- this does not present the delete dialogue box but it only clears formulae. In Excel 3.0 or earlier there were no ways to clear cells with just the mouse, but in 4.0 there are a number of approaches that accomplish this task:
1. You can drag and drop a blank range of cells on the cells you wish to clear. To do this, highlight a range of blank cells identical in size and shape to the range you wish to clear. Then point at the outline until the pointer becomes an arrow and drag the empty range on top of the cells you wish to clear. 2. You can use the auto fill feature to fill the range with blanks. However, this technique requires that you have a blank cell above the column or to the left of the row you wish to clear. To use this technique select the blank cell above or to the left of the cells you wish to clear and expand the cell highlight by dragging the + on the lower right corner of the cell until you have covered the entire range you wish cleared. When you release the mouse button the range will be filled with blanks.
3. A third method, and possibly the most useful, is to shrink the auto fill range to nothing. To use this method, highlight the entire range and drag the + on the lower right corner of the range to the top left corner and release the mouse button. The range will be cleared. You can tell what cells are about to be cleared because they will become fuzzy.
The first two methods clear the cells of formulae and formats while with the last the formats are retained.
Shane Devenshire, Walnut Creek, California.
If you do not use any applications which need expanded memory (not Windows applications, they get EMS memory from Windows) you can add the switch NOEMS after the DEVICE=EMM386.EXE in your config.sys file. That gives you 64K of upper memory to play with ri
ght away. Now, here's the read trick; before you try this you should make sure you have a bootable copy of the operating system on a floppy disk in case it does not work!
Now, edit your CONFIG.SYS file to look like this:
DEVICE=EMM386.EXE NOEMS I=E000-EFFF
The trick is the last parameter. This is an area of the upper memory area that may or may not be used on your PC. When you reboot your machine you should have 64K more free in the UMB (Upper Memory Block). If your machine hangs up when you boot then reboo
t from the floppy disk and return the CONFIG.SYS file to normal. Problems are often caused by special types of SVGA cards or 8-bit network cards which need this area of the UMB to communicate with the processor.
Lars Erik Gullerud,
Oslow, Norway.
Expanded memory (EMS) is an old system of using more than 640K of RAM on pre-286 Intel processors which could only address 1MB in total. It worked by switching extra RAM in and out of the processor's view in 16K chunks, in an area of upper memory (i.e. above 640K) designated as a 'page frame'. Many applications were written to use EMS and quite a number still do. This has resulted in a number of utilities written for the 386 processor which use its addressing hardware to 'fake' the operation of the old EMS boards. Most so called 'Memory Managers', including QuarterDeck's QEMM and Microsoft's EMM386 simulate EMS as part of their functionality.
However, this is not an efficient way of using the 386's extended addressing capabilities so the use of EMS is declining and it is likely than not everyone will be running applications needing it. The NOEMS option suggested prevents EMM386 from emulating EMS, thus reclaiming the UMB area which would otherwise have been used as a page frame.
The last parameter, which tells EMM386 to include RAM from E0000-EFFFF (normalised) refers to a 64K chunk which is often used by network adaptor cards and a few other weird and wonderful add-ons. Unfortunately, on a standard PC there is no easy way of finding out what may be using this address - the simplest way is to try using it yourself and see if the system comes crashing down around your ears. IBM's MicroChannel architecture addressed this confusion nicely, but was too late for the rest of the world.
As a network support person let slip today - 'I like DIP switches, I know where I can find them'. He was later seen to be using EDLIN and enjoying it.
Frank Leonhardt.
If you want to use MultiFinder on a once-off basis then using 'Set Startup', restarting, and using 'Set Startup' again works but is awkward. A much more convenient way is that of option-command-double-clicking the MultiFinder file which is normally found in the system folder, though it does not have to be there.
Another possibility is to change the file type for MultiFinder using ResEdit or some similar utility. If it is changed to 'APPL' (meaning application), MultiFinder can simply be launched in the usual way - it can even be launched from HyperCard if you are in the habit of doing that sort of thing.
Christian Johannes van den Bosch,
Co. Cork, Eire.
Secondly, where can I find information on common file formats such as MS-Word, Lotus WK1, WK3, Microsoft RTF, Excel, Paintbrush BMP and so on? Is there a publication which deals specifically with such things or does one have to go back to manufacturers' briefs?
Finally, I suspect I might have a virus on my system - every couple of months or so chkdsk starts reporting large chunks of lost space, and when these are converted to files and residing in the root directory the amount of space free on my hard disk is unchanged and files have disappeared. Also, spurious characters appear in files. I get around this by reformatting the hard disk and re-installing - which cures the problem for the next few weeks - but I would like to know what is causing it. Is it a virus or could it just be my hard disk getting old (one and a half years old)?
Can you recommend any source of cheap, shareware or public domain software which would be able to tell me whether I am actually 'infected' and exactly what the source is?
Ian Brookbank,
Edinbrugh.
There have been a number of implementations of LEX and YACC for MS-DOS, some public domain and some commercial. MKS LEX and YACC are available at around £165 from companies like Grey Matter (0364 53499) or The Software Construction Company (0763 244025) which specialise in programmers' software. Alternatively you could get hold of the source code for GNU LEX and YACC, which are public domain Unix versions. They are available for download from bulletin boards such as cix, and from the more technically oriented Public Domain software libraries.
File formats are nearly always available from the manufacturers of the software, and they are normally quite happy to send them if you can give a good reason for needing them. Microsoft's helpline can be found on 0734 576744 - it can take a while to get through but I have always found it worth the wait. Lotus are on 0753 840281. Alternatively, quite a few software reference manuals do list the file formats in the back - find someone who has a copy and have a look!
As for your hard disk; you may be suffering from a virus but the cause is probably far less exciting. Areas of the hard disk go missing whenever MS-DOS is prevented from closing a file properly, the most common cause for this being the user keying Ctrl-Alt-Del while an application is running. This is often unavoidable, due to the machine crashing, but it almost inevitably causes problems. It is a good idea to run chkdsk (with the /F option) after every forced reset to tidy up the debris. If chkdsk creates .CHK files in the root directory, you would normally delete them to reclaim the space.
It is quite possible that you have a faulty hard disk drive, or more likely considering its age, a faulty controller. There can be subtle incompatibilities between some motherboards and controllers which do manifest themselves as occasional data corruption. It is also possible for some software to interfere with the disk interface with similar results - Memory Managers and other software using extended memory being frequent offenders. Try removing such things and see if the problems goes.
If you are worried about a virus you can obtain scanning software from nearly any PD or shareware library for a modest copying fee plus any registration charge made by the author if you find the program useful. Testware (0423 886415), or Sharesense (0623 558057), can supply the excellent shareware McAfee anti-virus tools, together with numerous others.
Frank Leonhardt
I have searched for a PC-Link for a Cambridge Z88 for the last three months, without any luck. I have also scanned your Magazine but find no-one offering this item.
If I do find a PC Link, would it be possible for me to download information in my Z88 to Lotus 123?
P Matthias,
Leeds.
I am pleased to be able to report that support for this excellent non-MS-DOS lap-top is still around, if you know where to look. PC-Link II can be obtained by mail order from HiTEK Marketing, 72 Longmoor Lane, Breaston, Derby DE7 3BB (03317 3987). The cost is around £30.
Alternatively Ranger Computers can supply the vastly superior RangerLink at around £55 - Ranger House, 2 Meeting Lane, Duston, Northampton NN5 6JG (0604 589200). They also sell a wide range of other goodies including floppy disk drives, RAM, bar code readers and ruggedised Z88s.
If you are looking for something in between, The Music Suite (strange name for a computer company!) of Cenarth, Newcastle Emlyn, Dyfed SA38 9JN (0239 710594) produce an EPROM-less link program for £35.All of the above come with utilities which should convert spreadsheets from PipeDream to Lotus 1-2-3 format, together with the all-important serial lead.
For spares and repairs (should the worst happen) write to the Z88 User's Club, 68 Wellington Street, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 4NG