Very Computer

Firstly I must say that 1-2-3 does work and can do most of the things the
manuals say it does.

1-2-3 is poorly-behaved in two areas.  Its startup screen hogs the message
queue.  I know that OS/2 should have (and will have) multiple message
queues, but it is bad PM programming to hog the queue like that.
Secondly, it uses non-standard menu and dialog formats.  This is not a
real problem, but I'm not sure that it is necessary.

My major complaint is that 1-2-3 is a terrible memory hog.  It dies without
warning if the partition with SWAPPER.DAT runs out of space.  The manual
says that you get a warning -- you don't, so save often.  My swap partition
has 8 meg free: I am astounded when 1-2-3 dies (presumably because of memory
problems) with only one worksheet, 85K in size, open.  It can die without
warning at any time.  (By the way, I'm not running any other applications
except for a few small utilities.)  The system is an ISA 486/33 with 8M of
memory.

I am not able to print anything -- not even a small range of cells.

I have spoken to Lotus tech support here in Australia who suggested that I
re-install the program.  It didn't help at all.  I do have all the fixes.
I will get back to them.  Does Lotus have E-mail tech support anywhere?

Has anyone else had such bad luck, or better luck?

--

Faculty of Education
Griffith University
Brisbane, Australia

Kyle

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U.S. Postal:    S.U. 1148
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Quote:>I am not able to print anything -- not even a small range of cells.

Called up Lotus support.  They suggested that I "install" a printer (i.e.,
lie to OS/2).  Worked like a charm.

Paul Gomme

Bob

I don't think you can do anything about the non-standard dialogs.

As for hogging the message queue, Lotus wanted to force you to read
the sign on message.  They've caught a lot of heat for that.

Quote:>I am not able to print anything -- not even a small range of cells.
>I have spoken to Lotus tech support here in Australia who suggested that I
>re-install the program.  It didn't help at all.  I do have all the fixes.
>I will get back to them.  Does Lotus have E-mail tech support anywhere?

Strange, isn't it?

--
Timothy F. Sipples       |READ the OS/2 FAQ List 2.1B, available from


of Chicago, 60637        |[Post to ONE newsgroup only AFTER reading the List.]

: I don't think you can do anything about the non-standard dialogs.

Perhaps we could start complaining to Lotus about it ?  It is pretty
poor isn't it ... I have never seen the CUA manual but I think there
should be some sort of consistency here.  Excel's dialog boxes are
semi-logical I must admit, but they're far from perfect still.  Lotus
123 for OS/2 is simply daft.  It's a good program though.

: As for hogging the message queue, Lotus wanted to force you to read
: the sign on message.  They've caught a lot of heat for that.

I've never tried it but would setting the option in the OS/2 System ->
Setup -> System -> Application sign-on message off do anything? Probably
not...

: Printing is a little strange (and non-standard).  When you bring up
: the print dialog, select a range of cells, and hit Go, nothing seems

It's better to select the cells before bringing up the print dialogue.
I find the easiest thing to do is to minimise the worksheet and then
drag the icon to the printer ... messy but it works.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Denis Cheong                                   |        `Today I am

  University of Western Australia                |        Like a marble
  Nedlands, WA                                   |          or an eye'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ed G
*******************************************************************************
Ed Geraghty                         |  "There is no true escape - I am watching
Systems Manager                     |   all the time..." - JP "Electric Eye"
Albert Einstein College of Medicine |
Dynamic Brain Imaging Lab           |  "Whenever you dream, you're holding a
Bronx, NYC 10461                    |   key. It opens a door to let you be

*******************************************************************************

Timothy Miller

Quote:>>        Incidentally, does anyone know the cost of a 1.1 ->
>>2.0 upgrade?
>     $50 for an educational upgrade, more if it's a regular upgrade (I think
>it's $75 or $100).  Make sure you go to an educational reseller.

--
Timothy F. Sipples       |READ the OS/2 FAQ List 2.1B, available from


of Chicago, 60637        |[Post to ONE newsgroup only AFTER reading the List.]

Firstly, I'm getting to like 1-2-3, which is now working OK (I think so, but
I haven't run it long enough to really test it).  

The "sudden death" problem seems to have gone away.  Lotus tech support
here in Oz suggested re-installing the OS after re-formatting its
partition.  So I did that and, after re-installing 1-2-3 again it all
seems to work better (two hours later :-).  BTW, I am using 2.0GA + SP
because I don't have 2.1 yet.  I now have more swap space because I didn't
install Win-OS2 (which I don't need).  Printing now works OK (on a quick
test) as well.

My reference to non-standard menus was actually to the way they go into
reverse video (kind-of) instead of the OS/2-standard "pressed-in" look.  I
don't know that they need to do that.

Thanks to everyone for their comments -- both to the net and to me
directly.  I can now try and earn some money using 1-2-3.

--

Faculty of Education
Griffith University
Brisbane, Australia

On top of that the 1-2-3 v2 for os/2 is incredibly slow! (486/66mhz!)
When I ask for a graph, I don't want to stare at an hourglass ((The
latter
is NOT a misnomer :-)
patrick

thanks, I feel better.

--
John Patrick Lestrade        
cnesta::lestrade  or SSL::lestrade                    

Quote:>I have got to add my two cents worth!  Am I the only person left who
>dislikes the new graphical look to spreadheets?  I found the original
>1-2-3 very easy to use with the numeric keypad (end-down, etc).  A mouse
>is great for drawing progs like * but it gets in
>my way in a spreadsheet.
>On top of that the 1-2-3 v2 for os/2 is incredibly slow! (486/66mhz!)
>When I ask for a graph, I don't want to stare at an hourglass ((The
>latter is NOT a misnomer :-)

--
Timothy F. Sipples       |READ the OS/2 FAQ List 2.1B, available from


of Chicago, 60637        |[Post to ONE newsgroup only AFTER reading the List.]