Combined Documents

Because of its unique design, PipeDream enables you to combine word processing, database and spreadsheet work and charts within the same window. No cutting and pasting between different applications is necessary and operations such as searching and sorting can apply to all types of work.

The best way to get an idea of what you can achieve by combining different sorts of work is to create a document consisting of different types of data yourself.

In this chapter, you are going to produce a report about a survey of penguins at four Antarctic research stations. The report will require word processing, spreadsheet work and the production of a chart to show the results of your survey. You will incorporate a picture into your document and into your chart and use different fonts to make the report as attractive as possible.

Before starting check that your computer is equipped with some Outline fonts. This chapter assumes that you have Trinity and Homerton fonts. If you have just the system font you can still work through this chapter but the chart and the final report that you produce will not be as pretty.

For more information and tutorial about creating charts in PipeDream, look in the Charts directory in the PipeDream Examples archive.

The final report that we are going to create is shown below:


PPS Newsletter

The document containing the start of the report may be found in the PipeDream Examples archive.

  1. Download the PipeDream Examples archive onto your disc drive.
  2. Make a writable copy of the contents of the archive on your disc drive. Open the Examples archive with SparkFS, then simply drag the contents of the Example archive to a different location on your disc drive. Close the Examples archive directory viewer to avoid confusion!
  3. Double-click Select on the Tutorial directory icon.
  4. Double-click Select on the file called Penguins.

The first paragraph of the text has been written for you as follows:

PENGUIN PRESERVATION SOCIETY

 

MAY 1991 NEWSLETTER

 

 

During February 1991, the PPS sent a team of researchers to Antarctica, using the money raised from the highly successful Christmas appeal. Their task was to highlight the need to preserve this last great wilderness as a home for penguins.

In the final version, the heading is centred.

Position the pointer at the beginning of cell A3 and drag down to A5 until the heading is marked.

Give the Centre Align command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Layout Centre align LAC

Click Select on the mark block box to clear the marked block.

When you move off the heading, you will see that it is centred.

Fonts

The final version of the document is displayed in different fonts from the one you have seen on the screen and on your print-outs so far. You can set a font for the whole document and also change the font for individual parts of it, such as headings. The document will be displayed on the screen and printed out in the font you have chosen.

To set a font for the whole document:

  1. Bring up the Print menu.
  2. Move the pointer over the arrow to the right of Font; to see the Font Selector dialogue box.
  3. In the Font box, click Select on Trinity.
  4. In the Weight box, click Select on Medium.
  5. Use the arrow icons to change the Height setting to 15.
  6. Use the arrow icons to change the Width setting to 15.
  7. Click Select on Auto to tell PipeDream to calculate the line height automatically.
  8. Click the OK button.

The document will be displayed in 15 point Trinity.Medium.

Because you have changed the font, you need to reformat the text:

Position the caret in cell A8.

Give the Format Paragraph command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Edit Format paragraph R

To specify a change of font for the heading:

  1. Position the caret at the beginning of cell A3, before the word PENGUIN.

When you move to the line containing the heading, the text will jump to the left to make it easier to edit.

  1. Bring up the Print menu.
  2. Move the pointer over the arrow to the right of the Local Font option in the Print menu to see the Local Font dialogue box.
  3. In the Font box, click Select on Homerton.
  4. In the Weight box, click Select on Bold.
  5. In the Point Size box, click Select on 18.
  6. Click the OK button.

PipeDream will insert a text @-field in front of the word PENGUIN which reads @F:Homerton.Bold,18@. This changes the font for this cell only. When you move off the cell, the text @-field is not displayed.

PENGUIN PRESERVATION SOCIETY is displayed in Homerton 18 point bold.

  1. Repeat the process for cell A5.

The whole heading will be displayed in Homerton 18 point Bold.

Changing column widths

If you look at the final version, you will see that the second paragraph is indented. Change the width of column A so that it gives an indent for the second paragraph.

Move the pointer to the right hand border of column A. The shape of the pointer will change. Drag Select to the left until the number in the mark block box changes to 7. If you drag too far to the left, you can drag back to the right. When you drag column borders in this way, the mark block box displays the width of the column.

Column A now has a width of 7.

Now you can start to type in the rest of the document.

Position the caret in cell A13 and then press Tab.

Type the second paragraph:

To confirm the extremely large number of penguins depending on Antarctica as a base, the team kept a record of the number of penguins sighted on our four research bases during February.

As you get to the end of the first line, the text will wrap onto the next line and start from column B.

Building the Spreadsheet

The next thing to do is to create a spreadsheet for the data collected by the research team. This will form the basis for your chart.

With PipeDream, there is no need to switch into a different mode or load a different program just because you have been typing text and are now about to create a spreadsheet. Both types of work are carried out in the same window.

Position the caret in cell B18 and type Base.

Now press to position the caret in cell C18 and type Total No.

Type Week 1 into cell D18, Week 2 into cell E18, Week 3 into cell F18 and Week 4 into cell G18

Position the caret in cell B20 and type the name of the first research station, Palmer.

Continue until your screen looks like this:

As you will be entering mainly number cell items from now on, it is a good idea to tell PipeDream to make all new cells number cells:

Also, as you are going to show numbers of penguins in this spreadsheet rather than prices, it is best to display the numbers with no decimal places.

Give the Options command.

Set the New cell format option to Numbers. This tells PipeDream that when you start typing into a new cell, it should interpret your entry as a number or a formula.

Use the arrow icons to change the setting for decimal places to zero.

Click the OK button.

Now you can type in the numbers as shown in the table.

As you can see, you need to make column B wider to accommodate the names of the bases.

Move the pointer to the right hand border of column B. The shape of the pointer will change. Drag Select to the right until the number in the mark block box changes to 17. If you drag too far to the right, you can drag back to the left. When you drag column borders in this way, the mark block box displays the width of the column.

Now, position the caret in cell C20. Click Select on the Function button. This is the curly f at the top of the window. Slide off the Maths option. You will see a list of mathematical functions. Click Select on SUM. Click Select in cell D20. Click Select in cell G20. The formula line should read SUM(D20G20). Click Select on the tick icon.

Drag Select until cells C20 to C23 are marked.

Give the Replicate Down command from the Blocks menu.

Click Select in the mark block box to clear the marked block.

The data in your spreadsheet is now complete.

Mark the whole document by clicking Select in the mark block box.

Then give the Auto Width command. This ensures that each column is the best width for the data it contains.

Clear the marked block by clicking Select in the mark block box.

The headings Total No., Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 need to be right aligned so that they line up with the figures beneath them.

Mark the headings and give the Right Align command.

After entering so much data, it is wise to save your document.

Also, you are about to produce a chart from a spreadsheet; you can only do this if the document containing the spreadsheet has been saved.

Give the Save command (Ctrl-FS or F3).

When the Save dialogue box appears, click the OK button.

Producing the Chart

Very often, numeric information is more easily understood when presented in chart form. Now is the time to make a Penguin Graph!

The first thing to do is to mark the block of information you want to be included in the chart:

Be careful not to include headings which you do not want to have in the final chart.

Give the New Chart command:

Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Chart New chart CHN

You will see the Chart Editing Window containing your chart. It will appear as a three-dimensional bar chart.

Use the adjust size icon of the Chart Editing Window to resize the chart until its appearance is pleasing. Notice that as you resize the chart editing window, the chart is redrawn and reformatted appropriately.

You can alter the chart's appearance by selecting any of its parts and applying settings to them.

First, select the y-axis by clicking Select on it. This is the vertical line at the left-hand side of the chart on which the numbers are displayed. When you have selected the axis, it will be outlined by a red dotted line and Axis 2 will appear in the top left hand corner of the Chart Editing Window.

With the pointer in the Chart Editing Window, press Menu.

You will see the Chart Editing Menu. Slide off the Selection option.

You will see the Selection sub-menu. Click Select on the Axis option.

You will see the Axis dialogue box. If the numbers up the vertical axis do not increase in steps of 1000, change the Major tick interval setting to 1000. Click the OK button.

In the Chart Editing Window, press Menu. Slide off the Gallery option and click Select on Bar... to bring up the Bar Gallery. In the Bar Gallery click Select on the 3-D on button to switch off 3-D. 3-D is good for business charts but not as good for penguins. Click Select on the icon showing stacked penguins and then click the OK button.

Now that your chart is ready, you need to save it into your document.

In the document's window, position the caret in cell B25.

Slide off the Save option in the Chart Editing Menu.

Slide off the Chart option.

Drag the chart's icon into the document window. The chart's icon looks like a PipeDream icon.

The chart is positioned in your document at the caret position. You may need to press Enter a few times to scroll the chart into the window.

If the chart does not look right, move back into cell B25 where you will see something like @G:Pengui_C01,100@.

100 is a percentage scale factor, which instructs PipeDream to draw the picture at 100% of its normal size. Changing the number rescales the chart.

Making Changes to Your Data

You now have a document consisting of text, spreadsheet and chart. What is more, both the spreadsheet and the chart are dynamic. If you receive new information, you can make changes.

For example, you hear from one of your team of researchers that the figure given for penguins sighted at Dumont d'Urville in the fourth week of February is wrong. In fact only 720 penguins were seen.

Make this change to your spreadsheet by typing 720 into cell G22. You will see the total number change accordingly. Also, your chart will change to reflect the new figure.

Setting a Font for the Chart

The text on the chart can be displayed in different fonts in the same way as the document text.

  1. Give the Edit Chart command:
Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Chart Edit chart CHE

You will see a list of charts, probably only containing the name of the chart you have just produced, Chart 1. Click Select on Chart 1.

The chart will be displayed in the Chart Editing Window.

  1. Select the chart background by clicking Select to the left hand side of the y-axis and numbers until the word Chart appears in the top left hand corner of the Chart Editing Window. You may find this a bit difficult at first - but practice makes perfect! The word Chart in the top left hand corner of the window confirms that you have selected the correct part of the chart.
  2. Press Menu.
  3. Slide off the Selection option.
  4. Click Select on the Text style option. You will see the Font Selection dialogue box.
  5. In the Font box, click Select on Trinity.
  6. In the Weight box, click Select on Medium.
  7. In the Point Size box, click Select on 8.
  8. Click the OK button.

The chart is displayed in the font you have chosen.

When you are happy with the appearance of the chart, close the Chart Editing Window by clicking Select on its close icon.

Adding a Picture to Your Document

One final change is to add the Penguin Preservation Society's logo as a document heading.

  1. If necessary, resize the PipeDream window so that you can see the icon bar.
  2. Position the caret at the beginning of cell A1.
  3. Bring up the Examples directory viewer.
  4. Double-click Select on the Pictures directory to open it.
  5. Drag the icon called Logo into the window of your document.

Pictures of penguins will appear on each side of the title.

At this stage, it is advisable to save your document again.

Printing the Document

If your document contains fonts, charts, the grid or pictures, you need to use a RISC OS printer driver to print it. Your Penguins document contains fonts, a chart and a picture!

  1. Give the Printer Config command:
Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Print Printer config PD
  1. Set the Printer type option to RISC OS. Ignore the other options.
  2. Click the OK button or press Enter.

Ensure that a RISC OS printer driver is loaded. Your printer driver icon must be on the icon bar. If you do not know how to load a RISC OS printer driver, consult your RISC OS documentation.

If you are using RISC OS 3, you need to install !Printers from your applications disc and select an appropriate printer type.

  1. Give the Print command.
Menu Command Ctrl-sequence Key
Print Print PO

You will see the Print dialogue box.

At the top of the dialogue box, you will see the type of RISC OS printer driver currently available. Make sure that this is what you want.

At this stage, you should not need to change any of the other settings.

Click the OK button.

Assuming your printer is correctly connected to your computer and is on line, your document will be printed.

You have produced your first Penguin Graphics!