Microsoft KB Archive/98605

= Microsoft Knowledge Base =

README.TXT from Open EIS Pak 1.0a for the Macintosh
Last reviewed: September 23, 1997

Article ID: Q98605

1.00a MACINTOSH kbref

The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Excel Microsoft Open EIS Pak for the Macintosh, version 1.0a
 * Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, version 4.0

Summary:

The following is the contents of the Open EIS Pak for Macintosh Read Me file which is located in the EIS Builder folder after you install Microsoft Open EIS Pak for the Macintosh. Section IX contains information regarding development of EIS Applications for both Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows environments.

More Information:

* Microsoft Open EIS Pak For the Macintosh Version 1.0 README File*
This file contains additional information for the Microsoft Open EIS Pak. The following information is included:


 * Notes on the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder

I.          - Tips and Techniques Examples II. - Using Online Help III. - Macintosh Filename Character Restrictions IV. - Using Microsoft Excel Buttons and 3-D Buttons V.          - Using Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) VI. - Custom Help Files VII. - Halt Tool Changes VIII. - Alternate Installation of Run-Time Files IX. - Creating EIS Applications for Both Apple Macintosh & Microsoft

Windows Users 1) EIS Builder & Run-Time Files

2) Path and File Names

3) Using A Custom EIS.GETPLATFORM Function

4) Use of Bitmaps

5) Reassigning EIS Macros To New Bitmaps

6) DDE Script Actions

7) External Database Queries

X. - Moving or Deleting Files

XI. - Hardware Requirements

XII. - Files Included With The Microsoft Open EIS Pak

1) Starting The Sample Applications

2) List of Microsoft Open EIS Pak Files

*** Notes on the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder ***
-I- Tips and Techniques Examples

To assist EIS developers with creative design techniques, an additional application has been created. This application may be found in the EIS Builder Examples folder (the default is EIS Builder:EIS Builder Examples).

This application features online discussion of special techniques used to create the user interface. To get the most benefit out of this application, start by loading the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder (AUTHOR.XLA). Once loaded, open the application by selecting the Open command from the EIS menu, and select XAMPLS.XLA.

-II- Using Online Help

As you begin using the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder, you should spend a few minutes reviewing EIS Builder Help. Much of the detailed information you need to know on actions, arguments, dialog box options, settings details, and other important topics is readily available through the online Help facility. Whenever the EIS Builder is loaded, Help may be accessed by choosing the EIS Builder Help command from the EIS menu. If you want to access on text-sensitive information or a specific dialog box, click the Help button in that dialog box.

Note: The Microsoft Excel EIS Builder Help facility will not work properly if the Macintosh path includes an apostrophe (').

For step-by-step instructions on using EIS Builder Help, see &quot;Before You Begin&quot; in the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder User's Guide.

-III- Macintosh Filename Character Restrictions

Although the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder supports long Macintosh file names, explanation points (!) cannot be used. In order for the EIS Help facility to work properly, there cannot be an apostrophe (') in the file folder path.

-IV- Using Microsoft Excel Buttons and 3-D Buttons

The Microsoft Excel EIS Builder provides a facility to place buttons with macro scripts onto worksheets. These buttons may be previewed by the EIS author by selecting a button from the EIS Button dialog. Buttons that are Microsoft Excel objects (such as &quot;MS Excel Button,&quot; and &quot;Stick-it-Note&quot;) allow the author to specify a text label to appear inside the button. Buttons that are bitmaps, however, do not permit text to be added.

To add text onto a bitmap button, first select a bitmap button but do not specify any script actions. When the bitmap has been drawn on the sheet, close the script dialog without specifying any script actions. When the &quot;Delete empty script?&quot; question alert appears, choose the Yes button. At this point, select the EIS Button command, and choose a &quot;Transparent Button&quot; button. The transparent button will allow the author to specify text. Finally, this button should be placed on top of the bitmap button. This technique can also be used to place text onto the &quot;3-D Button&quot; bitmap, or onto graphics pasted from drawing or painting applications.

-V- Using Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)

EIS applications created with the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder can use DDE to automate the communication between various applications. DDE on the Macintosh requires the use of Apple System 7. The best way to use DDE between applications is with a Poke action to a link. For example, an EIS author may wish to have a button whose script opens a Microsoft Word document, and automatically send a data table from Microsoft Excel. To accomplish this, first create a link between the Microsoft Excel sheet and the Microsoft Word document. By copying a range from the Microsoft Excel worksheet, and pasting it onto the Microsoft Word document with the &quot;Paste Special Link&quot; command, a link is automatically created. When the linked area is selected in the Microsoft Word document, the name of the link is displayed. To automatically update this link through an EIS application:


 * 1) Open the Microsoft Word document with an &quot;Initiate DDE Channel&quot; action.
 * 2) Select the Microsoft Excel range with a &quot;Select Range&quot; action.
 * 3) Send the selected range to the Microsoft Word document with a &quot;Poke DDE Data&quot; action.

- VI - Custom Help Files
When creating Custom Help files for use with Microsoft Excel EIS Builder applications, be sure that the help files are stored in the same folder as the application. If the help files are not in the same folder as the application, the Excel EIS run-time code will not be able to display the custom help information.

-VII- Halt Tool Changes

When you are creating an application with the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder, you may wish to test the application using the Run command on the EIS Menu. When the application is being run from within &quot;author mode,&quot; a single icon appears on a Halt tool bar in the upper left corner of the window. By clicking on this icon, the application being run halts and you are returned to author mode.

If the application being run uses the standard Microsoft Excel menu, the developer may also return to author mode by choosing the Halt command from the EIS Menu. The application will then be halted, and the Halt command will change back to the original Run command.

Should you wish to hide the toolbar, it may be hidden by clicking in the upper left corner of the toolbar. In order to return to author mode, you must either select the EIS Halt command, or enter CTRL-H.

-VIII-  Alternate Installation of the Run-Time Files The Microsoft EIS Builder utilizes three run-time files. These files may be freely copied to users who do not have a licensed copy of the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder. Such users, however, will require a licensed copy of Microsoft Excel.

These files are:

EIS.XLA         = the main EIS macro

XTACTION.XLA    = the dialog box and functions for crosstab tables on EIS Views

EIS User Help   = the online Help file for users of an application built with the

Microsoft Excel EIS Builder
By default, the Microsoft Open EIS Pak Setup program installs these files in the EIS Builder folder. The Setup program also installs EIS.XLA and EIS User Help in the folders used by the EIS Limited sample application (&quot;Sample Application&quot; folder) and the EIS Builder Examples application.

If instead you wish to have a single copy of these files on your hard disk, they may be copied to your Microsoft Excel Macro Library folder. Whenever a user's EIS application file is opened and these run-time files are not present in the same folder, the application will automatically look in the Microsoft Excel Macro Library folder for these files. In order for the Help files to work properly, however, there must not be any apostrophes (') in the path name of the folder containing the Help files.

Creating EIS Applications For Both Apple Macintosh & Microsoft Windows
The Microsoft Excel EIS Builder is designed to enable authors to easily port applications between the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms. This is accomplished through the use of a common application macro file format (APP.XLA), and the cross-platform design of the EIS Builder run-time files (EIS.XLA & XTACTION.XLA. By using MS-DOS 8.3 file names, the EIS Builder links are automatically preserved when porting applications between platforms. The following issues should be considered when developing EIS applications to be used by both Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows users.

-1- EIS Builder and Run-Time Files

EIS authors who intend on deploying a single application across both Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms should have a copy of the Microsoft Open EIS Pak for Windows and the Microsoft Open EIS Pak for the Macintosh. Authors may use either set of EIS Builder files, however, end-users should use the run-time files for their Microsoft Excel platform.

-2- Path and Filenames

In order to eliminate the need to maintain separate files whose links are updated manually, authors deploying cross-platform applications should adhere to a common set of MS-DOS 8.3 filenames. This file naming convention will be valid in both the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows environments. Although these environments use different path separator characters (&quot;:&quot; on the Macintosh, and &quot;\&quot; under Windows), the EIS.XLA macros will automatically use the character appropriate for the version of Microsoft Excel being run. As with file names, authors should take care to use a common folder/directory naming scheme. For example, the following EIS application macro file could be run in both environments:

Apple Macintosh:       Finance:EIS:FinEIS.XLA Microsoft Windows: ..\FINANCE\EIS\FINEIS.XLA -3- Using The EIS.GETPLATFORM Function

When deploying cross-platform applications, authors are face differences in bitmap formats, DDE syntax, and query facilities. Because the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder enables authors to run scripts based upon a condition, the following custom function macro has been added to the EIS.XLA file:

EIS.GETPLATFORM This function returns &quot;Mac&quot; when Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh is running, and &quot;Win&quot; when Microsoft Excel for Windows is running.

By using this function in a conditional expression, authors can develop and distribute a common set of files that automatically evaluate the user's platform and run the appropriate script.

For example, the author could create the following two named scripts to produce a query of sales data:

&quot;Query Sales (Mac)&quot; &quot;Query Sales (Win)&quot; A single &quot;Get Sales Data&quot; button on a user's view could then run the following script:

IF  THEN Run Named Script: Query Sales (Mac) ELSE Run Named Script: Query Sales (Win) ENDIF By using the following condition for the IF statement, this script would automatically support both Macintosh and Windows users:

EIS.GETPLATFORM = &quot;Mac&quot; For more information on the use of conditional expressions, search for the keyword &quot;condition&quot; in the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder help facility.

-4- Use of Bitmaps

Authors deploying cross-platform applications should avoid the use of bitmap objects, since these will not port cleanly between the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows environments. In such applications, it is recommended that end-user functionality be implemented using custom menus rather than on-sheet pictures. If on-sheet buttons are used, authors should limit their use to those which are not bitmaps. The non-bitmap buttons are:

Macintosh Buttons    Equivalent Windows Buttons

MS Excel Button            3-D Button Stick-It-Note              Stick-It-Note Text Box                   Text Box Transparent Button         Transparent Button 3-D Cell Overlay           3-D Cell Overlay Another alternative is to have the script display a different view, depending upon the platform being used. In this case, the author would create a Mac version of the view worksheet(with Mac bitmaps), and a Windows version of the worksheet (with Win bitmaps). By using a condition to determine which view to display, a single application can easily support both Macintosh and Windows users. For more information, see the &quot;Using The EIS.GETPLATFORM Function&quot; section above.

-5- Reassigning EIS Macros To New Bitmaps

If bitmaps with script actions are used, the author may wish to paste new bitmaps into a ported file. When this is done, any macro scripts assigned to the original bitmap must be manually reassigned to the new bitmap. The easiest procedure for reassigning bitmap scripts is:


 * 1) Port the Microsoft Excel worksheet from the Macintosh to Windows or vice versa.
 * 2) Open the worksheet file containing a bitmap
 * 3) Paste a new bitmap onto the sheet.
 * 4) Select the original bitmap object (on the Macintosh use Command- Click; in Windows user CTRL-Left Click)
 * 5) From the Microsoft Excel Macro Menu, select the Assign To Object Command, and then choose the OK button.
 * 6) Select the new bitmap object
 * 7) From the Microsoft Excel Edit Menu, select the Repeat Assign To Object Command.

The above sequence of steps will automatically assign the old bitmap macro script to the new bitmap. At this point, the author should reselect and delete the old bitmap.

-6- DDE Script Actions

DDE script action arguments vary between the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows environments. Consider the following two &quot;Initiate DDE Channel&quot; script arguments to open a Microsoft Word Document:

Document Type       Document Name --

Apple Macintosh:          WordDocument     TESTFILE.DOC Microsoft Windows:        WINWORD          TESTFILE.DOC For more information on DDE script action arguments, look up &quot;DDE&quot; in your product documentation index.

Although DDE syntax differs on these two platforms, it is possible to execute the DDE calls conditionally (according to the platform on which the DDE script is running). For more information, see the &quot;Using The EIS.GETPLATFORM Function&quot; section above.

-7- External Database Queries

On the Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Excel supports the Apple Data Access Language (DAL) for external database queries. This support requires installation of the Data Access Macro (DAM) option with your copy of Microsoft Excel.

Under Microsoft Windows, external database query support is accomplished with Q+E. This support requires installation of the Q+E driver option with your copy of Microsoft Excel.

Regardless of whether the Apple Macintosh or Microsoft Windows environment is being run, the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder relies upon a common query statement stored on a worksheet. This query is stored in a named range called &quot;SQL_Statement&quot;. Due to the environmental differences between the Data Access Language and Q+E, EIS authors deploying queries across platforms may not be able to share the same query sheets across platforms. Although the required query scripts differ on these two platforms, it is possible to execute the queries conditionally (according to the platform on which the DDE script is running). For more information, see the &quot;Using The EIS.GETPLATFORM Function&quot; section above.

-X- Moving or Deleting Files

Should you wish to delete or &quot;uninstall&quot; any of the Open EIS Pak applications, the files may simply be deleted. The Open EIS Pak files do not require any changes to setup or preference settings, however, deletion of files may result in your being unable to run the software. If this occurs, simply reinstall the software using the Setup program on your diskettes.

Should you wish to move any of the Open EIS Pak files to another location, they may be copied provided that all files in old directories remain together in the new directories, and that the new directories adhere to the structure noted in the default file folder listings later in this document. The only exception to this pertains to the Run-Time files, described above.

- XI - Hardware Requirements
The Microsoft Excel EIS Builder requires a Macintosh with a minimum of a 68020 processor, at least 4 megabytes of RAM, Apple System 6.0.2 or later, and a 13&quot; or larger monitor. The recommended configuration is a 68030 processor or higher, at least 8 megabytes of RAM, Apple System 7.0 or higher, and a color 13&quot; monitor or larger. The EIS Limited sample application requires the minimum configuration plus a color monitor.

-XII- *Files Included with The Microsoft Open EIS Pak for the Macintosh*

When you run Setup from the Setup disk, all the files you need to run the sample application and the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder are copied. To save space on the disks, many files shipped with Microsoft Open EIS Pak are compressed. Compressed files are identified by a their icon. These files must be decompressed before being used. When you run the Setup program from the Setup disk, these files are automatically decompressed as they are installed.

- 1 - Starting the Sample Applications
The Microsoft Open EIS Pak diskettes contain a sample application called &quot;English International Savouries, Limited.&quot; An application profile is included in the Pak. The profile provides important information on the design considerations and unique aspects of the demo, as well as start-up information. The sample application requires Microsoft Excel 4.0. In order to ensure that it works properly, check to see that your copy of Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh has been properly installed.

To start      Open this file ---

EIS Builder   EIS Builder:AUTHOR.XLA EIS LTD Demo  EIS Builder:Sample Application:EIS LTD Demo Design Tips   EIS Builder:EIS Builder Examples:XAMPLS.XLA

- 2 - List of Microsoft Open EIS Pak Files
The following table lists all Microsoft Open EIS Pak files on the disks in the Microsoft Open EIS package. Files are grouped by folder.

Microsoft Excel EIS Builder Files
Default Folder: EIS Builder

Decompressed Files
APP.XLA AUTHOR.XLA BUTTONS.XLA CELLDEF.XLA EIS.XLA EIS Author Help EIS User Help MENU.XLA Read Me XTAB.XLA XTACTION.XLA

Microsoft Excel EIS Builder Tutorial Files
(See chapter 2 of the Microsoft Excel EIS Builder User's Guide)

Default Folder: EIS Builder

Decompressed Files
DCHARTS DCROSTAB CROSSTAB DATA DSPLASH

Microsoft Excel EIS Builder Tips & Techniques Example Files
Default Folder: EIS Builder:EIS Builder Examples

Decompressed Files
EIS.XLA EIS User Help XAMPLS.XLA XMP_CELL.XLS XMP_DDE.XLS XMP_DDE.DOC XMP_EDIT.XLS XMP_HIDE.XLS XMP_HOME.XLS XMP_KEY.XLS XMP_OUTL.XLS XMP_STOP.XLS XMP_TIME.XLS

English International Savouries Sample Application Files

Default Folder: EIS Builder:Sample Application

Decompressed Files
EIS.XLA EIS LTD Demo EIS User Help FLASH.XLS HOME.XLS INTRO.XLS LEX.XLS MAIL_BIT.XLS MAP.XLS PROJ_BIT.XLS PROJECT.XLS REPORT.DOC SUMMARY.XLS TREND.XLS