VisiCalc - Revision history

Dan Tobias: /* Manuals */

2018-07-09T04:00:16Z

‎Manuals

Dan Tobias at 23:26, 24 April 2018

2018-04-24T23:26:21Z

Dan Tobias: /* Other links */

2015-02-28T17:07:29Z

‎Other links

Dan Tobias: /* Software */

2014-06-14T15:59:38Z

‎Software

Dan Tobias: /* Software */

2014-02-15T08:50:57Z

‎Software

Dan Tobias: /* Software */

2013-11-03T03:11:02Z

‎Software

Dan Tobias: /* Software */

2013-11-03T03:07:50Z

‎Software

Dan Tobias at 05:09, 22 September 2013

2013-09-22T05:09:45Z

Dan Tobias at 01:20, 2 June 2013

2013-06-02T01:20:27Z

Dan Tobias: Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Document |extensions={{ext|vc}}, {{ext|vcs}} }} With a name that sounds like it's the favorite spreadsheet of the [[Wikipedia:Visi..."

2013-06-02T01:18:35Z

Created page with "{{FormatInfo |formattype=electronic |subcat=Document |extensions={{ext|vc}}, {{ext|vcs}} }} With a name that sounds like it's the favorite spreadsheet of the [[Wikipedia:Visi..."

New page

{{FormatInfo
|formattype=electronic
|subcat=Document
|extensions={{ext|vc}}, {{ext|vcs}}
}}

With a name that sounds like it's the favorite spreadsheet of the [[Wikipedia:Visigoths|Visigoths]], '''VisiCalc''' became the "killer app" of the Apple II, at least for the business market, a feat later replicated by [[Lotus 1-2-3]] for the IBM PC. VisiCalc was developed by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston for Software Arts, and distributed by Personal Software, a company then largely publishing game software (one of their ads at the time was headlined "Even at 5:12 a.m., it's hard to quit playing Personal Software™ strategy games"), but which later devoted itself so much to VisiCalc and related software that it renamed itself VisiCorp.

VisiCalc didn't really invent the concept of a "spreadsheet"; accountants had been creating spreadsheets on paper for ages, and the clunky mainframe era of computing featured a number of attempts to perform the calculations involved in maintaining such sheets electronically. However, VisiCalc was the first personal-computer program to present a user-friendly interface to visually maintain a spreadsheet with automatic recalculation, and it inaugurated a type of software application that is still one of the major things done on computers now. All of that was done with a first version of the software whose entire executable file was smaller in byte size than many of the graphic files that decorate Web pages now.

Starting on the Apple II, VisiCalc was eventually ported to various other platforms including the fledgling IBM PC, though it lost to Lotus 1-2-3 for market share on that platform.

== File format ==

Reportedly, the native file format consisted simply of a series of commands and data elements in the same manner that they would be typed into the program by a user, so that loading a file simply piped it to the input stream of VisiCalc.

VisiCalc could also save files in [[Data Interchange Format]], a file format invented by the creators of VisiCalc for the purpose of cross-program/platform data exchange.

== Software ==
* [http://bricklin.com/history/vcexecutable.htm VisiCalc executable download of early PC version]

== Other links ==
* [[Wikipedia:VisiCalc|Wikipedia article]]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=NjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=visicalc+file+format&source=bl&ots=m3Fb7qd6K-&sig=7hz4tlLaYQZAt1MCNCM0qZj1hLg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VXmqUfWTJ5PC9QTfmICQBQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=visicalc%20file%20format&f=false Review of VisiTran, software to generate VisiCalc files from Applesoft programs]

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 * [https://archive.org/stream/a2_Calc_Man_v1.3_1982_Dan_Tobias_Softdisk_Magazette/Calc_Man_v1.3_1982_Dan_Tobias_Softdisk_Magazette.do?module=apple2e&scale=1 Calc-Man: parody Pac-Man game on a VisiCalc screen, for Apple II] (in-browser emulation)
-== Manuals ==
+== Manuals and Books ==
 * [https://archive.org/details/Visicalc_1979_Software_Arts 1979 TRS-80 VisiCalc manual]
 * [https://archive.org/details/Visicalc_Pocket_Reference_1981_Software_Arts 1981 TRS-80 VisiCalc pocket reference]
 * [https://archive.org/details/atariusersguide00fyls 1981 Atari VisiCalc manual]
 * [https://archive.org/details/VisiCalc_for_the_Model_4_Pocket_Reference_1983_Radio_Shack 1983 TRS-80 Model 4 VisiCalc pocket reference]
 == Other links ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:07, 28 February 2015
Line 37:		Line 37:
	* [[Wikipedia:VisiCalc\|Wikipedia article]]		* [[Wikipedia:VisiCalc\|Wikipedia article]]
	* [http://books.google.com/books?id=NjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=visicalc+file+format&source=bl&ots=m3Fb7qd6K-&sig=7hz4tlLaYQZAt1MCNCM0qZj1hLg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VXmqUfWTJ5PC9QTfmICQBQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=visicalc%20file%20format&f=false Review of VisiTran, software to generate VisiCalc files from Applesoft programs]		* [http://books.google.com/books?id=NjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=visicalc+file+format&source=bl&ots=m3Fb7qd6K-&sig=7hz4tlLaYQZAt1MCNCM0qZj1hLg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VXmqUfWTJ5PC9QTfmICQBQ&ved=0CGQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=visicalc%20file%20format&f=false Review of VisiTran, software to generate VisiCalc files from Applesoft programs]
		+	* [https://medium.com/backchannel/a-spreadsheet-way-of-knowledge-8de60af7146e A Spreadsheet Way of Knowledge]

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 * [https://archive.org/details/apple_ii_visicalc_1.37_1979 In-browser emulation of Apple II version 1.37 at Internet Archive]
 * [https://archive.org/details/VisiCalc_1.74A_1980_Software_Arts In-browser emulation of Atari 800 version 1.74a at Internet Archive]
 == Manuals ==

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 == Software ==
 * [http://bricklin.com/history/vcexecutable.htm VisiCalc executable download of early PC version]
-* [https://archive.org/details/VisiCalc_1979_SoftwareArts In-browser emulation of Apple II version at Internet Archive]
+* [https://archive.org/details/apple_ii_visicalc_1.37_1979 In-browser emulation of Apple II version 1.37 at Internet Archive]
 == Manuals ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:09, 22 September 2013
Line 17:		Line 17:

	VisiCalc could also save files in [[Data Interchange Format]], a file format invented by the creators of VisiCalc for the purpose of cross-program/platform data exchange.		VisiCalc could also save files in [[Data Interchange Format]], a file format invented by the creators of VisiCalc for the purpose of cross-program/platform data exchange.
		+
		+	== Program quirks ==
		+
		+	The original Apple II didn't have up and down arrow keys, so the makers of VisiCalc had to improvise and use the left and right arrows for up and down as well as left and right. Pressing the space bar toggled between horizontal and vertical modes.

	== Software ==		== Software ==

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 |formattype=electronic
 |subcat=Document
 |extensions={{ext|vc}}, {{ext|vcs}}
 |released=1979