The power of Visicalc. Vol.I (book reviews) Michael Coffey.

The Power of Visicalc Volume I

This low budget book by Robert E. Williams and Bruce J. Taylor does exactly what The Visicalc book Apple Edition does not. It gives complete descriptions of solved practical problems. It does not always make clear the motivation behind the problems it tackles, but it covers an awful lot of ground, including some very advanced material.

The Power of Visicalc contains the documentation for six ambitions Visicalc modles. The topics are: accounts receivable aging, customer invoicing, equipment, rental stock monitoring, manufacturer production scheduling, manufacturer job cost estimating, and checkbook accounting.

The first chapter is a key-by-key demonstration of how to update a monthly ledger by saving and reloading parts of the worksheet. It uses the legendary DIF format. Another example shows how to use a lookup within a lookup, and how to calculate values for a lookup table before using the table. Williams and Taylor know countless ways to use tables, and they share a wealth of secrets. Because the book was produced almost entirely by computer printers, it lacks graphic polish. Everything is clearly legible, however, and the 88 pages contain very little fluff. It is published by Management Information Source of Portland, OR, and costs $9.95. Registers for the draughts

Few people today enjoy balancing their checkbooks. My favorite form of guilt is that which bugs me as I postpone the rite of reconcilitation. The computer helps by letting me catch up quickly at a later date. Those who enjoy budgeting should also appreciate the record keeping abilities of their Apples.

The simplest way to record checks and reconcile with the bank is to run a specialized checkbook program. These programs usually cost about $40. They lead you through the process of checking each entry on the bank statement against the entries in your register. The register itself is stored on disk. The best programs include a good screen editor streamlined for entry of checks and deposits.

Many of the record oriented file managers can also handle checkbooks. If the program you use for telephone directories or mailing lists can sort and print calculated columns, you should think of your checking account as a type of database.

Review Grade: B