.KEYWORD tinysheet
.FLYINGHEAD PRODUCT REVIEW
.TITLE View and edit spreadsheets with TinySheet
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY Tom Gettings reviews TinySheet, an Excel-like spreadsheet program for the Palm OS.
.AUTHOR Tom Gettings
TinySheet version 3.2 from Iambic (at http://www.iambic.com/pilot/tinysheet3/) is an Excel-like spreadsheet program for the Palm OS that includes a surprisingly full range of functions for a program that’s displayed on a small Palm computer screen. The name may sound familiar to longtime Palm device owners, however the program has undergone extensive improvements and enhancements since being purchased by Iambic in 1999.
The program comes with both the TinySheet application, to be installed on the Palm unit, and a Tiny Sheet conduit, (the TinySheet Manager) to facilitate transfer of Excel workbooks, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) tables, CSV (comma-separated values), and tab delimitated files to the Palm application. According to Iambic, the software is compatible with most Palm OS devices with Palm OS 2.0 and later and requires 181K. The Pilot series 1000 and 5000 devices require a 1MB upgrade to run the program.
I reviewed the program on a Palm IIIx and a Palm IIIc. The application allows you to view and edit workbooks with multiple sheets, similar to Excel. According to Iambic’s documentation, each sheet in a workbook can have "more than 65,000 rows and up to 256 columns. The only limitation is the memory on your Palm device." You should use judgment in sheet size, however, as the speed of calculation and navigation decreases in very large sheets.
From an overall perspective, I found the application on the Palm device operated remarkably similar to Microsoft’s Excel desktop spreadsheet (considering the difference in hardware). I consider this one of its strengths. I personally find it interesting that they were able to fit many of the key functions of the rather large Microsoft software onto a device where program size really does matter. Another feature I liked was the use of "pop up" menus to facilitate functions.
.H1 Two main screens
The TinySheet interface screen consists of two main screens, the index screen and the spreadsheet screen. The index screen is pictured in Figure A.
.FIG A The index screen is where TinySheet workbooks on the device are listed.
The index screen is where TinySheet workbooks on the device are listed, along with the size of the spreadsheet. I particularly liked the size listing directly on this screen. You can also choose to display the available spreadsheets by a particular category. When the stylus is placed over the workbook on a list, a small box menu is brought up that provides the option to edit, delete, duplicate, or beam the sheet. You can beam the sheet and application to another Palm OS device, and the application will operate on that second device for three days. This is a convenient way to share data on a short-term basis. I found the beaming of the application and of workbooks to work quite well.
The spreadsheet screen is pictured in Figure B.
.FIG B The spreadsheet is set up as a workbook that can have multiple sheets.
When you open the spreadsheet, you’ll find it’s set up similar to Excel, as a workbook that can have multiple sheets. Generally speaking, the operation of the spreadsheet is similar to most desktop spreadsheets. Each sheet is accessible via the tab at the bottom of the sheet. Moving around the sheet is done via the scroll bars on the right and bottom of the sheet or by utilizing the Address and To Do buttons (after setting the option for this in Preferences).
.H1 Manipulating cells
Once again, marking ranges of cells is similar to the desktop Excel spreadsheet. Entire ranges of cells are marked by tapping on a cell and then dragging the stylus across the range to be marked. Entire rows or columns may be marked by tapping the row number or column header. Column and row width my also be adjusted by dragging the border. The available functions parallel Excel in format. The built-in functions included should cover what most users will wish to do on their Palm devices. Cell formats and sheet editing functions are similarly controlled via simplified menus that should be intuitive to most users, particularly if they’re familiar with Excel. You also have the option of making workbooks password protected. Making workbooks private via the Palm OS security features is also supported.
.H1 The toolbar
A small toolbar is shown across the bottom of the sheet. This toolbar contains buttons for tasks such as save, function lists, cut, copy, paste, delete, undo, and formatting. This toolbar is blown up for better viewing in Figure C.
.FIG C Task buttons are kept in the TinySheet toolbar.
.H1 Entering data
TinySheet has some clever, useful methods of entering and editing data, text, and formulas. The cell being edited is displayed in the upper left-hand corner, as is done in most spreadsheets. Of course, standard Graffiti or keyboard peripherals may be used to enter text, but Iambic provides a calculator function that I found quite useful for formula editing and entering. The pop up calculator is accessed via the small calculator icon in the upper right corner, as seen in Figure D.
.FIG D The pop up calculator is accessed via the small calculator icon in the upper right corner.
This was my favorite feature of the program. I found this a very efficient way to enter mathematical formulas. According to Iambic’s documentation, the program also accepts data entry from scanned bar code data using Symbol Palm OS devices such as the SPT 1500 and SPT 1700. After selecting the cell to begin entering data into, the barcode is scanned and TinySheet enters the number associated with the bar code and moves down to the next row. I didn’t have a compatible device available, so I was unable to add data this way. I do see this as a feature that would be valuable in the enterprise space, however. In fact, that is one of the features that interested me in TinySheet. This would seem a very useful feature as a quick off-the-shelf solution for acquiring a list of materials or products at a remote facility, customer location, construction site, or similar situations.
.H1 The Tools menu
A set of useful features for the application are provided under the Tools menu, pictured in Figure E.
.FIG E The Tools menu has a number of useful features for the application.
The Fill Series feature, pictured in Figure F, helps with the entering of a series of data on the small screen.
.FIG F The Fill Series feature helps with the entering of a series of data on the small screen
The Import Sheet and Export Sheet features are also useful and work well. The Import Sheet option brings up the screen pictured in Figure G.
.FIG G The Import Sheet option brings up a screen with the contents of your Memo Pad.
The Import Sheet screen lists the contents of your Memo Pad and allows you to import these as either tab delimited or comma delimited files. Conversely, the Export Sheet option permits the export of spreadsheets in the same format. These features also factor into the use of TinySheet Conduit, which I’ll discuss later.
.H1 My experiences
As you might expect, larger workbooks and workbooks with extensive calculation required perform slower than smaller sheets of predominately text and numbers. The application provides a useful method of carrying larger and calculating more intense sheets in a small package, however you probably won’t want to do large amounts of manipulation and navigation in a larger workbook due to slow operation.
If you wish to use the application with an existing spreadsheet that does a large amount of calculation, I’d recommend you try it using the 30-day free trial.
I imported several types of sheets and data sets to test it. Importing a somewhat larger (146K on the desktop), multiple sheet (eight sheet), workbook consisting of only data (i.e., no formulas) and border formats, I found it did a good job of importing the workbook and kept the column widths comparable to the Excel version. The borders were removed, but this was expected. Navigation speed was an issue as discussed above.
I also imported a very large (approximately 36,000 cell, 750K on the desktop) spreadsheet. This did take a bit of time to synchronize! The Palm application loaded it fine, and it was usable. However, this size file is simply too large to comfortably work with on the Palm device with this application. On the other hand, it would be preferable to carrying the data on a laptop or on paper if only needed for limited reference.
I used the import feature to import data from existing memos in the Memo Pad area, and this functioned very well. These smaller single-sheet workbooks were quick to navigate around.
A spreadsheet that did extensive calculations between the cells was so slow in calculation as to be unusable. Less intensive calculation sheets did work well, however.
Finally, I imported a 61K data file as a CSV. Navigation of the file was relatively quick for the size, considering the hardware.
.H1 TinySheet Manager
The TinySheet Manager is the desktop application/conduit used to synchronize the data files to Excel and transfer the files to the Palm device. The application is straightforward and essentially consists of adding the workbooks or data files to a list. One thing to note is the HTML import feature only works with HTML tables, but I found it does do a good job of stripping the designated URL down to the tables, extracting them, and synchronizing the tables to the Palm-side TinySheet application. One weakness with the HTML import feature is that it won’t permit importation of a saved HTML file. This is a feature that would be very useful. Perhaps it’ll be included in a future release. The obvious workaround is to import the HTML file into Excel and then synchronize the spreadsheet.
The TinySheet application doesn’t include charting or graphing options. This is not really surprising for a Palm-based spreadsheet application.
.H1 Conclusion
In general, I found the TinySheet to be a good method of porting spreadsheets to my Palm device. The Iambic team has done a good job of replicating the look and feel of a desktop spreadsheet on a Palm OS device. The program is at it strongest with relatively small worksheets, as opposed to large data sets. Iambic provides a free 30-day trial license, so download it and try it out for yourself.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on TinySheet version 3.2 from Iambic, visit http://www.iambic.com/pilot/tinysheet3/.
For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Tom Gettings is an engineer with The GSI Group, Inc. at http://www.grainsystems.com. He can be reached at tgettings@mail.com.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@@.ee6f3e5
