Spreadsheet — which one + integration?

[flips]

Hi!
NWP has really impressed me, and now I actually look forward to writing (instead of dreading the fight with the Word Processor that used to "get in the way", which has often been my experience earlier on) ...

So now I wonder if there could be a nice spreadsheet out there as well? (I actually don't dread Excel, but I guess I would have to buy the entire office suite to get that. OpenOffice.org Calc seems OK, but it's kinda heavy. I have used Gnumeric some, and I like it, but it's not really integrated in OSX, it's using gnome/gtk or something.)

So is there a nice spreadsheet that integrates nicely with Nisus? (I assume OSX has something similar to OLE/DDE or what that integration was called in Windows.)

I see there is one called Tables (downloading demo right now), but maybe there's others I should check out as well? (Student budget.)

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flips

(This might be the wrong forum, but I was kinda unsure of which would be most suitable. Feel free to redirect me.)

[xiamenese]

I have used Tables for years, and to me it's a really good spreadsheet and very Mac-UI.

The thing is, for integration with NWP you need LinkBack. I have asked the developer of Tables ... a one man developer, very nice guy, responsive and helpful in my experience ... to make Tables LinkBack savvy, both as a client and as a server, but it still isn't there yet. I hope it's still on the agenda.

There's also Numbers, part of iWork, but I don't think that will give you active linking with NWP either.

There was another spreadsheet called Mesa, which if I remember rightly was LinkBack aware, though I don't know if it worked as a server. I couldn't use it as it wouldn't handle Chinese for some reason, and development seemed to have come to an end a longish time ago. The company that developed it never answered any of my queries.

Unless you want to be able to change the data in your spreadsheet tables, why not print them to PDF and place them as a graphic in your NWP document.

HTH
Mark

[flips]

Tables looks pretty good. Nice and simple access to most stuff. (Though it would be cool if the stuff I find in the inspector could be part of the tool-drawer thingy on the right — like in NWP).

It would be cool with LinkBack, though, so I could create reports and such that updates graphs/tables from the spreadsheet. I wouldn't use it very often, but I thought that kind of linking/embedding was basic stuff.

As for Numbers, I have iWork '08, and I found it to be a little annoying in that I couldn't find keyboard shortcuts for regular stuff. (Like F2 in Tables/Excel etc to edit the contents of a cell.) Also it seemed very focused on fancy layouts, which is not my primary concern. I primarily use simple tables and calculations ...

I might end up buying Tables, but will use some more days for testing.

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flips

[Dirk_Barends]

I use Tables too, and like it very much,
also because it is good in exchanging the Excel documents
from other people that I work with.

LinkBack feature would indeed be a nice feature.

Dirk Barends

[xiamenese]

Can I suggest that you both contact Daniel Schwill, the developer ... you can do it through the website ... and ask him about Tables becoming LinkBack savvy? It might help to push it forward if he knows that more people are keen to have this feature. As I said, I've always found him very friendly, responsive and helpful.

Mark

[flips]

I sent an email through the contact form on the Tables website ...

[greenmorpher]

I suggested Linkback to him years ago. Trouble is, he's on his own so if interferes with what he perceives to be his core business, then he won't (can't) do it.

Cheers, Geoff

Geoffrey Heard
The Ad Doctor Online

Win business with the recession-busting "How to make great ads for (sm)all business: 99 real world advertising ideas to kickstart *your* business today". See http://www.worsleypress.com

[flips]

I know this is an old thread. But right now, it would be nice to integrate a spreadsheet table in a NWP document.
I have Tables, Numbers and Excel.
Which Spreadsheet app should I use to get a dynamic embedding/linkback version of the table in Nisus, and how would I do that in Nisus? (Drag&drop, Insert menu or how?)