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[previous article]David Gardner
XESS is a spreadsheet designed for use on systems supporting the X Windows environment. Unlike other spreadsheets, XESS can establish live data connections to other applications and update spreadsheet information as new data becomes available from connected programs. This capability is useful for instances involving stock trading or process-control data, where a grasp of constantly changing information is necessary. XESS also allows the user to standardize application interfaces by integrating other software under XESS's application program interface. Files can be saved in native format or the more universal WKS and WK1 formats and can be printed as either ASCII or PostScript files.
xess3
to open the application. The addition of the -h
switch at the command line
will display a list of command-line options. For anyone familiar with
windows applications, the XESS main window which appears should be
straightforward, containing the usual pull-down menus corresponding to
File, Edit, Search, etc.
To create a new spreadsheet, select the _New_ command from the File menu. To load an existing file, select _Open..._ from the File menu; in the dialog box which appears, select the type of worksheet desired (.xs3 is the native format) and either type the name of the desired file or select the filename from the Files list. Work on a spreadsheet can be saved by selecting either _Save_ or _Save As..._ from the File menu.
When creating or editing a file, there are two possible modes, input and edit. For new data, the input mode is entered once the user begins typing while the cursor is located in a cell. Any information entered at this point which begins with a +,-,.,@,= or digit 0-9 is assumed to be a formula. To enter the edit mode, either position the cursor in existing cell contents or select _Edit Cell_ from the Edit menu.
A complete listing of the table of contents for the XESS User's Guide is available online on the ECN home page under Software Packages.
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