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Spreadsheet

Definition:

*The spreadsheet is a spreadsheet that allows the manipulation of data arranged in


rows and columns. Columns are represented by letters and rows by numbers. The
intersection of the column and the row is known as the cell. The cell address is the
letter (or letters) of the column with the row number. A cell can contain text, a
number or a formula that establishes a relationship with other cells, that is, it can
work with alphanumeric, numerical and logical data.

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*An electronic worksheet is a program that electronically emulates the worksheet. It


replaces the three typical work instruments of a financial analyst: the paper
worksheet, the pencil and the calculator. The worksheet is replaced by a set of
cells arranged in rows and columns (matrix) whose contents are saved in the
computer's main memory; the pencil is replaced by the keyboard and the arithmetic
and logic unit replaces the calculator .

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*A spreadsheet is a computer program or application that allows the manipulation


of data, numbers arranged in tables for the operation of complex accounting,
finance and business calculations. The spreadsheet is an application of traditional
computer packages that is programmed for the management of numerical and
alphanumeric data for the purpose of obtaining accounting report conclusions. The
possibilities of this type of application are immense, since it allows you to operate
with complex calculations, formulas, functions and create graphs of all kinds.

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History:

* Various information about information systems and some people confirm that the
first electronic spreadsheet, called Visicalc, was created in 1978 by Daniel Bricklin,
who was a student at the Harvard Business School, and it is also worth mentioning
that it was he who invented Electronic Sheets. Bricklin was supposedly preparing
an Electronic Sheet for an HBS (case study) and to create it he had two
alternatives 1.-Do it by hand, or 2.-Use a time-sharing terminal that used a
Mainframe. Bricklin wanted to make a program where users would gain the ability
to view a grid sheet just as Accountants did by hand. His vision was “an electronic
blackboard and electronic chalk in a classroom.”
By the summer of 1978, Bricklin had already programmed his first executable
version of his concept. The program allowed the user to insert matrices with 5
columns and 20 rows. The first version was not easy to use and, because of this,
Bricklin hired Bob Frankston, in order to expand the ease of use of the program.
Frankston expanded the program to such a point that he reduced its requirements,
making it more powerful and practical to be used on a Microcomputer.
During the summer of 1978, Daniel Flystra joined Bricklin and Frankston. Flystra
was a marketer and suggested that the product could be in high demand if it could
run on an Apple Macintosh computer. Between the three of them they formed a
company known by the name of Software Arts Corporation which was founded in
January 1979 and was directed by Bricklin. In April of that same year, the company
began distributing Visicalc, whose name was taken from an abbreviation made
from the English words “Visible Calculator.”
Visicalc became a phenomenon in the 80s and encouraged many business owners
to buy Personal Computers (PC). More than 1 million copies were sold during the
entire production of Visicalc.

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* In 1961 the concept of an electronic spreadsheet was glimpsed in the article


Budgeting Models and System Simulation by Richard Mattessich. With VisiCalc the
history of electronic spreadsheets was born, being in 1979 when it was marketed
and was the first program to work with these spreadsheets. It was called that, as
an abbreviation of Visible Calculator, which means visible calculator. The creator
was Dan Bricklin and it was later developed jointly with Bob Frankston. They both
created the company Software Arts Inc. to develop their product. Dan Bricklin had
the idea of creating this program after observing that his professor at Harvard
Business School, when explaining models with tables, had to be deleting and
recalculating a lot of sequential data on the board if he wanted to change any
condition of the problem or make mistakes. some mistake.

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electronicas.html ))

* The electronic spreadsheet is probably the first business application designed for
the personal computer. In fact, VisiCalc, the granddaddy of this type of application,
was the reason why companies bought the Apple II. Together with word
processors and database managers, electronic spreadsheets form the tripod on
which the productivity of the personal computer is based. Although purists consider
it an abuse, for many users, the spreadsheet application is sesame of all kinds.
Swiss army knife in which they write reports and keep the historical sales record.

VisiCalc, the first application of the electronic spreadsheet concept, was


conceptualized by, at the time, an MBA student at Harvard University as a tool to
facilitate the analysis of cases, scenarios and projections of business. In 1978,
Daniel Bricklin had the idea of an interactive calculator that would automate the
spreadsheets used by accountants.

Bricklin programmed the first prototype of the program in the fall of 1978. The
prototype interface allowed manipulating a matrix with 5 columns and 20 rows. As
the prototype was limited in its functionality, Bricklin turned to an MIT engineering
student, Bob Frankston, to develop a marketable version of the code. This first
program used decimal arithmetic and used 20Kb of memory in total, making it
suitable for running on a microcomputer.

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calculo.html ))

Versions:

*Microsoft originally marketed a Spreadsheet program called Multiplan in 1982,


which was very popular on CP/M systems, but on MS-DOS systems it lost
popularity to Lotus 1-2-3. Microsoft published the first version of Excel for Mac in
1985, and the first version for Windows (numbered 2-05 in line with the Mac and
with a Windows environment runtime package) in November 1987. Lotus was slow
to bring 1-2-3 to Windows and this helped Microsoft achieve the position of the
leading PC spreadsheet software developers. This achievement solidified Microsoft
as a valid competitor and showed its development future as a GUI software
developer. Microsoft pushed its competitive advantage by releasing new versions
of Excel, typically every two years. The current version for the Windows platform is
Excel 14.0, also called Microsoft Excel 2010. The current version for Mac OS X is
Microsoft Excel 2011.

The list of versions of Microsoft Excel that have been released for Microsoft
Windows are:

1. In 1985 Excel 1.0.

2. In 1987 Excel 2.0.

3. In 1990 Excel 3.0.


4. In 1992 Excel 4.0.

5. In 1993 Excel 5.0 (Office 4.2 & 4.3).

6. In 1995 Excel 7.0 (Office '95).

7. In 1997 Excel 8.0 (Office '97).

8. In 1999 Excel 9.0 (Office 2000).

9. In 2001 Excel 10.0 (Office XP).

10. In 2003 Excel 11.0 (Office 2003).

11. In 2007 Excel 12.0 (Office 2007).

12. In 2010 Excel 14.0 (Office 2010).

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calculo.html ))

*Commercial products:

Spreadsheets on the market:

•Calc, integrated into OpenOffice.org

•Microsoft Excel, integrated into Microsoft Office

•Gnumeric, integrated into Gnome Office

•KSpread, by KOffice

•Numbers, integrated into Apple iWork

•Lotus 1-2-3 integrated into Lotus SmartSuit


Types of Spreadsheet

OpenOffice.org Calc is an Open Source spreadsheet and free software compatible


with Microsoft Excel. It is part of the OpenOffice.org office suite. As with all
components of the OpenOffice.org suite, Calc can be used across a variety of
platforms, including Mac OS X, Windows, GNU/Linux, FreeBSD and Solaris, and is
available under the LGPL license.

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