| 1. Introduction | 2. Example | 3. Main Menu | 4. Printing | 5. Graphs | 6. Modules | Table of Contents |
| File | Edit | View | Module | Table | Tools | Window | Help |
File contains the usual options that one finds in most Windows programs
as seen in the figure below.
These options are now described.
As demonstrated in the sample problem this is chosen to begin a new problem/file. In some cases you will go directly to the problem creation screen while in other cases a popup menu will appear indicating the submodules that are available. An example of this popup menu is shown below. After selecting a submodule you then will go to the creation screen.
This is used to open/load a previously saved file. File selection is
the standard Windows common dialog type. An example of the screen for opening
a file is shown below. Notice that the extension for files in the software
system is given by the first three letters of the module name. For example,
all transportation files have the extension *.tra. When you go to the open
dialog the default value is for the program to look for files of the type
in this module. This can be changed at the bottom left where it says 'List
files of type'. Other than that file opening and saving is quite normal.
The drive can be changed with the drive box drop down box and the directory
can be changed with the directory tree list.
The names which are legal are standard DOS file names without
extensions. That is you may type in up to 8 characters. Case (upper or
lower) does not matter. In addition to the file name you may preface the
name with a drive letter (with its colon) or path designation. Examples
of legal file names aresample, test, b:sample, problem1, c:\bc7\test, and
sample.tra.
You may type them in as uppercase, lowercase or mixed. Examples of illegal file names are
sample.lp (The extension must match the first three letters of a module name)
abcdefghij- the name is too long
lpt1 - it is a reserved DOS word.
NOTE: Even under Windows 95 the file names must be less than
or equal to 8 characters in length (excluding the extension)
In the event that there is a problem with the drive or file then an
error message will appear to that effect.
Save will replace the file without asking you if you care about overwriting
the previous version of this file. If you try to save and have not previously
named the file then you will be asked to name this file.
Save as will prompt you for a file name before saving. This option is
very similar to the option to load a data file. When you choose this option
the Windows Common Dialog Box for Files will appear. It is essentially
identical to the one previously shown.
Print will display a Print Setup screen. Printing options are described
in Chapter 4.
This will print the screen as it appears. Different screen resolutions
may affect the printing. It generally works perfectly for 640 by 480 and
800 by 600. Printing the screen is more time consuming than a regular print.
There are several ways to solve a problem. Clicking on FILE, SOLVE is
probably the least efficient way to solve the problem. The toolbar icon
can be used or the [SOLVE] command button or the [F9] key.
The SOLVE buttons on the command bar and toolbar generally are the easiest
way to solve. In addition, if the data is entered in order (top to bottom,
left to right using the [RETURN] key) then it will solve automatically
after the last cell.
The next option on the FILE menu is Exit. This will exit the program.
Exit Results
If you are on the solution screen you can use Exit Results to return
to the data screen. This can also be achieved by pressing the [EDIT
DATA] command button on the solution screen.
The FILE menu contains a list of the last four files that you have used. Clicking on one of these will load the file.
The commands under edit can be seen below. Their purposes are threefold.
The first four commands are used to insert or delete rows or columns. The
second type of command is useful for repeating entries in a column and
the third type is for cutting and pasting between Windows applications.
This will insert a row after the current row.
This will insert a column after the current column.
This will delete the current row.
This will delete the current column.
This command is used to copy an entry from one cell to all cells below
it in the column. This is not often useful but when it is it saves a great
deal of work.
Copy 
Copy has suboptions available. It is possible to copy the entire table
the current row or the current column to the clipboard. It is possible
to copy from the data table or any of the solution tables. Whatever is
copied can then be pasted into this program or some other Windows program.
(The copy tool in the toolbar copies the entire table.) If you are at the
solution stage then the copying will be for the table that is active.
Paste 
Paste is used to paste in the current contents of the clipboard. When pasting into DS for Windows the pasting begins at the current cursor position. Thus it is possible to copy a column to a different column beginning in a different row. This could be done to create a diagonal. It also is possible to paste into other programs such as a spreadsheet or word processor. Let me remind you that you can get the data into another program by reading the entire data file into it. It is not possible to paste into a solution table although as indicated above it is possible to copy from a solution table.
View has several options that enable you to customize the appearance
of the screen. The toolbar can be displayed or not. In addition, if it
is displayed then the balloon help 
explaining each of the tools can be displayed or not.
The command bar can be displayed or not. If you do not display the command
bar then the commands are available in the Main Menu. Print Screen is available
in the FILE menu and Solve is available in the FILE menu or you can press
the [F9] key to solve.
The Instruction bar can be displayed at its default location above the
data, or below the data, or as a floating window or not at all. Zoom 
will turn all of the bars (toolbar, command bar, instruction and status
bar) on or off. The Status bar can be displayed or not and if it is the
time and date can be displayed or not.
Colors can be set to monochrome (black and white) or from this state to their original colors.
A dropdown list with all of the modules in alphabetical order will appear. The [MODULE] button is a second way to get a list of modules.
TABLES also has several options for the display as can be seen below.
The colors 
for the
entire screen can be set, the font type 
and size 
for all tables
can be set. Zeros can be set to display as blanks 
rather than zeros in the data table. The problem title that appears in
the data table and was created at the creation screen can be changed.
The table can be squeezed 
or expanded 
. That
is, the column widths can be decreased or increased. This is very useful
when tables are wider than the screen.
NOTE: All tables can have their column widths changed by clicking
on the line separating the columns and dragging the column divider left
or right!!
The input can be checked or not. It is a bad idea to not check the input
but it can be useful at times.
The last option of insert/delete will take you to the Edit menu.
A 
calculator is
available for simple calculations including a square root. A Normal Distribution
calculator is available
for performing calculations related to the normal distribution. This is
particularly useful for forecasting and project management. See the Help
screen for information on how to use the Normal Calculator or use the happy
face on the calculator to get step by step instruction.
There is an area available to annotate 
problems. If you want to write a note to yourself about the problem select
annotation. The note will be saved with the file if you save the file.
An example of annotation appears in Chapter 1. In order to eliminate the
annotation completely the box must be blank (by deleting) and then the
file must be resaved.
A sample of the Window options appears below. This menu option is enabled
only at the solution screen. Notice that there are 5 different output screens
that can be viewed. The number of windows depends on the specific module
and problem.
The help options are displayed below. The third option, topic help,
will give a description of the module, the data required for input, the
output results and the options available in the module. It is worthwhile
to look at this screen at least one time in order to be certain that there
are no unsuspected differences between your assumptions and the assumptions
of the program. If there is anything to be warned about regarding the option
it will appear on the help screen as well as in the appropriate section
of this manual.
This will split the screen in two parts. The left will have the program
and the right will have help at all times.
This can be used to change the name of the course, instructor or school
or the associated textbook. The student name can not be changed! The student
name is set at the time of installation of the software and can not be
changed afterwards.
This provides information about the program.
| 1. Introduction | 2. Example | 3. Main Menu | 4. Printing | 5. Graphs | 6. Modules | Index Page |
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Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Simon & Schuster Company Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 |
