Opus 2.2 and 2.3 Release Notes Release date: 8/12/89 ------------------------------ New Worksheet Features - Lotus file importation/exportation: Opus 2.3 can read and write Lotus 123 WKS and WK1 files, offering compatibility with VIP Professional, LDW Power, and of course Lotus itself. NOTE: This is the only feature missing from the public release, version 2.2; this feature is reserved for registered users. Opus supports over 50 123 mathematical functions; essentially, every Opus function with a 123 counterpart is supported, even if the number of arguments differ, occur in a different order within the function, or use a different convention in sign or magnitude (the lookup index arguments are "off by one"). Most of these differences arise from functions modeled after those in Microsoft Excel, which must also perform similar transformations. - Improved memory usage with formulas: Opus 2.2 uses a much more efficient scheme for storing formulas; in fact, it couldn't get much more efficient. For example, the WORKDAYS.OPS file included with Opus 2.1 required 300K of memory. In Opus 2.2, it consumes only 103K. A Lotus WK1 file containing over 400 long, complex formulas requires 64K in Opus; the LDW Power demo needs 120K memory for the same worksheet. Opus was also able to load this worksheet in 12 seconds, compared to 102(!) for LDW. Opus took 6.7 seconds to recalculate it, while LDW needed 8.5 seconds. To be fair, LDW will be more memory-efficient if many, many integer cells (cells containing numbers like 1, 3, etc.) are present, and the number of formula cells is kept to a minimum. - Maximum label/formula length is now 240 characters; the edit area dynamically grows and shrinks to accommodate the string, so that you see the entire string at once. - Enhanced text editor for data entry. - Entry of "\x" into a label cell causes the cell to be filled with the specified character (like in 123). - Ability to enter date/time numbers as "7/15/89" and "13:15" into numeric cells and also in the data fill dialog. - Copy/Move range have been altered to adjust relative and absolute cell references as does 123. The "Relative vs. Absolute" alert no longer occurs, saving a step. - Insertion/deletion of multiple rows and columns is supported, and the "Partial vs. Whole" alert no longer occurs, saving a step. Partial row/column operations are still supported; the difference is that to operate on a _whole_ row or column, you must select it entirely. - Range selection has been enhanced so that when you are scrolling while selecting a range, you can activate scrolling by screens by simultaneously holding down the shift key. - Named cell and range references may now be up to 15 characters long. - You may now enter cell or range names directly into any dialog box requiring a cell or range parameter; you may also click on the item to view a scrollable list of cell/range names from which you may select. - Creation of a table of cell/range names is supported. - Files are stored more efficiently, for a number of reasons. Full backward compatibility with earlier versions of Opus 2.x is maintained. - New functions: NA, ISNA, TRUE, FALSE, ATAN2. NA can be entered into a numeric cell, as in 123. - New help system based on disk files saves memory and is more comprehensive. New Charting Features - Floating titles and legend: Titles and legends may now be positioned with the mouse. - Titles may now be left and right justified in addition to the center justification already supported. - Chart title may be enclosed in a box or a shadowed box. - Adjustment of the white space constituting the chart borders is supported (the space between the chart and the frame boundaries). - Logarithmic scaling is supported for each axis. - Reduction factors (powers of 10) for the axis ranges are supported. That is, if the axis tick values are 200,000, 400,000, 600,000, and so on, a reduction factor of 10^-5 would cause the tick labels to be displayed as 2, 4, 6, etc. - The transformed (non-linear) regression models may now be plotted as smooth curves. - Cubic splines draw a smooth curve through any set of points. - Smooth curves may be plotted using logarithmic scaling. - Display of point markers may be suppressed for line and scatter charts. - Line patterns are used for line charts, regression charts, and splines, when the markers have been suppressed. The line patterns appear in the legend when appropriate. Shareware Remember, Opus is a shareware program. The suggested registration fee is an incredibly reasonable $15, and for that paltry sum, I will send you Opus 2.3, which has Lotus file capabilities.