Feature facsimiles. (simulating Lotus 1-2-3 3.x functions in version 2.2) (Help/2.2) (tutorial)

Feature Facsimiles

By combining existing functions and features of 1-2-3 Release 2.2, you can simulate some of the distinctive features of Release 3.x. This article explores six "work-alike" features: determining the directory of a worksheet file, making an instant graph, assigning a name to print settings, annotating a cell name, annotating a range name, and sorting data on three sort keys. Once you review these, you might begin to devise clever feature simulations of your own.

For several other feature facsimiles, see "The Case of the Borrowed Features" in the September issue.

Determine the directory of the current worksheet file. The @ INFO function in Release 3.x returns information about your system. You supply one of 11 attribute strings as an argument, and Release 3X returns such information as the amount of available memory, the current number of active files, or the current operating system. One of the most useful is the @INFO("directory") function, which returns the drive and directory of the current worksheet file.

In Release 2.2 three formulas accomplish the same task. To test them, begin in a blank worksheet. Select/File Save and enter a file name. To ensure that you'll be able to see the results of the formulas displayed, you may want to select /Worksheet Global Column-Width and specify a large width-say, 20 or 25. Then in cell A2 enter the formula @CELLPOINTER("filename"). This …