Slide 1 © 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.. Chapter 5 Productivity Applications Slide 2 © 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Slide 1© 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Chapter 5Productivity Applications


Describe how word processing and desktop publishing software have revolutionized writing and publishing.

Discuss the potential impact of desktop publishing and Web publishing on the concept of freedom of the press.

Speculate about future developments in word processing and digital publishing.


Describe the basic functions and applications of spreadsheets and other types of statistical and simulation programs.

Explain how computers can be used to answer “What if?” questions.

Explain how computers are used as tools for simulating mechanical, biological, and social systems.


Doug Engelbart One of the pioneers of the computer hardware and software In 1968, he demonstrated his Augment system:

Mouse Video display editing Mixed text and graphics, windowing Outlining Shared-screen video conferencing Computer conferencing Groupware Hypermedia


Working with a word processor involves several steps: Entering text Editing text Formatting the document Proofreading the document Saving the document on disk Printing the document


Entering, Editing, and Formatting Text Entering text

Text is displayed on the screen and stored in the computer’s RAM.

Save your work periodically because RAM is not permanent memory.

Editing text Navigate to different parts of a document. Insert or delete text at any point. Move and copy text. Search and replace words or phrases.


Formatting commandsFormatting characters

• Characters are measured by point size (one point = 1/72 inch).

• A font is a size and style of typeface.• Serif fonts have serifs or fine lines at the

ends of each character.• You can use monospaced fonts and

proportionally-spaced fonts.


A

20 pts

A40 pts

80 pts120 pts

A A A200 pts

Bradley Hand ITC Arial

Formatting paragraphs involves:• Margin settings• Line spacing• Indents• Tabs • Justification


Formatting the document• Stylesheets• Headers and footers• Multiple variable-width columns • Graphics • Automatic editing features• Hidden comments • Table of contents and indexes• Coaching and help features (sometimes called wizards) • Conversion to HTML for Web

publishing


Rules of Thumb: Word Processing Is Not Typing Use the Return or Enter key only when you must.

Word wrap moves text to the next line.

Use tabs and margin guides, not the spacebar, to align columns.

WYSIWYG is a matter of degree. Text that looks perfectly aligned onscreen may not line

up on paper.


Don’t underline. Use italics and boldface for emphasis; italicize book and journal titles.

Use only one space after a period. Proportionally-spaced fonts look better without double spaces.

Take advantage of special characters. Bullets (•), em dashes (—), and curly or smart quotes (“ ”) make your

work look more professional.


Outliners and Idea Processors are effective at: Arranging information into

levels Rearranging ideas and levels Hiding and revealing levels of

detail as needed


Digital References Dictionaries, quotation books,

encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, and other references are now available in digital form.

The biggest advantage of the electronic form is speed.

The biggest drawback is that quick and easy copying might tempt writers to plagiarize.


Synonym Finders A computerized thesaurus

can provide instantaneous feedback for synonyms


Spelling Checkers Compare words in your

document with words in a disk-based dictionary Words might be flagged,

but you make the decision to ignore or change the spelling.


Grammar and Style Checkers Analyze each word in context,

checking for errors of content Check spelling Point out possible errors and

suggest improvements Analyze prose complexity using

measurements such as sentence length and paragraph length


Form Letter Generators Mail merge capabilities produce personalized form letters.

Create a database with names. Create a form letter. Merge the database with the form letter to create a personalized letter.

You can incorporate custom paragraphs based on the recipient’s personal data.

Each letter looks as if it were individually written.


Collaborative Writing Tools Groupware: software designed to be

used by a workgroup Provides for collaborative writing

and editing Tracks changes and identifies them by

the originator’s name Compares document versions and

highlights differences in documents


Processing handwritten words Processing words with software that can reliably recognize

human speech Anticipating a writer’s needs, acting as an electronic editor or

co-author


What Is Desktop Publishing?The process of producing a

book, magazine, or other publication includes several steps: Writing text Editing text


Producing drawings, photographs, and other graphics to accompany the text

Designing a basic format for the publication

Typesetting text Arranging text and graphics on

pages Typesetting and printing pages Binding pages into a finished

publication


With modern desktop publishing technology (DTP), the production process can be accomplished with sophisticated tools that are affordable and easy to use.

A desktop publishing system generally includes: One or more Macs or PCs A scanner

Transforms photographs and hand-drawn images into computer-readable documents

A high-resolution printer Software (see next slide)


Desktop publishing software: Image-editing software Page-layout software combines the

various source documents into a coherent, visually appealing publication

• QuarkXpress• PageMaker• Adobe InDesign


Creating Professional-looking Documents

Rules of Thumb: Plan before you publish. Use appropriate fonts. Don’t go style-crazy. View your document through your

reader’s eyes. Learn from the masters. Know your limitations. Remember the message: “The purpose of

publishing is communication; don’t try to use technology to disguise the lack of something to communicate.”


Why Desktop Publishing? Saves money Saves time Can reduce the number of

publication errors Offers new hope for every

individual’s right to publish


Paperless Publishing and the Web A common prediction is that desktop publishing—and paper

publishing in general—will be replaced by paperless electronic media.

Electronic Books and Digital Paper The electronic book, or ebook, is a handheld device that can

contain anything from today’s top news stories to lengthy novels.

Digital paper, or epaper, is a flexible, portable, paper-like material that can dynamically display black-and-white text and images on its surface.


The Malleable Matrix

The spreadsheet consists of: Cells (the intersection

of a row and column) Addresses (column letter and

row number, e.g., A1, C12)


Cell A1

Cell C12

Spreadsheets can contain: Values, such as numbers and

dates Labels, such as column and

report headings, that explain what the values mean


Formulas allow you to create instructions using mathematical expressions and commands.


+ (plus)- (minus)

*(multiplication)/ (division)

Sum

Average

Screen Test:

Creating a Worksheet with Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet programs work in much the same way and share

most of these features: Spreadsheets offer many automatic features such as replication of data.


Formulas can be: Relative, so they refer to different cells when they are copied Absolute, so the formula references never change when they are copied


When the formula in column B is copied to column C, it changes relative to the new column.

Automatic recalculation Any time a change is entered into the spreadsheet, all data related to the

change automatically updates.


When a value is entered in column E or F the value of the related formula in column G is automatically updated.

Functions (e.g., SUM, AVG, SQRT) automate complex calculations.

Macros store keystrokes and commands so they can be played back automatically.

Templates offer ready-to-use worksheets with labels and formulas already entered.



Linking spreadsheets together

When the values change in one spreadsheet, the data is automatically updated in all linked spreadsheets.

Database capabilities Search for information

Sort the data by a specific criteria

Merge the data with a word processor

Generate reports

Rules of Thumb: Avoiding Spreadsheet Pitfalls

Plan the worksheet before you start entering values and formulas.

Make your assumptions as accurate as possible. Double-check every formula and value.


Rules of Thumb (continued) Make formulas readable. Check your output against other systems. Build in cross-checks. Change the input data values and study the results. Take advantage of pre-programmed functions, templates,

and macros.. Use a spreadsheet as a decision-making aid, not as a

decision-maker.


“What If?” Questions

Spreadsheets allow you to change numbers and instantly see the effects of those changes. “What if I enter this value?”

Equation solvers Some spreadsheets generate data needed to fit a given equation and

target value.


Spreadsheet Graphics: From Digits to Drawings

Charts allow you to turn numbers into visual data.

Pie charts show proportions relative to the whole.

Line charts show trends or relationships over time.


Use bar charts if data falls into a few categories.

Use scatter charts to discover, rather than to display, a relationship between two variables.


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr

North

West

East

Australia

Germany

Canada

Great Britain

$0.00

$500.00

$1,000.00

$1,500.00

$2,000.00

$2,500.00

$3,000.00

$3,500.00

$4,000.00

$4,500.00

$5,000.00

Qtr 1

Qtr 2

Qtr 3

Qtr 4

$4,500.00 -$5,000.00

$4,000.00 -$4,500.00

$3,500.00 -$4,000.00

$3,000.00 -$3,500.00

$2,500.00 -$3,000.00

$2,000.00 -$2,500.00

$1,500.00 -$2,000.00

$1,000.00 -$1,500.00

$500.00 -$1,000.00

$0.00 -$500.00

Rules of Thumb: Making Smart Charts

Choose the right chart for the job. Think about the message you’re trying to convey. Pie charts, bar charts, line charts, and scatter charts are not interchangeable.

Keep it simple, familiar, and understandable. Use charts in magazines, books, and newspapers as models. Strive to reveal the truth, not hide it.


Money Managers Accounting and Financial Management software allows you to

electronically handle routine transactions such as: Writing checks Balancing accounts Creating budgets Using online banking services Preparing taxes


Automatic Mathematics Mathematics processing software

Software turns abstract mathematical relationships into visual objects (Example: Mathematica by Wolfram).

Generally, they include an interactive, wizard-like question-and-answer mode, a programming language, and tools for creating interactive documents that combine text, numerical expressions, and graphics.


Statistics and Data Analysis Statistical and data analysis software

Collects and analyzes data that tests the strength of data relationships

Can produce graphs showing how two or more variables relate to each other

Can often uncover trends by browsing through two- and three-dimensional graphs of data, looking for unusual patterns in the dots and lines that appear on the screen


Scientific Visualization Scientific visualization software uses shape, location in space,

color, brightness, and motion to help us visualize data. Visualization helps researchers see relationships that might

have been obscure or even impossible to grasp without computer-aided visualization tools.



Computer modeling uses computers to create abstract models of objects, organisms, organizations, and processes.

Examples of popular computer models:Games (chess boards, sports arenas, and mythological societies)Models of organisms, objects, and organizationsFlight simulators and simulations of science lab activitiesBusiness, city, or nation management simulations


Computer Simulations: The Rewards

Computer simulations are widely used.There are many reasons:

Safety Economy Projection Visualization Replication


Computer Simulations: The RiskGIGO Revisited

The accuracy of a simulation depends on how closely its mathematical model corresponds to the system being simulated.

Some models suffer from faulty assumptions. Some models contain hidden assumptions that may not even be

obvious to their creators. Some models go astray simply because of clerical or human errors. Still, garbage in, garbage out is a basic rule of simulation.


Making Reality Fit the MachineSome simulations are so complex that

researchers need to simplify models and streamline calculations to get them to run on the best hardware available.

Sometimes this simplification of reality is deliberate; more often it’s unconscious.

Either way, information can be lost, and the loss may compromise the integrity of the simulation and call the results into question.


The Illusion of Infallibility A computer simulation, whether generated by a

PC spreadsheet or churned out by a supercomputer, can be an invaluable decision-making aid.

The risk is that the people who make decisions with computers will turn over too much of their decision-making power to the computer.

Risks can be magnified because people take computers seriously.

“Trust your feelings.” Jedi Master in Star

Wars


Future user interfaces will be based on agents rather than on tools.

Agents are software programs designed to be managed rather than manipulated.

An intelligent software agent can: Ask questions as well as respond to commands Pay attention to its user’s work patterns Serve as a guide and a coach Take on its owner’s goals Use reasoning to fabricate goals of its own


Tomorrow’s agents will be better able to compete with human assistants.

Future agents may possess a degree of sensitivity.A well-trained software agent in the future might accomplish

these tasks: Remind you that it’s time to get the tires rotated on your car and make an

appointment for the rotation Distribute notes to the other members of your study group or work group

and tell you which members opened those notes


Keep you posted on new articles on subjects that interest you and know enough about those subjects to be selective without being rigid

Manage your appointments and keep track of your communications

Teach you new applications and answer reference questions

Defend your system and your home from viruses, intruders, and other security breaches

Help protect your privacy on and off the Net

I don’t want to sit and move stuff around on my screen all day and look at figures and have it recognize my gestures and listen to my voice. I want to tell it what to do and then go away; I don’t want to babysit this computer. I want it to act for me, not with me.—Esther Dyson,

computer industry analyst and publisher

Even though the computer was designed to work with numbers, it can be an important tool for working with words as well.

Word processing software enables you to use commands to edit text on screen, without having to retype messages.

Outlining software, spell checkers, and online references can be very helpful. Desktop publishing produces professional-quality text-and-graphics

documents. Spreadsheets can be used for tracking, calculating, forecasting, and almost

any other task that involves repetitive numeric calculations. Most spreadsheet programs have charting capabilities.


Specialized software allows you to perform accounting tasks, tax preparation, and a variety of business functions without the aid of spreadsheets.

Symbolic mathematic and statistical-analysis software can help present data in meaningful ways.

Scientific visualization software can help us understand relationships that are invisible to the naked eye.

Computer modeling and simulation can be powerful tools for understanding the world and making better decisions.


Slide 57

Slide 1 © 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.. Chapter 5 Productivity Applications Slide 2 © 2008 Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Documents

document slide

web publishing slide

text editing text formatting

mixed text

word processing

formatting paragraphs

digital publishing

desktop publishing software