VU-CALC

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(C) Psion 1983



Loading time: 1 minute 30 seconds



Pocket calculators have become a powerful and indispensable tool, though they only calculate and display one number at a time. They are useful because there are many things in life described by a single number. There are many more situations, however, which can be described more fully and completely with a table or an array of numbers organized in an ordered way. VU-CALC is a program for calculating and displaying tables of numbers and names. You start with an empty table, or grid, composed of boxes, arranged in rows and columns. With a simple set of commands, you can invoke calculator-like formulas which link one box to another, or one row to another, or one column to another. The TS2000 can calculate a whole table of numbers in a few seconds. You can also enter data into particular boxes and by simply changing one or more parameters, tables for different situations can be re-evaluated and displayed almost immediately.



VU-CALC is a powerful tool for financial analysis, budgets, calculation of engineering or scientific tables, statistical analysis, etc.



TIMEX COMMAND CARTRIDGE(TM) INSTRUCTIONS

If you have the cartridge version of this software program please follow the steps listed below:



1. Turn off your TS2000.

2. Lift cartridge door open.

3. Insert command cartridge with label side up.

4. Close cartridge door.

5. Turn on your TS2000.

6. Program will now begin execution.



If Step 5 does not occur — start over with Step 1 ... and reset cartridge once again.



ALWAYS TURN OFF YOUR TS2000 BEFORE INSERTING OR REMOVING CARTRIDGE. You may bypass tape load instructions below.



TO LOAD: Press LOAD "vcalc" start your tape recorder and press ENTER. The program will load in 1 minute 30 seconds and starts automatically. Stop the tape when the VU-CALC grid appears on your screen.



THE LAYOUT: At the top of your screen is a two line command panel, or menu of options, that you'll be using with VU-CALC. In the middle of the screen is a window that looks onto the table you'll be using for your calculations. In the upper left-hand corner of the window is a red cursor box. At the bottom of the screen is a long strip with a flashing [L] cursor — this is how you communicate with the computer, inputting commands, formulas, data and text. Think of the table as being made up boxes, or drawers, stacked one on top of the other to form rows and columns. The rows are labeled alphabetically down the left-hand side of the screen, while the columns are numbered (01, 02, etc.) across the top of the screen.



The entire table is a 50 by 50 grid. The window merely looks onto the upper left-hand corner of the grid. To see the full grid — and the working space available to you, use the arrow keys (5, 6, 7, and 8 — while depressing the CAPS SHIFT key) to move the cursor box around the screen. When you reach the extreme right or extreme bottom of the window, the cursor will appear to stop. Look at the column and row indicators at the side and top of the screen, you'll notice they change to indicate your changing position within the grid. The last box in the grid, at the extreme bottom right, is defined by row AX and column 50.



NOTES: 1. Throughout these instructions, we will be defining locations on the grid (in command statements, formulae, etc.) according to row and column (r and c) coordinates. When you see the letters "r" and "c" below, they mean "row" and "column."



2. Always remember to press ENTER after typing anything into the input line indicated by the flashing [L] cursor at the bottom of the screen.



THE COMMAND PANEL: Let's look at what you can do with your VU-CALC program. Observe the two lines above the window. You are asked to elect different types of input. Two of these — data, and formulae — may be entered directly from the input line. The other two options are modes and must be preceded on the input line by another character. We'll explain the four types of input:



TEXT: In text mode you can enter column or row headings or subheadings, names, or any other labels you choose. First, position the red cursor to mark the box on the grid where you wish to start your text. Next, type a quotation mark (") — this tells the computer that what follows will be text. You may now type up to 28 characters of text. Press ENTER to transfer the text to the grid.



DATA: To place data into specific boxes on the grid, move the cursor to the appropriate box, type the data, and press ENTER. Numerical data may be entered directly.



FORMULAE: Now the power of VU-CALC really comes into play, giving you the ability to act upon rows, columns or blocks of numbers at a time. Like data, formulae are entered directly. Position the cursor at the box where you wish to print the result of the formula (for example, at the bottom of a column of numbers). In this mode — unlike text or data — the answer, rather than the formula, will appear in the designated box. The formula will appear just under the window, to the left. Any time you return to the box containing the answer, the formula will always appear in the space between the input line and the window.



The syntax of a formula includes constants (numbers), references to numbers in other boxes, and the simple arithmetical operators +, —, /, and * (multiplication sign). As we noted above, the contents of another box is always referred to by it coordinates, rc — where "r" is the letter(s) of the row, and "c" is the number of the column.



A formula can specify a particular box — as with B1 X 1.03. — It can express a relationship between two or more boxes — for example, with the formulas D7-C7, or D12 * (B2+1.5)/C1. Or a formula can be applied to rows or columns of numbers, using the Repeat command (see COMMANDS below).



There is another function — called the "Sum Facility" — which you can invoke by typing "&". This enables you to add a row, column (part of a row or column) or a rectangular block of boxes. Summing works in the same way as other formulas position the cursor in the box where you wish to place the result of the summation. Enter a formula in the form:



&f:l



"&" means "sum", and the formula means "sum the boxes from the first box (f) to the last box (l)." f:l is the rectangular range of boxes over which the summation is to be performed — f is the top left-hand box of the rectangle, and l is the bottom right-hand box. For example



&A2:B4



will sum the boxes A2 + A3 + A4 + B2 + B3 + B4. To sum row C from C3 to C10, type



&C3:C10



To sum column 5 from B5 to D5, type



&B5:D5



Box reference f (first) must always be above and/or to the left of box reference l (last).



COMMANDS: Press # and the two-line command panel will display a new set of commands. Type the first letter of the command you want.



#B — Blank: To blank or delete the contents of the box currently marked by the cursor. You may input different or updated data.



#C — Calculate: This function causes a recalculation of the entire table. You will want to use this after entering new data or after changing a formula, etc.



#E — Edit: Edit lets you replace the formula referred to by the current box with a new formula.



#F,c,f,j — Format, column, format-type, justified: This function specifies how a number will be represented in a given column, and is defined by the three parameters — c, f, and j. The first parameter, c, must be a one- or two-digit number, or the letter "A". If c is a number, the formatting will apply to that column only. "A" will apply the format to the entire table ("All"). The second parameter, f, specifies the type of formatting required. If you enter an I, an integer format will be used; a $ represents real number format with two decimal places; a G specifies general format. The third parameter, j, must be either L or R, for a column to be left- or right-justified.



#G,rc — Move the cursor immediately to box rc.



#L — Load: Load a data file from cassette. Type in the file name — start your recorder in PLAY mode, and press ENTER.



#P — Print: Send a copy of the screen to the printer.



#Q — Quit: Quit gives you the option of exiting the program, clearing the worksheet (by deleting the current data file), or changing your mind and returning to the program. Press 1, 2, or 3, and ENTER.



#R,rc,f:l — Repeat: This allows you to repeat the contents of box rc over a range of boxes you specify. The range may be across a row (or part of a row), down a column (or part of a column), or over a rectangular block of boxes. The command means "repeat the contents of box rc in all boxes from f (the first) to l (the last)."



As with the "Sum Facility" above, the first box (f) must be above and/or to the left of the last box (l).



You may also repeat the formula for box rc across a row or down a column but not over a block of boxes. For example, if the formula 1.03*A1 were applied to box A2, the result of that formula would appear in box A2. Then, if you were to type



#R,A2,A3:A10



the value of A in the formula (1.03*A1) will automatically increase by 1 as it is applied to each succeeding box — from box A3 to box A10. Hence, the formula for box A3 would be 1.03*A2; 1.03*A3 for box A4 and so on. If you were to apply the Repeat command to a column, the row letter would increase — B to C, C to D, etc. — as the formula moved down the column.



If, in a formula, you wish to refer to an absolute box reference which does not change when repeated, the box reference in the formula should be prefixed with a "$". In the above example, the formula 1.03*$A1, when applied to any box in row A, would always remain the same.



#S — Save: Use this function to save a file. Type in a data file name and press ENTER. You will be asked to start the tape in the RECORD mode, then press any key. The screen will clear. Be sure you have the MIC port on the TS2000 connected to the MIC port on your recorder, and the tape is set to a position where you will not record over anything else. Upon completion of the save, the program — with all data intact — will return to the screen, and you can continue to work with it.



#T,r (or c), r (or c) — Transfer: This transfers a row or column defined by the first parameter, to another row or column defined by the second parameter. A row cannot be copied to a column, and a column may not be copied to a row.



ERRORS: The program will stop, with an error report at the bottom of the screen, if a formula is entered which references a blank box or a box with text rather than data. If this happens, you can return to the program by typing GOTO 9000 and ENTER. The screen will display the identity of the box it was trying to calculate when the error occurred. Press the ENTER key. The display will return to the table and you can move the cursor to the box in question. Look at the formula for this box to see which box the formula is referencing. Is the box blank or does it contain text. Make the necessary corrections. If the program should stop for any other reason, GOTO 9000 will restart the program with the data intact.



LOADING INSTRUCTIONS:

(See Chapter 4 of your instruction manual for detailed instructions.)



1. First listen to the tape so you will be familiar with its distinct sections. The tape has a period of silence at the beginning, followed by a high-pitched, screechy noise. This is the computer program. The program is recorded twice on the cassette in case one does not load.



2. Set the volume control on the cassette deck to about 3/4 of the maximum. If you have tone controls, set the bass to minimum and treble to maximum. If you have just one tone control, set it to HIGH or MAXIMUM.



3. Rewind the tape to the beginning. Connect the EAR jack on the computer to the EAR jack on the cassette deck recorder. Make sure the plugs are clean and securely in place.



4. To instruct the computer to accept the program you must press the LOAD command and type the name of the program in quotation marks. See the instructions or cassette for the correct loading name.



5. Start the cassette deck, allow a few seconds for it to get up to speed, then press ENTER during the silence before the program begins.



6. The border of the TV screen will alternate between pale blue (cyan) and red, during the time the computer is searching for the program on the tape.



7. When the program has been found, the screen border will show a pattern of lines in the same shades of blue and red, and shortly the name of the program will appear on the screen.



8. Next, as the program itself is being loaded into the computer, the border pattern will become thinner, faster moving yellow and dark blue lines.



9. When the computer has finished loading the program, one of two things will happen:



1. Most commercial programs will begin running automatically, usually with a "title screen" or instructions to the user. (A title screen may tell you that the tape is still loading, if not, you should stop the tape immediately at this point so as to be in the proper position to load the next program if you wish.) or



2. The screen will be blank, except for a 0 OK, 0:1 in the lower left hand corner. This is a report code and means that the computer has successfully loaded the program.



Stop the tape immediately. To execute the program, you press RUN and ENTER. This will start the program.



SOME SUGGESTIONS

1. The volume at which the program is loaded is very important. Usually 3/4 maximum volume works best, but recorders vary and may require experimentation with the volume setting. If you have a technical background you can check the output level of your recorder's EAR/SPKR jack. It must be at least 4-volts peak-to-peak, although 5 to 6-volts peak-to-peak is best.



2. Clean and demagnetize the heads of the tape recorder. Your ears may not pick up the signal fluctuations due to magnetic flux on the tape heads, but the computer has a much more sensitive "ear."



3. The computer is very susceptible to outside interference. Working on a metal table or near electrical appliances should be avoided.



4. Occasionally, once a program has loaded, the video display will show instability. This can be corrected by adjusting the vertical hold on the television.



WARRANTY

There are no warranties which extend beyond the description on the face hereof. No other warranty, whether express or implied, including the warranty of merchantability, shall exist in connection with the sale of this product. In no event shall Timex be liable for any consequential, incidental or special damages.



MODEL NO. 345-061000 REV. 1



(C) 1983 Timex Computer Corporation Waterbury, Connecticut 06725