page 8-1 CHAPTER 8: TIPS ON USING FREE & EASY This chapter contains suggestions about how to use FREE & EASY more efficiently and how to avoid getting into situations where unexpected results occur. You will probably find this chapter more useful after you have learned most of the features of FREE & EASY and have used it for awhile. The tips are arranged according to subject and are numbered. More tips for using FREE & EASY are found in the sample sheets which come with the FREE & EASY package. Tips on Sheet Set-up 1. Always use a lot of explanation in the text of the sheet. Indicate how the sheet works, what its purpose is, how the calculations are done, what the variables and ranges are, etc. This is especially important if you are modifying or expanding a sheet or if someone else is trying to use or modify a sheet you have made. If you start working on a sheet that you have not used for several months, you will appreciate the explanation given in the text. 2. Do not make sheets excessively large and complex. They can become very difficult to maintain, understand and debug. In many cases, it makes more sense to break a large sheet up into several smaller sheets. This allows for easier understanding of the sheet and easier modification. Use the multiple sheet and multiple window features to see the different sheets at one time. 3. Keep the cells lined up and not staggered. Also, keep cells in the same column the same size. This allows for easier movement of cells around the sheet. 4. Do not allow the cell contents to become too complicated; otherwise, the calculations can become difficult to follow. It is often better to do a complicated calculation in several cells. 5. When inserting columns in a sheet, do not insert columns in the middle of a cell. You might not get the results you want. 6. Keep a good distance between adjacent cells. This will allow you to increase the size of the cell without losing the cell beside it (cells cannot overlap). 7. If you get a warning message, make sure you know the consequences of your actions before proceeding. Otherwise, you could lose data that you want to keep or have unexpected results on your sheet. 8. Give cells, variables and ranges meaningful names. This helps you and others understand your sheet. 9. Give the sheets (files) meaningful names. This makes file maintenance easier. Also, if you are looking for a file that you have not used for some time, it will be easier to locate. 10. Use the make file features, especially if you work with many sheets at one time. This allows you to set up and run more quickly at the page 8-2 start of a FREE & EASY session. 11. Use the help screens extensively. Remember that each warning and error message has its own help screen for further explanation. Use the hyperlinks to find related help topics. 12. If printing a sheet, make sure its width will fit the printer you are using. If your printer will be printing 132 columns, you might want to set the maximum column size of your sheet to 132. Tips on Editing 1. You can use the cut and paste features of FREE & EASY on text, cells or ranges or any combination of these. Use the "edit defaults" menu to set which ones you want to use. 2. Remember that a make file contains information on all edit defaults. Thus you can use a make file so that you do not have to set up all you edit defaults (and all other defaults) at the beginning of each FREE & EASY session. 3. Putting data in the clipboard takes up computer memory. If the clipboard contains a large amount of data, use the "clear clipboard" menu item to free up more memory. This is especially useful if you get an "out of memory" error message. 4. When you use the "Copy to clipboard" or "dElete" menu items, a cell or range must be completely within the highlighted area in order to be affected. 5. When you use the "copY from clipboard" menu item, FREE & EASY will eliminate all data except ranges within the area where the new data will go. Cells which are even partially within this area will be eliminated. 6. When using the "copY from clipboard" menu item; if you get a "data will be lost" warning, make sure that you know what data will be lost before proceeding. 7. Keep the cursor in overstrike mode unless you intentionally want to insert some text. Otherwise some text might be pushed off the edge of the sheet. (A warning is given before this happens.) 8. FREE & EASY will not allow duplicate cell names or range names in the same sheet. Thus, if you are adding a cell with the editing features to the sheet which already has a cell of the same name, the name of the cell you are adding will not be added. If you are adding a range and the sheet already has a range of that name, the range will not be added. Tips on Cell Evaluation 1. Use plenty of text in the sheets to explain how calculations are done. This will prove helpful when debugging a sheet as well as using page 8-3 a sheet which has not been used for some time. 2. Use meaningful names for cells, variables and ranges. This makes your calculations easier to follow. 3. Avoid or minimize redefinition of variables (i.e. defining a variable more than once in a sheet). This can lead to bugs that are difficult to find. 4. To speed up calculations, keep the variable used by the cell to the left of or above the cell and as close to the cell as possible. 5. FREE & EASY can find a number referred to by its location faster than a variable, thus speeding up calculations. 6. To debug a sheet, evaluate each cell individually with F7 and go to the next cell to be evaluated with F8. Another technique is to evaluate cells until an error is found, correct that error and then press shift-F10 to continue evaluating until the next error occurs. 7. Keep the "evaluation default" "check cell evaluation order" as "yes" unless you have a specific reason not to do so. This can avoid bugs that are difficult to find. 8. Remember that references to sheet locations in the cell can be relative or absolute. If you move a cell, then the relative location it is referring to moves also. This can lead to unforeseen evaluation errors. 9. References to variables or cells by name are always absolute. Locations can change without affecting results. 10. Remember that two cells on the same sheet cannot have the same name. The same holds for two ranges on the same sheet. Tips on Ranges 1. Use text on the sheet to indicate position and names of ranges (remember that you can only highlight one range at a time). 2. Give ranges meaningful names. This will help you and others understand your calculations. 3. Do not put text inside a range. FREE & EASY will think that the text is a variable and give an evaluation error for that range. 4. Make sure that all cells, numbers and variables are completely inside or outside the boundaries of the range. 5. Do not allow different ranges to overlap unless you have a specific reason to do so. 6. Two ranges on the same sheet cannot have the same name. Thus, the "copy from clipboard" menu item will not copy from the clipboard a range which has the same name as a range already on the sheet. page 8-4 7. Ranges can also be referred to by range address. The address can be either relative or absolute. Tips on File Management 1. Keep the files used to run FREE & EASY (F.EXE, FREE0.HLP and FREE1.HLP) in a different directory than FREE & EASY sheet files (*.FRE, *.MAK, *.TXT). 2. Give files meaningful names so that they are easier to manage. 3. Use the FREE & EASY default extensions (.FRE, .MAK and .TXT) as this will help you keep track of your files. 4. Do not keep files from other programs in the same directory as your FREE & EASY files. 5. Only use text (.TXT) files when you are importing or exporting files to other programs or you wish to use the DOS "type" command to print out a file. 6. For different projects, keep the files related to that project in different directories. 7. Ensure the help files are in the current DOS path. As well, ensure the DOS COMSPEC environment variable is set. 8. If you want to use the "DOS shell" command for file management and manipulation, ensure the DOS files (usually in directory C:\DOS) are in the current path. Tips on Using Multiple Windows 1. Use multiple windows on large sheets to examine how changes on one part of the sheet affect another part of the sheet. 2. To open more than one window at a time, you can use the shortcut menu items such as "3 windows". 3. If you are working on more than one sheet at a time, put each sheet in to a separate window. 4. Use the make file features to keep your window configurations between FREE & EASY sessions. ----------------end-of-author's-documentation--------------- Software Library Information: This disk copy provided as a service of Public (software) Library We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution. Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about this program to the author of the program, whose name appears elsewhere in this documentation. If you have trouble getting in touch with the author, we will do whatever we can to help you with your questions. All programs have been tested and do run. 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