Glossary

Adjust button The right-hand button on your computer’s mouse.
Ampersand The & character, used to represent the AND operator in formulae and conditions.
Anchor points The top left and bottom right cells of a range.
Anti-aliasing A technique used by your computer to simulate smooth edges on letters and images composed of square elements (pixels)
Array Set of numbers entered in a single cell, for example to represent a complex number or a matrix, which can all be operated on at once.
Auto width Facility to expand or reduce the width of a column to fit its contents perfectly.
Block A rectangular group of cells which can be operated on with a single command, using one of the block operations. The marked block is shown inverted on the screen. A block may consist of a rectangular table of cells, a row or a column of cells, or just a single cell. Some operations use the term ‘selection’ for block.
Bold A heavier, blacker version of a typeface used to provide emphasis.
Border Area around the edge of the window which shows row and column headings. These may be suppressed by deselecting the Borders check box in the Options dialogue box.
Button An on-screen icon which, when clicked, acts on the selected object by applying a style to it or performing a task with it.
Caret Indicator used within PipeDream to show where any new text you type will appear and to show where you are in the document. The caret may be moved around within the document either with the mouse or with the four arrow keys.
Case Form of letter; can be either upper (capitals) or lower (small letters).
Cell A section of a worksheet formed by the intersection of a column and a row, whose heading labels give it a unique address within the worksheet, its cell reference.
A cell may be defined as a ‘text cell’, in which case it can contain a line of text, or as a ‘number cell’, in which case it can contain a number or a formula.
Cell reference The unique address of a cell within a worksheet; it usually takes the form xn, where x is the column letter and n is the row number, e.g. A1, BC75.
Check box An icon within dialogue boxes which when clicked turns an option on or off.
Click Press and release a mouse button.
Clipboard Internal file in your computer where text or images which have been cut or copied are stored until you paste them back on to a page.
Close icon Icon on a window’s title bar which closes it when clicked.
Column The vertical divisions of a worksheet, usually identified by letter.
Comma separated values Comma separated values (CSV) format is a standard interchange format used for exchanging data between different spreadsheet and database programs.
Conditional page break A command inserted in a row of a document which causes a jump to a new page when the document is printed, unless a specified number of lines remain available on the current page. A conditional page break would typically be used to prevent a page break from occuring in the middle of a table, or from separating a heading from subsequent text.
Constant Data which is typed into the cell (via the editing line) and which is not a result of a calculation.
Copy Make a copy of the selected object or area of text and store it on the clipboard so that it can be pasted back into the document.
Custom function A function beyond the set included in PipeDream as standard, written by a user. It is used in a similar way to a standard function.
Cut Remove the selected object or area of text from the document and store it on the clipboard ready to be pasted back into a document.
Default A setting which is used automatically in a program unless you explicitly choose a different setting.
Dependent document A document which contains external references and therefore requires other documents to be kept open in order to maintain these references.
Dialogue box A special window into which you enter your preferences or instructions for PipeDream to carry out.
Directory A named area of the disc or network server where files, further directories and programs can be stored.
Double-clicking Clicking a mouse button twice in quick succession to select an object (e.g. a file) and perform an action on it (e.g. loading it).
Drag Move an object across the screen or make a selection by pointing at it, pressing and holding down Select, and moving the pointer to the desired new position.
Draw file A structured graphics file produced by the RISC OS program !Draw, or saved so as to be compatible with it. The OakDraw application is now freely available for Windows and contains many sample Draw files.
Expression Another word for formula.
External reference A reference to a cell contained in another worksheet. This is represented by prefixing the cell reference with the path and file name of the other document.
File A document which has been saved on a disc or network server.
Fill A special kind of copying which places a version of the original in the new cell. When formulae are copied, cell references are updated so that the formula contains references to cells in the same relative position, e.g. the formula SUM(A1:A3) in cell A4 would become SUM(B1:B3) when Replicate right is used to copy it into cell B4, or SUM(B3:B5) when Replicate is used to copy it into cell B6.
Font A particular instance of a typeface, in a particular size and weight, e.g. 10 point Trinity Bold.
Font cache An area of your computer’s memory reserved for the images of letters your computer has generated from the stored outlines to display on the screen.
Footer Running text which appears on the bottom of the page.
Format A set of instructions applied to numbers, dates or times which ensure that they are displayed in the worksheet in a particular style, e.g. as currency, number of decimal places, etc.
Formatting The application of style and layout information to an area of text.
Formfeed ASCII character 12: when sent to a printer, it makes the printer move to the start of the next page.
Formula A combination of data, operators and functions which produce a result which is displayed in the cell containing the formula.
Formula line The area at the top right of the PipeDream document window where you enter data and formulae.
Function A command which performs a specified operation on its parameters (numbers, dates, text strings) and when used as part of a formula produces a result which can be displayed in the worksheet.
Gallery A menu where you select chart types.
Greyed out Indicates an option which is currently unselectable, usually because it is inappropriate. For example, many operations work on selections and will be greyed out if there is no selection.
Grid The network of lines around each cell. This may be displayed by selecting the Grid check box in the Options dialogue box.
Hard page break A command inserted in a row of a document to cause a jump to the beginning of the next page when the document is printed. It is used before text that must appear at the top of a new page, such as the beginning of a chapter.
Header Running text which appears at the top of the page.
Highlight A character which may be inserted into the text of a document to cause a change in the text style. Eight different highlights are provided, some of which are permanently assigned to functions such as bold and italic, and others of which are free for you to assign. The effects of highlights 1, 2 and 4 are displayed on the screen as underlined text, bold text and italic text respectively. Superscripts and subscripts are also displayed on the screen. The remaining user-defined highlights are displayed as inverted numbers. In most cases you should repeat the highlight to cause the text to revert to the original style.
Icon A picture representing an object such as a file, program or disc drive.
Icon bar Area at the bottom of the screen where icons representing discs, programs and system management tools appear.
Italic Form of a typeface used for emphasis; letters are usually slanted and some have a different, more handwritten, form like this.
Justification The alignment of text in relation to the margins, e.g. centred between them, or aligned with the left or right margin.
Kerning Technique for microscopically adjusting the spacing between letters so that they appear correctly spaced to the eye. PipeDream supports the automatic kerning facility provided by RISC OS.
Landscape Paper orientation where the page is wider than it is long.
Leading The extra blank space added between lines of text to separate them and make them more readable. Usually expressed as the height of the type plus the extra space, so 10 point type with 2 points of leading would be described as 10 on 12 point.
Leafname The final part of a file name, not including any filing system, disc or directory names.
Left justify Only the left edge of the text/data is aligned with the margin; the right edge is jagged.
Legend The labels which describe the series of data in a chart.
Line spacing The depth of each line of text, from the bottom of the letters in one line to the bottom of the letters in the next line.
Marker Markers are used as a way of specifying a cell, or a block of cells, for the block commands. A marked cell or block is displayed inverted.
Menu A list of commands or further sub-menus which is displayed by pressing the middle mouse button while the pointer is inside a program window. Also the name of the middle mouse button, with which you obtain menus.
Mouse The standard pointing device used by your computer.
Number cell Any cell on the document can be specified as a number cell, by positioning the caret in the cell and clicking Select in the formula line. A formula typed into that cell will then be evaluated each time that cells upon which the formula depends change, and the result displayed in the document.
Operator A symbol which performs a mathematical or logical operation on data when it is used as part of a formula.
Page break A horizontal line on the document which indicates where a break between pages will occur when the document is printed. Conditional (or soft) page breaks are inserted between rows by PipeDream according to the number of lines allocated to each page. You can over-ride these by inserting hard page breaks.
Page length A setting used by printers and printer drivers to calculate the length of pages to be printed.
Palette Set of colours used by the computer and defined in the Palette program at the right of the icon bar.
Parameter 1. The data supplied to a spreadsheet function on which it will act.
2. An item of information taken from an Text format database which replaces a text @-field in a mailshot.
Paste To insert data at the caret position. The Paste command can be used to recover deleted data.
Pathname The full listing of filing system, disc, directory and leaf name details needed for to find a file which has been saved, and which appears in the title bar of saved document windows.
Pling—! Exclamation mark.
1. A prefix conventially used by RISC OS to show that a directory or a file is a program which will be started if you double-click on it.
2. In a formula in a PipeDream number cell, it represents the NOT operator.
Point The basic unit by which type is traditionally measured. A point is fractionally under 1/72 of an inch.
Portrait Paper orientation where the page is taller than it is wide.
Printable area Most printers can’t print over the entire area of the paper you feed through them, but need to leave a small margin around each edge. The printable area is the area on which a given printer can print.
Printer driver 1. A RISC OS program which enables your computer to talk to your printer and ensures that your files are printed correctly with all their formatting intact when printing as graphics. 2. A PipeDream file which instructs PipeDream how to convert standard instructions within text, such as highlights, into appropriate instruction codes for the particular printer being used when printing as text.
Proportional spacing Letters are allocated space along the line in proportion to their width, so that an ‘i’ takes up less space than a ‘w’.
Radio button Button which indicates that only one of a set of options in a dialogue box can be selected at once, so clicking on a new button automatically deselects the old choice.
Range A group of contiguous cells in one or more rows and columns which have been selected, e.g. to form the basis of a chart, or as a parameter to a function. The group is specified by giving two cell references: those of the top-left and bottom-right cells in the group, e.g. SUM(B1C10).
Replicate Copy a cell or block of cells elsewhere within the document, perhaps updating cell references. Replication always overwrites the contents of the target cell or block of cells.
Right justify Align text/data so that its right edge is flush with the right margin and the left edge is ragged.
Right margin marker The point for each column at which text will wrap to the next line when formatted, and the width to which text will be justified if jusify is selected. The right margin is determined by the column’s wrap width, and is indicated by a down-arrow in the top border.
Row The horizontal sections of a worksheet, usually identified by number.
Running text Text which runs throughout the document, appearing on more than one page, e.g. headers and footers.
Sans-serif Sans-serif typefaces, such as Homerton, are those where the letters have plain ends and do not have feet or brackets.
Scrolling Moving around a document by clicking the up / down arrow controls or moving the slider.
Select Click on an object so that when you next perform an action in the program, it will affect the object you have selected. Also the name of the left mouse button, with which you select.
Serif Serif typefaces, such as Trinity, have small feet or brackets at the edges of letters. These lead the eye from letter to letter and make it easier for readers to find their way through solid pages of text.
Slot Synonymous with Cell. This was the original PipeDream term which appears in the printed documentation.
Snapshot Removing a formula from a cell and replacing it with the current value. The cell will then stay fixed at that value from then on.
String A set of characters (which can be text or numerals) which are enclosed in quotation marks when entered in number cells.
Subgram A word made up from some of the letters of a longer word.
Subscript Small letters which appear slightly below the bottom of normal sized text.
Superscript Small letters which appear slightly above the baseline of normal sized text.
Supporting document A document which is referred to via an external reference, and hence is opened each time its dependent document is opened.
Template A special document which when opened, creates a new document with certain options set or text already included.
Text cell Initially, all cells in a document are text cells, and text typed into them will be formatted, and displayed in the document window.
Toggle size icon Icon in the title bar of a window which swaps its size from its current or previous size to as large as possible on screen, or vice versa.
Toolbar The section at the top of the document window which contains tool buttons.
Transpose Exchange rows and columns in an array or range. The transpose of a square is the same as a reflection about the leading diagonal.
Typeface A family of fonts with the same design, which can have many variants including italic and bold forms, as well as appearing in different sizes.
Vertical bar (solidus) The | character, used to represent the OR operator in formulae and conditions.
Weight The density of a font. Ordinary text is described as medium weight, while bold text is heavy.
Width The width of a column determines the space it occupies on the document, and the width within which the results of number cells are displayed. It can be altered by dragging a column’s border or with the Set Column Width command.
Worksheet A spreadsheet document.
Wrap As you are typing text into PipeDream it will normally wrap to the next row when the pointer reaches the column’s right margin. The line is split at the last space before the right margin.