current row.

b

Scan the cursor backward (left and up) to the previous valid cell.

w

Scan the cursor forward (right and down) to the next valid cell.

^Ed

Go to end of range. Follow ^E by a direction indicator such as ^P or j. If the cell cursor starts on a non-blank cell, it goes in the indicated direction until the last non-blank adjacent cell. If the cell cursor starts on a blank cell, it goes in the indicated direction until the first non-blank cell. This command is useful when specifying ranges of adjacent cells (see below), especially when the range is bigger than the visible window.

g

Go to a cell. pname prompts for a cell's name, a regular expression surrounded by quotes, or a number. If a cell's name such as ae122 or a the name of a defined range is given, the cell cursor goes directly to that cell. If a quoted regular expression such as " Tax Table " or " ^Jan [0-9]*$ " is given, pname searches for a cell containing a string matching the regular expression. See regex(3) or ed(1) for more details on the form of regular expressions. If a number is given, pname will search for a cell containing that number. Searches for either strings or numbers proceed forward from the current cell, wrapping back to a0 at the end of the table, and terminate at the current cell if the string or number is not found. You may also go to a cell with an ERROR (divide by zero, etc in this cell) or INVALID (references a cell containing an ERROR). g error will take you to the next ERROR, while g invalid take you to the next invalid. The last g command is saved, and can be re-issued by entering g<return>.

Cell Entry and Editing Commands

=

Enter a numeric constant or expression into the current cell. pname prompts for the expression on the top line. The usual way to enter a number into a cell is to type ``='', then enter the number in response to the prompt on the top line. The quick numeric entry option, enabled through the -n option or ^T command, shows the prompt when you enter the first digit of a number (you can skip typing ``='').

<

Enter a label string into the current cell to be flushed left against the left edge of the cell.

>

Enter a label string into the current cell to be flushed right against the right edge of the cell.

F

Enter a format string into the current cell. This format string overrides the precision specified with the ``f'' command. The format only applies to numeric values. The following characters can be used to build a format string:

#

Digit placeholder. If the number has fewer digits on either side of the decimal point than there are `#' characters in the format, the extra `#' characters are ignored. The number is rounded to the number of digit placeholders as there are to the right of the decimal point. If there are more digits in the number than there are digit placeholders on the left side of the decimal point, then those digits are displayed.

0

Digit placeholder. Same as for `#' except that the number is padded with zeroes on either side of the decimal point. The number of zeroes used in padding is determined by the number of digit placeholders after the `0' for digits on the left side of the decimal point and by the number of digit placeholders before the `0' for digits on the right side of the decimal point.

.

Decimal point. Determines how many digits are placed on the right and left sides of the decimal point in the number. Note that numbers smaller than 1 will begin with a decimal point if the left side of the decimal point contains only a `#' digit placeholder. Use a `0' placeholder to get a leading zero in decimal formats.

%

Percentage. For each `%' character in the format, the actual number gets multiplied by 100 (only for purposes of formatting -- the original number is left unmodified) and the `%' character is placed in the same position as it is in the format.

,

Thousands separator. The presence of a `,' in the format (multiple commas are treated as one) will cause the number to be formatted with a `,' separating each set of three digits in the integer part of the number with numbering beginning from the right end of the integer.

\

Quote. This character causes the next character to be inserted into the formatted string directly with no special interpretation.

E- E+ e- e+

Scientific format. Causes the number to formatted in scientific notation. The case of the `E' or `e' given is preserved. If the format uses a `+', then the sign is always given for the exponent value. If the format uses a `-', then the sign is only given when the exponent value is negative. Note that if there is no digit placeholder following the `+' or `-', then that part of the formatted number is left out. In general, there should be one or more digit placeholders after the `+' or `-'.

;

Format selector. Use this character to separate the format into two distinct formats. The format to the left of the `;' character will be used if the number given is zero or positive. The format to the right of the `;' character is used if the number given is negative.

Some example formats are integer (``0'' or ``#''), fixed (``0.00''), percentage (``0%'' or ``0.00%''), scientific (``0.00E+00''), and currency (``$#,0.00;($#,0.00)'').

Strings you enter must start with ". You can leave off the trailing " and pname will add it for you. You can also enter a string expression by backspacing over the opening " in the prompt.

e

Edit the value associated with the current cell. This is identical to ``='' except that the command line starts out containing the old numeric value or expression associated with the cell. The editing in this mode is vi-like.

^h

Move back a character

+

Forward through history (neat) (same as j)

-

Backward through history (neat) (same as k)

ESC

Done editing

TAB

Mark && append a range (ex: A0:A0)
TAB, move around w/i a range; TAB, append range string.

CR

Save

$

Goto last column

.

Insert current dot buffer

/

Search for a string in the history

ESC    edit the you typed

CR     search

^h     backspace

0

Goto column 0

D

Delete to send

I

Insert at column 0; ESC revert back to edit mode

R

Replace mode; ESC revert back to edit mode

X

Delete the char to the left

a

Append after cursor; ESC revert back to edit mode

b

Move back a word

c

Change mode; ESC revert back to edit mode

d

Delete ...

b      back word
f       forward (right)
h       back char
l       forward
t       delete forward up to a given char (next char typed)
w       delete next word forward typed

h

Move left a char

i

Insert before cursor; ESC revert back to edit mode

j

Forward through history (neat) (same as +)

k

Backward through history (neat) (same as -)

l

Move right a char

n

Continue search

q

Stop editing

r

Replace char

t

Goto a char

u

Undo

w

Forward a word

x

Delete the current char (moving to the right)

E

Edit the string associated with the current cell. This is identical to ``<'', ``"'', or ``>'' except that the command line starts out containing the old string value or expression associated with the cell. SEE e ABOVE.

To enter and edit a cell's number part, use the ``='' and e commands. To enter and edit a cell's string part, use the ``<'', ``"'', ``>'', and E commands. See the sections below on numeric and string expressions for more information.

x

Clear the current cell. Deletes the numeric value, label string, and/or numeric or string expression. You can prefix this command with a count of the number of cells on the current row to clear. The current column is used if column recalculation order is set. Cells cleared with this command may be recalled with any of the pull commands (see below).

m

Mark a cell to be used as the source for the copy command.

c

Copy the last marked cell to the current cell, updating row and column references in its numeric or string expression, if any.

+

If not in numeric mode, add the current numeric argument (default 1) to the value of the current cell. In numeric mode, ``+'' introduces a new numeric expression or value, the same as ``=''.

-

If not in numeric mode, subtract the current numeric argument (default 1) from the value of the current cell. In numeric mode, ``-'' introduces a new, negative, numeric expression or value, like ``=''.

RETURN

If you are not editing a cell (top line is empty), pressing RETURN will make pname enter insert mode. At this point you may type any valid command or press ESC once to edit.

File Commands

G

Get a new database from a file. If encryption is enabled, the file is decrypted before it is loaded into the spreadsheet.

P

Put the current database into a file. If encryption is enabled, the file is encrypted before it is saved.

W

Write a listing of the current database into a file in a form that matches its appearance on the screen. This differs from the Put command in that its files are intended to be reloaded with Get, while Write produces a file for people to look at. Hidden rows or columns are not shown when the data is printed.

T

Write a listing of the current database to a file, but include delimiters suitable for processing by the tbl, LaTeX, or TeX table processors. The delimiters are controlled by the tblstyle option. See Set above. The delimiters are are a colon (:) for style 0 or tbl and an ampersand (&) for style latex or tex.

With the Put, Write, and Table commands, the optional range argument writes a subset of the spreadsheet to the output file.

With the Write and Table commands, if you try to write to the last file used with the Get or Put commands, or the file specified on the command line when pname was invoked, you are asked to confirm that the (potentially) dangerous operation is really what you want.

The three output commands, Put, Write, and Table, can pipe their (unencrypted only) output to a program. To use this feature, enter ``| program'' to the prompt asking for a filename. For example, to redirect the output of the Write command to the printer, you might enter ``| lpr -p''.

M

Merge the database from the named file into the current database. Values and expressions defined in the named file are read into the current spreadsheet overwriting the existing entries at matching cell locations.

R

Run macros. Since pname files are saved as ASCII files, it is possible to use them as primitive macro definition files. The Run command makes this easier. It's like the Merge command, but prints a saved path name as the start of the filename to merge in. The string to use is set with the Define command. To write macros, you must be familiar with the file format written by the Put command. This facility is still primitive and could be much improved.

D

Define a path for the Run command to use.

All file operations take a filename as the first argument to the prompt on the top line. The prompt supplies a " to aid in typing in the filename. The filename can also be obtained from a cell's label string or string expression. In this case, delete the leading " with the backspace key and enter a cell name such as a22 instead. If the resulting string starts with ``|'', the rest of the string is interpreted as a UNIX command, as above.  

Row and Column Commands

ir, ic

Insert a new row (column) by moving the row (column) containing the cell cursor, and all following rows (columns), down (right) one row (column). The new row (column) is empty.

ar, ac

Append a new row (column) immediately following the current row (column). It is initialized as a copy of the current one.

dr, dc

Delete the current row (column).

pr, pc, pm

Pull deleted rows (columns) back into the spreadsheet. The last deleted set of cells is put back into the spreadsheet at the current location. pr inserts enough rows to hold the data. pc inserts enough columns to hold the data. pm (merge) does not insert rows or columns; it overwrites the cells beginning at the current cell cursor location.

vr, vc

Remove expressions from the affected rows (columns), leaving only the values which were in the cells before the command was executed.

zr, zc

Hide (``zap'') the current row (column). This keeps a row (column) from being displayed but keeps it in the data base. The status of the rows and columns is saved with the data base so hidden rows and columns will be still be hidden when you reload the spreadsheet. Hidden rows or columns are not printed by the W command.

sr, sc

Show hidden rows (columns). Enter a range of rows (columns) to be revealed. The default is the first range of rows (columns) currently hidden. This command ignores the repeat count, if any.

f

Set the output format to be used for printing the numeric values in each cell in the current column. Enter three numbers: the total width in characters of the column, the number of digits to follow decimal points, and the format type. Format types are 0 for fixed point, 1 for scientific notation, and 2 for engineering notation. Values are rounded off to the least significant digit displayed. The total column width affects displays of strings as well as numbers. A preceding count can be used to affect more than one column. This command has only a column version (no second letter).

@myrow, @mycol

Are functions that return the row or column of the current cell respectively. ex: The cell directly above a cell in the D column could then be accessed by @nval("d",@myrow-1). NOTE: @myrow and @mycol can't be used in specifying ranges.

Range Commands

Prompts requesting variable names may be satisfied with either an explicit variable name, such as A10, or with a variable name previously defined in a /d command (see below). Range name prompts require either an explicit range such as A10:B20, or a range name previously defined with a /d command. A default range shown in the second line is used if you omit the range from the command or press the TAB key (see below). The default range can be changed by moving the cell cursor via the control commands (^P, ^N, ^B, ^F) or the arrow keys. The cells in the default range are highlighted (using the terminal's standout mode, if available).

/x

Clear a range. Cells cleared with this command may be recalled with any of the pull commands.

/v

Values only. This command removes the expressions from a range of cells, leaving just the values of the expressions.

/c

Copy a source range to a destination range. The source and destination may be different sizes. The result is always one or more full copies of the source. Copying a row to a row yields a row. Copying a column to a column yields a column. Copying a range to anything yields a range. Copying a row to a column or a column to a row yields a range with as many copies of the source as there are cells in the destination. This command can be used to duplicate a cell through an arbitrary range by making the source a single cell range such as b20:b20.

/f

Fill a range with constant values starting with a given value and increasing by a given increment. Each row is filled before moving on to the next row if row order recalculation is set. Column order fills each column in the range before moving on to the next column. The start and increment numbers may be positive or negative. To fill all cells with the same value, give an increment of zero.

/d

Use this command to assign a symbolic name to a single cell or a rectangular range of cells on the screen. The parameters are the name, surrounded by "", and either a single cell name such as A10 or a range such as a1:b20. Names defined in this fashion are used by the program in future prompts, may be entered in response to prompts requesting a cell or range name, and are saved when the spreadsheet is saved with the Put command. Names defined must be more than two alpha characters long to differentiate them from a column names, and must not have embedded special characters. Names may include the character ``_'' or numerals as long as they occur after the first three alpha characters.

/s

This command lists (shows) the currently defined range names. If there are no defined range names, then a message is given, otherwise it pipes output to sort, then to less. If the environment variable PAGER is set, its value is used in place of less.

/u

Use this command to undefine a previously defined range name.

/F

Use this command to assign a value format string (see the ``F'' cell entry command) to a range of cells.

Miscellaneous Commands

Q

q

^C

Exit from pname. If you made any changes since the last Get or Put, pname asks about saving your data before exiting.

^G

ESC

Abort entry of the current command.

?

Enter an interactive help facility. Lets you look up brief summaries of the main features of the program. The help facility is structured like this manual page so it is easy to find more information on a particular topic.

!

Shell escape. pname prompts for a shell command to run. End the command line with the RETURN key. If the environment variable SHELL is defined, that shell is run. If not, /bin/sh is used. Giving a null command line starts the shell in interactive mode. A second ``!'' repeats the previous command.

^L

Redraw the screen.

^R

Redraw the screen with special highlighting of cells to be filled in. This is useful for finding values you need to provide or update in a form with which you aren't familiar or of which you have forgotten the details.

It's also useful for checking a form you are creating. All cells which contain constant numeric values (not the result of a numeric expression) are highlighted temporarily, until the next screen change, however minor. To avoid ambiguity, the current range (if any) and current cell are not highlighted.

^X

This command is similar to ^R, but highlights cells which have expressions. It also displays the expressions in the highlighted cells as left-flushed strings, instead of the numeric values and/or label strings of those cells. This command makes it easier to check expressions, at least when they fit in their cells or the following cell(s) are blank so the expressions can slop over (like label strings). In the latter case, the slop over is not cleared on the next screen update, so you may want to type ^L after the ^X in order to clean up the screen.

@

Recalculates the spreadsheet.

^V

Type, in the command line, the name of the current cell (the one at the cell cursor). This is useful when entering expressions which refer to other cells in the table.

^W

Type, in the command line, the expression attached to the current cell. If there is none, the result is ``?''.

^A

Type, in the command line, the numeric value of the current cell, if any.

The ^V, ^W, and ^A commands only work when the character cursor is on the command line and beyond the first character.

TAB

When the character cursor is on the top line, defines a range of cells via the cursor control commands or the arrow keys. The range is highlighted, starts at the cell where you typed TAB, and continues through the current cell cursor. Pressing TAB again causes the highlighted range to be entered into the command line and the highlighting to be turned off. This is most useful for defining ranges to functions such as @sum(). Pressing ``)'' acts just like typing the TAB key the second time and adds the closing ``)''. Note that when you give a range command, you don't need to press the first TAB to begin defining a range starting with the current cell.

Variable Names

When a cell's expression (formula) is copied to another location via copy or range-copy, variable references are by default offset by the amount the formula moved. This allows the new formula to work on new data. If cell references are not to change, you can either use the fixed operator (see below), or one of the following variations on the cell name.

K20

References cell K20; the reference changes when the formula is copied.

$K$20

Always refers to cell K20; the reference stays fixed when the formula is copied.

$K20

Keeps the column fixed at column K; the row is free to vary.

K$20

Similarly, this fixes the row and allows the column to vary.

These conventions also hold on defined ranges. Range references vary when formulas containing them are copied. If the range is defined with fixed variable references, the references do not change.

fixed

To make a variable not change automatically when a cell moves, put the word fixed in front of the reference, for example: B1 * fixed C3.

Numeric Expressions

-e

Negation.

e+e

Addition.

e-e

Subtraction.

e*e

Multiplication.

e/e

Division.

e1%e2

e1 mod e2.

e^e

Exponentiation.

e<e

e<=e

e=e

e!=e

e>=e

e>e

Relationals: true (1) if and only if the indicated relation holds, else false (0). Note that ``<='', ``!='', and ``>='' are converted to their ``~()'' equivalents.

~e

Boolean operator NOT.

e&e

Boolean operator AND.

e|e

Boolean operator OR.

@if(e,e,e)

e?e:e

Conditional: If the first expression is true then the value of the second is returned, otherwise the value of the third.

Operator precedence from highest to lowest is:

-, ~
^
*, /
+, -
<, <=, =, !=, >=, >
&
|
?:

Built-in Range Functions

@sum(r)

Sum all valid (nonblank) entries in the region whose two corners are defined by the two variable names (e.g. c5:e14) or the range name specified.

@prod(r)

Multiply together all valid (nonblank) entries in the specified region.

@avg(r)

Average all valid (nonblank) entries in the specified region.

@count(r)

Count all valid (nonblank) entries in the specified region.

@max(r)

Return the maximum value in the specified region. See also the multi argument version of @max below.

@min(r)

Return the minimum value in the specified region. See also the multi argument version of @min below.

@stddev(r)

Return the sample standard deviation of the cells in the specified region.

@lookup(e,r)

@lookup(se,r)

Evaluates the expression then searches through the range r for a matching value. The range should be either a single row or a single column. The expression can be either a string expression or a numeric expression. If it is a numeric expression, the range is searched for the the last value less than or equal to e. If the expression is a string expression, the string portions of the cells in the range are searched for an exact string match. The value returned is the numeric value from the next row and the same column as the match, if the range was a single row, or the value from the next column and the same row as the match if the range was a single column.

@hlookup(e,r,n)

@hlookup(se,r,n)

Evaluates the expression then searches through the first row in the range r for a matching value. The expression can be either a string expression or a numeric expression. If it is a numeric expression, the row is searched for the the last value less than or equal to e. If the expression is a string expression, the string portions of the cells in the row are searched for an exact string match. The value returned is the numeric value from the same column n rows below the match.

@vlookup(e,r,n)

@vlookup(se,r,n)

Evaluates the expression then searches through the first column in the range r for a matching value. The expression can be either a string expression or a numeric expression. If it is a numeric expression, the column is searched for the the last value less than or equal to e. If the expression is a string expression, the string portions of the cells in the column are searched for an exact string match. The value returned is the numeric value from the same row n columns to the right of the match.

@index(e,r)

Use the value of the expression e to index into the range r. The numeric value at that position is returned. The value 1 selects the first item in the range, 2 selects the second item, etc. R should be either a single row or a single column.

@stindex(e,r)

Use the value of e to index into the range r. The string value at that position is returned. The value 1 selects the first item in the range, 2 selects the second item, etc. The range should be either a single row or a single column.

Built-in Numeric Functions

@sqrt(e)

Return the square root of e.

@exp(e)

Return the exponential function of e.

@ln(e)

Return the natural logarithm of e.

@log(e)

Return the base 10 logarithm of e.

@floor(e)

Return the largest integer not greater than e.

@ceil(e)

Return the smallest integer not less than e.

@rnd(e)

Round e to the nearest integer. default: round-to-even (banker's round), *.5 will round to the closest even number; 'set rndinfinity' will round *.5 up to the next integer.

@round(e,n)

Round e to n decimal places. n may be positive to round off the right side of the decimal, and negative to round off the left side. See @rnd(e) above for rounding types.

@abs(e)

@fabs(e)

Return the absolute value of e.

@pow(e1,e2)

Return e1 raised to the power of e2.

@hypot(e1,e2)

Return sqrt(e1*e1+e2*e2), taking precautions against unwarranted overflows.

pi

A constant quite close to pi.

@dtr(e)

Convert e in degrees to radians.

@rtd(e)

Convert e in radians to degrees.

@sin(e)

@cos(e)

@tan(e)

Return trigonometric functions of radian arguments. The magnitude of the arguments are not checked to assure meaningful results.

@asin(e)

Return the arc sine of e in the range -pi/2 to pi/2.

@acos(e)

Return the arc cosine of e in the range 0 to pi.

@atan(e)

Return the arc tangent of e in the range -pi/2 to pi/2.

@atan2(e1,e2)

Returns the arc tangent of e1/e2 in the range -pi to pi.

@max(e1,e2,...)

Return the maximum of the values of the expressions. Two or more expressions may be specified. See also the range version of @max above.

@min(e1,e2,...)

Return the minimum of the values of the expressions. Two or more expressions may be specified. See also the range version of @min above.

@ston(se)

Convert string expression se to a numeric value.

@eqs(se1,se2)

Return 1 if string expression se1 has the same value as string expression se2, 0 otherwise.

@nval(se,e)

Return the numeric value of a cell selected by name. String expression se must evaluate to a column name (``A''-``AE'') and e must evaluate to a row number (0-199). If se or e is out of bounds, or the cell has no numeric value, the result is 0. You can use this for simple table lookups. Be sure the table doesn't move unexpectedly! See also @sval() below.

String Expressions

#

Concatenate strings. For example, the string expression

       A0 # "zy dog"

displays the string ``the lazy dog'' in the cell if the value of A0's string is ``the la''.

Built-in String Functions

@substr(se,e1,e2)

Extract and return from string expression se the substring indexed by character number e1 through character number e2 (defaults to the size of se if beyond the end of it). If e1 is less than 1 or greater than e2, the result is the null string. For example,

       @substr ("Nice jacket", 4, 7)

returns the string ``e jac''.

@fmt(se,e)

Convert a number to a string. The argument se must be a valid printf(3) format string. e is converted according to the standard rules. For example, the expression

       @fmt ("**%6.3f**", 10.5)

yields the string ``**10.500**''. e is a double, so applicable formats are e, E, f, g, and G. Try ``%g'' as a starting point.

@sval(se,e)

Return the string value of a cell selected by name. String expression se must evaluate to a column name (``A''-``AE'') and e must evaluate to a row number (0-199). If se or e is out of bounds, or the cell has no string value, the result is the null string. You can use this for simple table lookups. Be sure the table doesn't move unexpectedly!

@ext(se,e)

Call an external function (program or script). The purpose is to allow arbitrary functions on values, e.g. table lookups and interpolations. String expression se is a command or command line to call with popen(3). The value of e is converted to a string and appended to the command line as an argument. The result of @ext() is a string: the first line printed to standard output by the command. The command should emit exactly one output line. Additional output, or output to standard error, messes up the screen. @ext() returns a null string and prints an appropriate warning if external functions are disabled, se is null, or the attempt to run the command fails.

External functions can be slow to run, and if enabled are called at each screen update, so they are disabled by default. You can enable them with ^T when you really want them called.

A simple example:

       @ext ("echo", a1)

You can use @ston() to convert the @ext() result back to a number. For example:

       @ston (@ext ("form.sc.ext", a9 + b9))

Note that you can built a command line (including more argument values) from a string expression with concatenation. You can also "hide" the second argument by ending the command line (first argument) with `` #'' (shell comment).

@coltoa(e)

Returns a string name for a column from the numeric argument. For example:

       @coltoa(@mycol-1)
        @nval(coltoa(@mycol-1), @myrow+1)

Built-in Financial Functions

@pmt(e1,e2,e3)

@pmt(60000,.01,360) computes the monthly payments for a $60000 mortgage at 12% annual interest (.01 per month) for 30 years (360 months).

@fv(e1,e2,e3)

@fv(100,.005,36) computes the future value for of 36 monthly payments of $100 at 6% interest (.005 per month). It answers the question: "How much will I have in 36 months if I deposit $100 per month in a savings account paying 6% interest compounded monthly?"

@pv(e1,e2,e3)

@pv(1000,.015,36) computes the present value of an a ordinary annuity of 36 monthly payments of $1000 at 18% annual interest. It answers the question: "How much can I borrow at 18% for 30 years if I pay $1000 per month?"

Built-in Date and Time Functions

@now

Return the current time encoded as the number of seconds since the beginning of the epoch (December 31, 1969, midnight, GMT.)

@dts(e1,e2,e3)

@dts(9,14,1988) converts the date September 14, 1988 to the number of seconds from the epoch to the first second of 9/14/88, local time. For example, @date(@dts(12,14,1976)) yields

      Tue Dec 14 00:00:00 1976

The month should be range from 1 to 12, the day should range from
1 to the number of days in the specified month, and the year should range from 1970 to 1999.

@tts(e1,e2,e3)

@tts(8,20,45) converts the time 8:40:45 to the number of seconds since midnight, the night before. The hour should range from 0 to 23; the minutes and seconds should range from 0 to 59.

The following functions take the time in seconds (e.g. from @now) as an argument and return the specified value. The functions all convert from GMT to local time.

@date(e)

Convert the time in seconds to a date string 24 characters long in the following form:

      Sun Sep 16 01:03:52 1973

Note that you can extract parts of this fixed-format string with
@substr().

@year(e)

Return the year. Valid years begin with 1970. The last legal year is system dependent.

@month(e)

Return the month, encoded as 1 (January) to 12 (December).

@day(e)

Return the day of the month, encoded as 1 to 31.

@hour(e)

Return the number of hours since midnight, encoded as 0 to 23.

@minute(e)

Return the number of minutes since the last full hour, encoded as 0 to 59.

@second(e)

Return the number of seconds since the last full minute, encoded as 0 to 59.

Spreadsheet Update

FILES

#LIBDIR#/tutorial.pname

tutorial spreadsheet

SEE ALSO

BUGS

Only one previous value is saved from any call of @ext(). If it is used more than once in a spreadsheet and external functions are enabled and later disabled, the last returned value pops up in several places.

On some systems, if the cell cursor is in column 0 with topline enabled (so the current cell is highlighted), or if any cell in column 0 is highlighted, the corresponding row number gets displayed and then blanked during a screen refresh. This looks like a bug in curses.

Many commands give no indication (a message or beep) if they have null effect. Some should give confirmation of their action, but they don't.  

AUTHORS

Index

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

OPTIONS

General Information

Changing Options

Cursor Control Commands

Cell Entry and Editing Commands

File Commands

Row and Column Commands

Range Commands

Miscellaneous Commands

Variable Names

Numeric Expressions

Built-in Range Functions

Built-in Numeric Functions

String Expressions

Built-in String Functions

Built-in Financial Functions

Built-in Date and Time Functions

Spreadsheet Update

FILES

SEE ALSO

BUGS

AUTHORS