Problems using MAX and MIN formulae.

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Problems using MAX and MIN formulae.

Postby David Gurney » Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:47 am

I am using Appleworks 6.2.4 with Mac OSX 10.3.9 Panther installed and when using the MAX and MIN formulae find that incorrect results are produced. Additionally when trying to clear the column which has been affected I get the "spinning ball" syndrome which means that the only way of getting out of the problem is to "Force Quit"

The column of figures which I am reviewing consists of a range .85 - 1.25 and the spreadsheet is set up to produce answers to two decimal places. The formulae are entered in the following manner:-

=MAX(A1,A10) or =MIN(A1,A10)

Can anyone kindly advise me if this is a common problem and how it can be rectified?
David Gurney
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2004 5:36 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Problems using MAX and MIN formulae.

Postby Barry » Tue Jan 13, 2009 9:03 pm

David Gurney wrote:I am using Appleworks 6.2.4 with Mac OSX 10.3.9 Panther installed and when using the MAX and MIN formulae find that incorrect results are produced. Additionally when trying to clear the column which has been affected I get the "spinning ball" syndrome which means that the only way of getting out of the problem is to "Force Quit"

The column of figures which I am reviewing consists of a range .85 - 1.25 and the spreadsheet is set up to produce answers to two decimal places. The formulae are entered in the following manner:-

=MAX(A1,A10) or =MIN(A1,A10)

Can anyone kindly advise me if this is a common problem and how it can be rectified?


Hi David,

The spinning beachball is probably due to the Recent Items bug.

Go to Mac HD > Users> yourname > Documents > AppleWorks User Data > Starting Points > Recent Items.
Open the Recent Items folder and delete all or most of the items there.
Items in this folder are aliases to the files they name. Deleting them has no effect on the actual files, but will result in a performance improvement.

As written, one of your formulas should return the value contained in cell A1, the other should return the value in cell A10. The comma in the function's argument separates individual values in a list, so your formulas consider values in only those two cells.

To make the formula consider all values in the range A1 to A10, replace the comma with two periods.

=MAX(A1..A10) or =MIN(A1..A10)

Although your spreadsheet presents results to two decimal places, it does not necessarily produce answers to (only) that precision. AppleWorks calculations are carried out and produce results precise to 15 places, without regard to where the decimal is located. They are displayed to a maximum 11 places, again without regard to the location of the decimal. Setting the number format of a cell to Fixed, Precision 2 rounds the result displayed to the nearer hundredth, but does not change the number actually contained in the cell.

If the result is to be read by the user, this makes little if any practical difference. But if the number is to be used in further calculations,the results may not agree with what the user expects from what is visible in the cell(s).

Regards,
Barry

PS: Whenever AppleWorks crashes or is Force Quit, there is a possibility that preference files have been corrupted. Deleting the preferences files is a suggested procedure in these circumstances.

You'll find AW's prefs files in Users > yourname > Library > Preferences.
Look for and delete the file com.apple.appleworks.plist
Look for and open the folder AppleWorks.
In that folder, select and delete both cache files and the AppleWorks Preferences file.
AppleWorks ButtonBars is also a preferences file. It rarely causes trouble, though, so if you have made changes to the Button Bar, AND have no problems that you can associate with the Button Bar, leave that file where it is. Otherwise, delete it.

AppleWorks will build new, clean versions of the preferences files as it needs that.
B
Barry
 
Posts: 1390
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 12:54 am
Location: 48°50' N 123° 30'W

Problems using MAX and MIN formulae.

Postby David Gurney » Wed Jan 14, 2009 9:24 am

Dear Barry,

Many thanks for your advice regarding the use of the MAX and MIN formulae which I have been pleased to follow. I am glad to say that the results are now correct.

With regard to the "Spinning Ball" syndrome I have deleted the Recent Items together with the the Cache and Button Bar files as you suggested. However I am still having difficulties when I attempt to do the following:-

1. I wish to amend a formula in a cell - this works fine by selecting the cell making the amendment in the formula which is shown in the Task Bar and then pressing "Enter"
2. The next step I wish to carry out is to use the FILL DOWN command by selecting the altered cell and then the cells underneath it after which I click FILL DOWN command. The result is that I get the "Spinning Ball" which spins for some time after which Appleworks crashes. The AUTO-CALCULATE facility is ON during this process.
3. I have also attempted to CLEAR the cells immediately underneath the amended cell prior to using the FILL DOWN command only to find the same result as in No.2 above.

If you have any further advice as to how I can overcome this problem it will be most welcome.

Many thanks for your assistance which I appreciate.

Kind regards,

David.
David Gurney
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2004 5:36 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Problems using MAX and MIN formulae.

Postby Barry » Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:18 pm

David Gurney wrote:2. The next step I wish to carry out is to use the FILL DOWN command by selecting the altered cell and then the cells underneath it after which I click FILL DOWN command. The result is that I get the "Spinning Ball" which spins for some time after which Appleworks crashes. The AUTO-CALCULATE facility is ON during this process.
3. I have also attempted to CLEAR the cells immediately underneath the amended cell prior to using the FILL DOWN command only to find the same result as in No.2 above.


Hi David,

The spinning beachball could result from the filled formulas requiring a lot of calculation, but that wouldn't explain the crash. I suspect some sort of corruption has crept into the spreadsheet.

If that's the case, one of these two bits of AW voodoo may help:

1
Open the original spreadsheet.
Go Options > Display...
Click the checkbox to display Formulas
Copy the smallest block of cells that will contain all the data and formulas in your current spreadsheet.
Open a new spreadsheet document.
Paste.
Save the new document with a revised name.

Close the original (after reversing the change made in Display).
Try the operation in the new spreadsheet.

2.
Open the original spreadsheet.
Go File > Save As...
Revise the file name to prevent overwriting the original file.
Change the File Format to AppleWorks 5.
Click Save.

Close the original.

Open the new version (in AppleWorks 6)
try the operation in the new spreadsheet.

Both of these procedures work by not copying some internal program data.

If neither gives satisfaction, my only other suggestion (which I would suggest in any case) is to update to version 6.2.9.

Before doing so, copy your AppleWorks 6 folder to a separate disk (HD or CD) to keep it available as a back up, especially if you have ClarisWorks 4 or earlier files.

You'll find the updater here:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ ... ormac.html

Note that there are two English versions, International English, identified at the top of the list when you scroll down the page, and US English, not identified as such, but linked to the two Download buttons at the upper right.

Regards,
Barry
Barry
 
Posts: 1390
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 12:54 am
Location: 48°50' N 123° 30'W

Problems using MAX and MIN formulae

Postby David Gurney » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:11 pm

Dear Barry,

Very many thanks for your kind help. You will be pleased to hear that I followed you excellent instructions with the result that I now have a new spreadsheet which is working correctly. I used Method 1 which you outlined and found it worked just fine.

May I compliment you on giving such clear instructions which I found very easy to follow.

Kind regards,

David.
David Gurney
 
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2004 5:36 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Problems using MAX and MIN formulae

Postby Barry » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:18 am

David Gurney wrote:Dear Barry,

Very many thanks for your kind help. You will be pleased to hear that I followed you excellent instructions with the result that I now have a new spreadsheet which is working correctly. I used Method 1 which you outlined and found it worked just fine.

May I compliment you on giving such clear instructions which I found very easy to follow.

Kind regards,

David.


Thanks for the feedback, David. Happy to hear it worked for you.

Regards,
Barry
Barry
 
Posts: 1390
Joined: Mon Sep 30, 2002 12:54 am
Location: 48°50' N 123° 30'W


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