Abacus Beta 1 main index

Abacus Beta 1 is Copyright 1996-1997 Bjorn Tornqvist and Magnus Hjelmer; all rights reserved; all rights are and shall remain with the authors. Abacus is shareware.

INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION
I. What is Abacus?
II. What is Abacus capable of, anyway?

2. GETTING STARTED
I. What you need to run Abacus
II. How to install Abacus
III. How to configure Abacus

3. USAGE
I. How to use Abacus

4. THE LEGAL ASPECTS
I. Copyright notice
II. Disclaimer
III. Abacus and the shareware concept
IV. How to register

5. THE OTHER ASPECTS
I. The authors
II. History
III. Known bugs and deficiencies
IV. Thanks to...
V. The future of Abacus



INTRODUCTION


1. What is Abacus?

Abacus is the first spreadsheet written from the ground up to make full use of the Be operative system. Abacus is capable of handling more than 45 different equations and 17 constants. There is support for graphs.

Read the terms and conditions in this documentation carefully before using this software. If you for any reason can't accept the conditions stated herein, you are not allowed to use Abacus, and you are obliged to delete the program and thereto associated files at once; by using Abacus, you acknowledge that you have read through its documentation, and that you accept and agree on the terms and conditions specified therein. Moreover, as a user of Abacus, you acknowledge and agree that Abacus is a proprietary product of the authors, protected by applicable copyright laws and inter- national treaty provisions. You further acknowledge and agree that all rights, title, and interests in and to Abacus are and shall remain with the authors.



II. What is Abacus capable of, anyway?

* Fully functional graphical user interface with live cell resizing. * 47 functions. Some of which can have an unlimited amount of arguments.
* 17 Constants.
* 1 graph mode.
* Cell filters, ie support for showing values as words (ie, "one hundred...") or on the fly currency conversions (not yet implemented).
* Multiple Undo and Redo.


GETTING STARTED


I. What do I need to run Abacus?

Abacus requires the following to start:

* BeOS PR (installed and functional)
* 0.5 Mb of free memory
* 0.2 Mb of free HD space


II. How do I install it?

This is simple; just unpack it where you want it...


III. ...but how do I configure it?

In this version, you don't.


USAGE

I. How to use Abacus
See these help sections:
Beginners guide-- Step by step on how to use Abacus.
Functions-- Here you can find the syntax and description of every function available.
Constants-- Here you can find the available constants.


LEGAL ASPECTS

I. Copyright "notice"

Abacus is Copyright (c) 1996-1997 Bjorn Tornqvist and Magnus Hjelmer; all rights reserved; all rights are and shall remain with the authors. Abacus is shareware.

THE UNREGISTERED VERSION is FREELY DISTRIBUTABLE (e.g., via Bullentin Board Systems, InterNet, UseNet, software libraries, and similar electronic channels) as long as the distributed archive is the original one, without any modifications, alterations, substractions and/or additions. Only a nominal fee (NO more than 3 USD) must be charged for e.g., packaging and distribution. Magazine editors and hardware dealers (etc.) who wish to bundle Abacus together with their productions may very well do so (we'd appreciate a mail about the whole thing, though). Services that charge extra for file transfers may NOT distribute it without written permission by the authors.

THE REGISTERED VERSION is not distributable at all. Don't push your luck, son.


II. Disclaimer

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY BJORN TORNQVIST AND MAGNUS HJELMER "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OR STORAGE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. FURTHER ON, THE AUTHORS ARE IN NO WAY OBLIGED TO PROVIDE FUTURE VERSIONS OF OR SUPPORT FOR ABACUS.

OR IN SHORT: the authors (and supporters) are NOT responsible for ANYTHING regarding or concerning Abacus, its documentation or to the program or documentation associated files; the ONLY thing we guarantee is that it will occupy some disk space. Use Abacus on your own risk.


III. Abacus and the shareware concept

Abacus is SHAREWARE, meaning that the user, if he/she likes and uses it, should consider sending the authors a small monetary contribution. Our intention is not to make money but rather to continue developing Abacus and the BeOS concept, and we strongly suggest you do the same; supporting software development is the best way to assure the survival of a computer.
There are two versions of Abacus, the evaluation version and the registered one. As suggested by its name, the evaluation version may be distributed freely while the registered version is private. The two versions differ in the following aspects:
With the registred version you have access to support 24 hours/7 days a week.
You'll also get the next version of Abacus for free.

As a registered user, you will receive a personalized keyfile, which must only be used by one person and one person alone. This keyfile will unlock the features of Abacus and let you use the full-blown program. In no case must the keyfile be passed on to others (not even close friends or associates (companies should contact the authors for special deals)). The keyfile will work on ALL future versions of Abacus AS LONG AS the program itself does not go commercial. IF this happens, we CAN NOT guarantee that your keyfile will be valid.
We will gladly send every new version of Abacus to all REGISTERED user via E-mail. If you don't have access to the Internet, we will send you Abacus via postal service ONCE and no more. Moreover, registered users have priority when it comes to support. This does, however, not mean that we won't help you unless you have registered; it merely implies that we will help those who have first.

IMPORTANT: You should be aware that offences, such as the spreading of the registered version or piracy, can result in penal prosecution by the authors. If you don't follow the rules above, you should know that we reserve the right to cancel your registration and any rights to use Abacus that you may have without sending your money back, and that you may be subject to penal/trial prosecution.


IV. How to register

In short, what you do is that you fill out the registration form, fetch the requested money, put it all in an envelope, and send it to us.


First, please fill out as much as you can of the form below. You are, of course, free to send over the registration form in any way you want. Printed, handwritten, copied, or in ASCII, the choice is yours.

[BEGINNING OF SHEET]
Abacus Registration Form
========================


Name: ______________________________________________________

Address: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

Country: ______________________________________________________

EMails: ______________________________________________________

Computer Type:

Processor:

Comment: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________


I enclose the shareware fee as

______________________________ (e.g., 100 SEK, 15 USD, etc.)

and I assure that the sum is roughly equivalent to the sum
stated in the documentation.


Please send me the keyfile version

o in uuencoded form to my EMail address
o on disk by snailmail
o _____________________________________ (risky business)


I have read the manual, and I agree with the therein stated terms and conditions. Specifically, with my signature, I commit on following the rules and not spreading the registered version.


_____________________ ___________________________________________
(City, Date) (Signature)


(e.g., New York, May 16, 1997, Mel S. Torme (handwriting, if possible))


[END OF SHEET]


Then, collect the necessary amount of money. What we had in mind is

GERMANY 20 DM
FRANCE 90 Fr
USA 15 USD
SWEDEN 100 SEK

or, of course, in any other existing currency (roughly the same amount of money). Please send bank notes; if it's impossible to send the requested amount in notes, then send a little less, but please use notes.

Finally, place the form and the money in an envelope, address it to either of us and send it away. Please notice that it is illegal to send money via ordinary letters in some countres, and that we will NOT accept any responsibility for what may come out of that.


Bjorn Tornqvist
Folkparksv 14:36
SE-372 38 Ronneby
Sweden

or

Magnus Hjelmer
Folkparksv 14:22
SE-372 38 Ronneby
Sweden

OTHER ASPECTS

I. THE AUTHORS
Vi som har skrivit abacus ... skriv nåt här som ni vill ha sagt, för jag vet inte vad ni vill ha sagt

lägg till adresser, tfn, mail etc.


II. HISTORY
en history, den senaste versionen först, se till att inte bara skriva 1.0 - initial release utan 0.90b, 0.92 etc. ser lite mer aktivt ut, och ni vill ju ge intryck av kontnuerlig utveckling?

July 25, 1997 This verison.

July 3, 1997 First alpha released to the public.

III. KNOWN BUGS AND DEFICIENCIES
* Sometimes the server hangs.
* Sometimes the GUI hangs.
* Sometimes BeOS hangs.
* Sometimes the File Panel crashes Abacus.
* The GUI doesn't always update the cells correctly. This often happens after you've resized a column or a row. Just force a redraw of the window and everything is fine.
* The red block selector stays in it's place (ie, on the screen) when you move along the spreadsheet with the keys and scroll it up/down right or left.). * The engine is limited to int16 * int16 cells, although we haven't tried to have that many cells in the sheet so we don't have a clue wheter it works or not.

* Abacus is still unable to add numbers to each other (e.g., 1 + 1) - JUST KIDDING!!


IV. THANKS TO

The authors wish to thank the following people for always being there for us. Abacus wouldn't have been what it is today if it weren't for them.
Henrik Nilsson and Johan Alfredsson of O.R. Translation for a helping hand with this guide. Reach them at alvar@one.se for high-quality manual translations etc.
Mikael Hjerpe for bug testing and drawing the icon.


V. THE FUTURE OF ABACUS

* More functions
* Make use of the multi-user support.
* More graphs