Software version, spreadsheet

Change of software version(s). Changes in software version(s) require revalidation of the spreadsheet irrespective of whether a new version of Excel or Windows is used. It will be a business decision to stay with the old software version to avoid revalidation and save the resources required. In a large company, this will not be an easy decision. In this case, care should be taken to ensure the use of the appropriate software and spreadsheet version, especially if spreadsheets are used in a shared manner. In the case of a global rollout of new software, revalidation must take place prior to the rollout to ensure the use of validated spreadsheets starting on the day of the rollout. 

At this stage, we mask, remove anything from the action specs that talks about the other participants in the actions. For example, we don t care about the state of the ATM user s pocket as long as the ATM dishes out the cash. In the spreadsheet example, we didn t say much about the user s state anyway. In an action involving two or more software components, the team working on each component would make its own version of the action spec that would define only its effect on the team s component. 

This section introduces a few basic features of Excel 2000 for a PC computer. Other versions of Excel and other spreadsheets are not very different from what we describe. Excellent books are available if you want to learn much more about this software.19... 

Linear and nonlinear programming solvers have been interfaced to spreadsheet software for desktop computers. The spreadsheet has become a popular user interface for entering and manipulating numeric data. Spreadsheet software increasingly incorporates analytic tools that are accessible from the spreadsheet interface and permit access to external databases. For example, Microsoft Excel incorporates an optimization-based routine called Solver that operates on the values and formulas of a spreadsheet model. Current versions (4.0 and later) include LP and NLP solvers and mixed integer programming (MIP) capability for both linear and nonlinear problems. The user specifies a set of cell addresses to be independently adjusted (the decision variables), a set of formula cells whose values are to be constrained (the constraints), and a formula cell designated as the optimization objective. 

The electronic MS on-site databases are prepared from the certified electronic version of the OCAD (e-OCAD). This version is compiled using the NIST programs (NIST MS Search/Analysis and AMDIS) and is in the form of a NIST MS Database. The e-OCAD does not contain Gas Chromatography retention indices (GC(RI)) that are required for on-site use. To create an electronic MS onsite database, the certified version of e-OCAD, which at the moment contains only MS data, is merged with the certified (GC(RI)), which is in an excel spreadsheet. After merging these data, an AMDIS version of the database is created, which is compatible with the AMDIS software used by the on-site GC/MS equipment (for more details on the software, refer to Chapter 2 and Chapter 4) (5). The MS on-site database can be sent for an inspection as a whole database or as an extract of the whole database. AMDIS is software that is used by the GC/MS on-site equipment... 

List of software modules with details of versions, standard software products (e.g., spreadsheet packages), etc. 

Proprietary software such as word processing and spreadsheet packages available from companies such as Microsoft and Corel remain unaltered until the manufacturer releases a new version of the software for sale. Reprogramming and correcting difficulties occur in house. If a released program is faulty, remediative repair is typically accomplished by the downloading of repair patches from a company s Web site. 

The Group Theory Calculator [the GT Calculator] is the set of interactive EXCEL spreadsheet files, one for each of the main molecular point groups, on the CDROM supplied with this manual. The group theoretical calculations, which can be performed with the calculator, are rendered possible because of the enhancement of the basic spreadsheet operations and displays using Visual Basic for Applications code and the complex-arithmetic routines available in the Analysis Tool Pack EXCEL Add-ins . Since the Analysis Tool Pack is not one of the standard components loaded in a typical installation of the EXCEL software package, it is necessary, before attempting to use the GT Calculator, to ensure that your version of the EXCEL programme includes this extra component. With any spreadsheet open, check the Add-ins list in the TOOLS menu on the main EXCEL toolbar and, if necessary, install this component in the usual way. 

In most cases, though, users aren t satisfied to only use the tools that are provided with Windows. Either a particular tool they need isn t included (for example, Microsoft didn t put a spreadsheet application into Windows), or they need a more sophisticated version of a particular application—Wordpad and Word 2000 are both word processors, but that s about where the similarity ends. This demand has led to a booming software industry, and there are literally thousands of applications available that users can install and use with Windows. Because of this, installing and maintaining programs on user s computers is a big part of a technician s job. In order to prepare you for this task, we will discuss the following topics in this chapter ... 

Watch out for vendors who renumber for marketing purposes. Use a versioning of your own to encompass all the software in a given system. Your LIMS might include a version of Compex UniLAB4, a copy of Microsoft Word 7.0, and an Excel Spreadsheet 4.0 but all to be labeled as your version... 

Application software LIMS, EDMS, MRP II system, spreadsheet macros Bug fix, patch, new version, changed macro in the application software... 

Standard software packages are called canned or COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) configurable packages in the United States. Examples include Lotus 1-2-3 , Microsoft Excel and other spreadsheet packages. There is no requirement to validate the software package however, new versions should be treated with caution. Validation efforts should concentrate on the application, which includes... 

A special feature in this book is the inclusion of the Hansen solubility parameter theory that can be used to classify solvents in terms of their nonpolar, polar and hydrogen bonding characteristics. Use of the Hansen solubility parameter theory will allow the worker to systematically search for a solvent substitute or determine the solubility of a resin/polymer in a certain solvent or solvent blend. The files necessary to construct computer spreadsheets that can utilize the Hansen solubility parameter theory are included with this book. The useful spreadsheet files on a computer disk are included in a plastic pocket on the back inside cover of the book. These files can be used on an IBM-compatible computer with Lotus 123 (or Excel) software. These computer spreadsheets were developed in the Lotus 123. WKl file format. The data files can be used with the Lotus 123 Version 5.0 for Windows, the Microsoft Excel Version 5.0 for Windows or any earlier version of the spreadsheet software. The files can also be translated into the Macintosh Excel format if the correct version of Excel is available. The coating industry will find the information on solvent substitution using the Hansen solubility parameter theory of particular interest. The use of computer spreadsheets to compare the solubility envelope of the polymer with likely solvent candidates has been very helpful to the author in past work and others in the coating in selecting substitute solvents or solvent blends. The Hansen solubility parameter values for 166 resins and polymers and 289 solvents are listed. 

A backup copy of the data files on the computer disk should be made onto a formatted 3.5 in. disk before using the files in any solvent-resin calculations. It is suggested that the Lotus. WKl files be copied to the appropriate spreadsheet directory on the computer hard drive for faster operation of the spreadsheets. The directions needed for proper operation of the spreadsheet are listed at the top of each spreadsheet. Any spreadsheet data and calculations that need be saved should be saved under a different file name. Any solvent or resin/polymer numbers that are typed into the appropriate spreadsheet cells must be listed in numerical order for the lookup function to work correctly. The data files can be used with Lotus 123 Version 5.0 for Windows, Microsoft Excel Version 5.0 for Windows, or any earlier version of the spreadsheet software. Anyone familiar with the use of macros in spreadsheets can undoubtedly automate the operation of some of the spreadsheets contained on the computer disk. 

The spreadsheets were originally implemented in Quattro-Pro and arc compatible with versions 6/7/8 of that software. The outputs shown in the text are from Quattro-Pro. 

The following instructions are written for Excel 2010 for Windows. If you have a different version of this spreadsheet or if you are using a Macintosh computer, there will be differences in the procedure. The Excel spreadsheet will carry out least-squares fits in two different ways. You can carry out linear least-squares fits in a worksheet, or you can carry out linear and various nonlinear least-squares procedures on a graph. The advantage of the worksheet procedure is that the residuals and the expected errors in the slope and intercept of the linear fit are provided by the software. The advantage of the graph procedure is that nonlinear least-squares fits can be carried out. 

The primary reason for using Excel is that it is generally available software, and it comes with every computer system (both PC and Mac) with Microsoft Office installed. VBA is a programming environment that comes with Excel and greatly enhances the capabilities of basic Excel spreadsheets. It is available on systans running Microsoft operating systems and Mac OS. Beware, however, that VBA is available only on the latest (2011) version of Microsoft Office for the Mac. 

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