[HN Gopher] Implementing VisiCalc (2003): Bob Frankston's design...
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       Implementing VisiCalc (2003): Bob Frankston's design notes
        
       Author : ohjeez
       Score  : 54 points
       Date   : 2023-01-08 22:16 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (rmf.vc)
 (TXT) w3m dump (rmf.vc)
        
       | kamphey wrote:
       | They'd been working/programming a decade! "By the time we created
       | VisiCalc Dan and I had been working professional and academically
       | for well over a decade."
       | 
       | also I found this interesting. "The Apple's screen was 40 columns
       | and 25 rows. "
       | 
       | That's 1,000 cells. And now a modern Google Sheets starts with 26
       | columns and 1,000 rows. 26,000 cells. But also can go up to
       | 10,000,000 cells!
        
         | another2another wrote:
         | "I started to program VisiCalc in November 1978 and we shipped
         | the first production copy in October 1979."
         | 
         | Just one year.
         | 
         | "In November of 1978 I started to prototype VisiCalc. We
         | eventually shipped that prototype."
         | 
         | Some things never change :)
        
         | WelcomeShorty wrote:
         | The 40 by 25 are characters, not cells :)
         | 
         | See: http://www.bricklin.com/history/refcard5.htm
        
       | nudpiedo wrote:
       | "We originally planned to let people rename the rows and columns
       | with labels and implemented the feature. Eventually we decided
       | that we needed to assure stable reference names so prevented
       | people form moving into the zeroth row or column. Instead we
       | implemented the ability to split the screen vertically or
       | horizontally. "
       | 
       | All the oposite from today's design in which they let people
       | rename everything.
        
         | capableweb wrote:
         | > All the oposite from today's design in which they let people
         | rename everything.
         | 
         | What spreadsheet program lets you rename a row or a column? The
         | pattern I see all around is that you add your own column names
         | as the first row for example, but the actual column doesn't get
         | renamed. Or, you get to define your own "Named Ranges" where
         | you can assign a name, but the row/column identifier stays the
         | same.
         | 
         | But I don't think I've seen any software allowing you to rename
         | column C to whatever you want, for example.
        
           | okennedy wrote:
           | Apple's Numbers has a relatively clever way to pull this off.
           | If a cell (e.g., B:$2) is in a table with a column (or row)
           | header, all formulas will use the header field value in the
           | variable. e.g.,                 = floor( [Strength:$Value] /
           | 2 - 5, 1)
           | 
           | These labels are purely descriptive. The underlying reference
           | is still B:$2, but it makes formulas infinitely more readable
           | without needing to manually define named ranges for
           | everything.
           | 
           | (Among many other nice features Numbers has... one of the few
           | things I miss since my switch to Linux)
        
       | nn3 wrote:
       | "If we couldn't figure out how to explain a feature on the
       | reference card we would change the program."
       | 
       | Wish more software would follow that principle
        
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       (page generated 2023-01-09 23:02 UTC)