ZxApp IT Users Guide

6. Spreadsheets

ZxApp IT supports spreadsheets in a unique way.  Any HTML table can be seamlessly switched back and forth between a table and a spreadsheet.  To reiterate, you can perform spreadsheet calculations on ANY table, regardless of where it came from.  To do this, place the text cursor inside one of the cells of a table and press F1.  


To demostrate, consider the following table:

 


Expense Amount
Groceries $150.00
Gas $65.00
Entertainment $125.00
Total $340.00
 


The above table is derived from the below worksheet.  Pressing F1 toggles between worksheet and table.



A1:

Expense

B1:

Amount

A2:

Groceries

B2:

150.00

A3:

Gas

B3:

65.00

A4:

Entertainment

B4:

125.00

A5:

Total

B5:

="$"+text(sum(b2..b4),"#.00")
 


If a row or column is inserted, then the labels will need to be recalculated.  This can be done by toggling to worksheet, clicking in a cell, and pressing F2.


To make this happen, ZxApp IT performs a fairly simple transformation between two complimentary views of the same information. The following table demonstrates this transformation:


Condition

Table View

Worksheet View

Examples

Always

ID Attribute

Label Value

A1, B2, A2, B2...

Worksheet Value starts with equal sign (=)

Title Attribute (Value is replaced with calculation)

Value (calculated value is disgarded in favor of the Title Attribute)

"10" to/from "=5+5"

Table Value unquoted with number digits

Title Attribute (with "Format: " prefix)

Value with non-numeric characters stripped from it.

"Format: $10" to/from "$10"


The beauty of this system is that it makes perfect sense... The ID Attribute in the table view REALLY IS the ID of the cell.  The Title Attribute causes the browser to show the formula used to calculate the value when a user hovers over the value.






 


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