SPREADSHEET

SEMINAR ICTAND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY SCI(802)ASSIGMENT SPREADSHEET A spreadsheet is an interactive computer application program for organization and analysis of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets are developed as computerised simulations of paper accounting worksheets. It operates on data represented as cells of an array, organized in rows and columns. Each cell of the array is a model view controller element that can contain either numeric or text data, or the results of formulas that automatically calculate and display a value based on the contents of other cells. Spreadsheets have now replaced paper-based systems throughout the business world. Although they were first developed for accounting or bookkeeping tasks, they are now used extensively in any context where tabular lists are built, sorted, and shared. The first electronic spreadsheet was invented by Robert Frankston and Dan Bricklin in VisiCalc and it ran on Apple 11 computers in 1979 and the IBM PC in 1981, the spreadsheet concept became widely known in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Viscalc was the first spreadsheet that combined all essential features of modern spreadsheet applications, such as interactive user interface, automatic recalculation, status and formula lines, range copying with relative and absolute references, formula building by selecting referenced cells. PC World magazine has called Viscalc the first electronic spreadsheet. Viscalc helped turn Apple 11 computer into a popular and widely used system. Lotus 1-2-3 was the leading spreadsheet when DOS was the dominant operating system. Excel now has the largest share on the Windows and Macintosh platforms. Bricklin has spoken of watching his university professor create a table of calculation results on a blackboard. When the professor found an error, he had to tediously erase and rewrite a number of sequential entries in the table, triggering Bricklin to think he could replicate the process on a computer, using the blackboard as the model to view results underlying formulas. His idea became Viscalc, the first application that turned the personal computer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a business tool. SPREADSHEET PROGRAM A spreadsheet program is a standard feature of an office productivity suite; since advent of web apps, office suites now also exist in web app form. Spreadsheet Program, in computer science, is an application program commonly used for budgets, forecasting, and other finance-related tasks. In a spreadsheet program, data and formulas to calculate those data are entered into ledger like forms (spreadsheets or worksheets) for analysis, tracking, planning, or “what-if” evaluations of the impacts of real or proposed changes on an economic strategy. Spreadsheet programs use rows and columns of cells; each cell can hold text or numeric data or a formula that uses values in other cells to calculate a desired result. To ease computation, these programs include built-in functions that perform standard calculations. Depending on the program, a single spreadsheet can contain anywhere from thousands to millions of cells. Some spreadsheet programs can also link one spreadsheet to another that contains related information, and can update data in linked spreadsheets automatically. Spreadsheet programs may also include macro facilities, and some can be used for creating and sorting databases. For printed output, spreadsheet programs usually provide graphing capabilities and a variety of formatting options for printed pages and text, numeric values, and captions and legends in graphs.  Spreadsheets share many principles and traits of databases, but spreadsheet and databases are not the same thing. A spread sheet is just one table, whereas a database is a collection of many tables with machine-readable semantic relationships between them. While it is true that a workbook that contains three sheets is indeed a file containing multiple tables that can interact with each other, it lacks the relational structure of a data base. A spreadsheet program is one of the main components of an office productivity suite, which usually also contain a word processor, a presentation program, and a data management system. Programs within a suite use similar command for similar functions. Usually sharing data between the components is easier than with a non-integrated collection of functionally equivalent programs. This was particularly an advantage at a time when many personal computer systems used text-mode displays and commands, instead of a graphical user interface. Examples of spreadsheet that are part of suites; • Ability Office spreadsheet – for MS Window • AppleWorks – for MS Windows and Macintosh • IBM Lotus Symphony – freeware for MS Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux • Microsoft Works Spreadsheet – for MS Windows. It only allows one sheet at a time • Microsoft Office Excel – for Ms Windows and Macintosh. The proprietary spreadsheet leader • Quattro Pro – part of WordPerfect Office • PlanMaker – for MS Windows, Linux, Windows Mobile, and Windows CE; part of SoftMaker Office • Xoom Office Spreadsheet – for MS Windows. Examples of online spreadsheets: • Smartsheet – Online spreadsheet for project management, interactive Gantt, file sharing, integrated with Google Apps • ThinkFree Online Calc • Google Spreadsheets – as part of Google Docs and Spreadsheets • EditGrid - access, collaborate and share spreadsheets online, with API support. For what academic purpose is a spreadsheet useful? Spreadsheet software allows the user to: • Create simple lists and tables of alphabets or numerical data • Create and manipulate simple (flat-file) database • Establish relationships between sets of numerical data • Apply arithmetic, mathematical or statistical functions to numerical datasets • Represent datasets in graphical or chart form In the humanities, potential uses of spreadsheets include: • Maintaining a lists of short items you wish to sort, examples are vocabulary, categories, instances of phenomena • Studying quantifiable information, such as word distributions across textual corpora, demographic, other sociological statistics, voting patterns, inventories • Managing budgets, example for grant applications and project expenses. Limitations of spreadsheets: • Lack of security, generally if one has permission to open a spreadsheet; one has permission to modify any part of it (this is not case of MS Office). This combined with lack of auditing, can make it easy for someone to commit fraud. • Because they are loosely structured, it is easy for someone to introduce an error, either accidentally or intentionally, by entering information in the wrong place or expressing dependencies among cells incorrectly. • Lack of auditing and revision control. This makes it difficult to determine who changed what and when. This can cause problems with regulatory compliance. Lack of revision control greatly increases the risk of errors due t