Newsletter - January 2014

Editorial

2014 is starting at a gallop. It is the first year for some time when we ring customers and are told that they are really busy! May the upturn make this a wonderful year for everyone. We have come back to the office revitalised but without Thembekile, who decided to get married and leave us. We wish her well in her new venture.

Receptionist / Adobe Creative Cloud Position

We require a young person with clear speaking skills and a real enthusiasm for creative software to fill this position. Adobe's partner centre provides excellent on-line training to certify as a Certified Salesperson. Once the Adobe sales start coming in, then there is an option to qualify in Autodesk product sales as well. The position attracts a basic salary plus commission. Please contact Judith on 011 802 6440/1 or info@softwareafrica.co.za

What is Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams

This is the replacement for the Adobe Creative Suites. It is a rental solution, which makes your software investment completely tax deductable! Creative Cloud for Teams can be for a single user or groups of two or more. It comprises Adobe Acrobat Professional, Photoshop and all of the other Adobe products plus immediate access to new products as they are released. How about the Website tools making producing new sites fast and simple? Well Adobe Muse delivers this functionality to your desktop.

Tired of spending money on petrol and tolls to see clients - well meet them in the Cloud and show them your brilliant creations for their approval!

For enquiries and more information, please contact info@softwareafrica.co.za to find out about the Team options in Creative Cloud that take professionalism and productivity to new heights.

Autodesk Specials for Q4 2014 ending 22 January

The great one is that the AutoCAD LT special is back until 22 January 2014. This means that you can purchase LT and the subscription (which is optional) for R12 812.46 inc VAT and delivery. The great thing is AutoCAD LT for Mac 2014 is now out and that is part of the special! Please note does not apply to Inventor LT.

The second promotion is upgrading your legacy products (2007-R14 qualify for this one, however all LT products are excluded). For every single seat of the qualifying products, you receive a second seat FREE if you can supply the serial numbers of two of your legacy products. This offer ends on 22 January 2014.

The third covers Product Design Suite purchases: buy Product Design Suite Standard and receive a free Inventor. Buy Product Design Suite Premium or Ultimate and receive a free Inventor Pro. This offer ends on 22 January 2014.

The fourth one applies to subscription renewals where late renewal fees have been waived for all late renewals < than 360 days. This offer ends on 21 January 2014.

Please contact Judith or Willy for quotes.

Autodesk Subscription Benefits

These give real value to your Autodesk product users. They include the following:

Your software investment is seamlessly updated every year, resulting in your drawing office's service being constantly improved. This often enhances productivity as well.
You have access to flexible licensing rights. These include being authorised to load on a desktop and a laptop; being able to use the software when abroad on a project.
Access to top technical support via e-mail
Wide Cloud benefits, which include:
- Autodesk 360,
- Autodesk WS mobile apps
- Building Information Manager (BIM) the cost saving application that delivers on time in the most cost efficient way possible
- 100 or more Cloud credits (according to level of Design Suite purchased) to perform rendering, simulation, optimization and structural analysis tasks, when using one of the Design Suites,
- The ability to store/view/search and collaborate in the Cloud,
- And up to 25GB of storage.

For more information go to https://360.autodesk.com/landing and https://www.autodesk.com/subscription/overview.

PC Tip: Set Which Program Opens a File

In the November PC tip we mentioned file extensions, which Microsoft hides for some reason. Windows uses the file extension (whether you can see it or not) to decide which program to use to open each file.

The regular Windows Update on 15 January had an unintended side effect, at least on machines running both Microsoft Office 2003 and 2010: The Office 2003 programs became the defaults for opening Office programs. That is, Word 2003 for DOC files, Excel 2003 for XLS, and Access 2003 for MDB. This is probably not what you want if, like me, you are using the later version but keeping the earlier one to check compatibility.

Until Microsoft fixes this (which means they would first have to admit that they have made a mistake), here's what you can do.

Run Windows Explorer (a.k.a. "My Computer or, in Windows 8, File Explorer), for which the shortcut is the "Windows key" ÿ + E.

Locate a file with the relevant extension, i.e. DOC, XLS or, if you use Access, MDB. If you can't see the file extensions, you can turn them on using the November PC tip, or go by the program icon that Windows displays for the files.

Right-click on the file and, from the pop-up menu, choose "Open with" and then "Choose default program...".

In the "Open with" dialog box, locate the correct version of the program (check the icon). This may display if you click the "+" on the right, or you may have to Browse for it.

If you Browse, remember that on a 64-bit machine the programs will be under C:\Program Files (x86) and not C:\Program Files, where Windows Explorer will helpfully suggest you look. Office 2010 programs will be in the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14. Excel is EXCEL.EXE, Word is WINWORD.EXE (go figure!), and Access is MSACCESS.EXE.
Make sure that "Always use this program to open this type of file" is ticked (it is usually, by default).
If that does not work, then you might have to replace "Office11" with "Office14" in the Registry (do back it up first!).

Green Tip

Start street clean-ups with your neighbours and have regular get togethers. Plant vegetables on the verges for everyone to pick their favourites - bring people back into your community! Not only do clean streets repel crime but knowing your neighbours makes everyone safer.

If you are an engineer or designer considering using the product below!

Autodesk Ecotect Analysis

Sustainable Building Design Software

Autodesk® Ecotect® Analysis sustainable design analysis software is a comprehensive concept-to-detail sustainable building design tool. Ecotect Analysis offers a wide range of simulation and building energy analysis functionality that can improve performance of existing buildings and new building designs. Online energy, water, and carbon-emission analysis capabilities integrate with tools that enable you to visualize and simulate a building's performance within the context of its environment.

Whole-building energy analysis—Calculate total energy use and carbon emissions of your building model on an annual, monthly, daily, and hourly basis, using a global database of weather information.
Thermal performance—Calculate heating and cooling loads for models and analyze effects of occupancy, internal gains, infiltration, and equipment.
Water usage and cost evaluation—Estimate water use inside and outside the building.
Solar radiation—Visualize incident solar radiation on windows and surfaces, over any period.
Daylighting—Calculate daylight factors and illuminance levels at any point in the model.
Shadows and reflections—Display the sun’s position and path relative to the model at any date, time, and location.

Access to the Green Building Studio in the Cloud is a major subscription benefit. For more information and customer feedback go to https://usa.autodesk.com/ecotect-analysis/

Please contact Judith or Willy for quotes.

Excel Tip #118 - The Data tab (IX): Data Tools - What-If - Data Table (one-input)

We are looking at the "Data" tab on Excel 2010's Ribbon, in the "Data Tools" group. The last button in the Group is "What-If Analysis". This button has a submenu consisting of three items: Scenario Manager, Goal Seek, and Data Table. We looked at Goal Seek in the November issue, and will look at Data Table today.

Data Table allows you to create a table of the results of plugging different values into a formula. It comes in two flavours, one-input and two-input. We will do the former this month.

A one-input Data Table has one or more columns* each headed by a formula, in which we change only one value. The list of values to use appears in the leftmost column. *Instead of columns we can use rows, though this is less common. Our example uses columns.

Example:

Say that we want the areas of circles of various diameters.
Set up the headings in rows 1 and 2 of the spreadsheet shown above left.
Select the range B2:C3 (headings in row 2 and cell underneath).
Name the cells using Formulas (tab), Defined Name (group), Create From Selection > Top Row > OK.
In cell C3, enter the formula =PI()*B3^2/4 but click on B3 instead of typing the cell reference, and it will fill in the name "Diameter".
The formula in cell C3 will then read: =PI()*Diameter^2/4
In B3 you can try various values the answer in C3 will change accordingly.
In cells B4 to B8, fill the various diameters you would like to try, e.g. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16.
Select the range B3:C8. Note that the first column contains the input values to use, all subsequent columns are headed by a formula: The answers will appear under each formula. The top left cell is a convenient place to put the one input, but it can be elsewhere.
On the Data tab, in the Data Tools group, click the "What-If Analysis" drop-down list and choose "Data Table".
The "Data table" dialog box shown above, opens.
The Column input cell (the Diameter) is B3. Click OK.
The answers to the formula (values) are filled in underneath the formula.
For interest's sake, add a new formula in D3, for example for a square (=Diameter^2) and repeat "Data Table" for the range B3:D8.

In the next issue, we will look at using What-If Analysis, Data Table, with two inputs.

Computius Say:

Guide to Computer Terms:
"State-of-the-art" - Any computer you can't afford.

Remember: We can make your business run better by:

Automating your in-house processes with a custom program or database..
Solving your Maximizer, Access, Excel, Word, Visual Basic, and PowerPoint problems.
Training your company on Maximizer, Excel, Word, Access and Windows (all levels from beginners to Programming).
Supplying software: We re-sell and support various CRM, accounting, timesheet, scheduling, and productivity programs.
Providing world-class programs for the Engineer and Civil Engineering Geologist: AutoCAD, Caddie, dotPLOT, etc.
Making your Civil Engineering Lab run smoother and more profitably with Labbie, our Data Retriever.
Promoting your corporate image with a set of templates on Word or Excel, linked to your address list.

All the Best from the team!
Judith and Rick

Members, Communication in Action cc trading as Software Africa
"Empowering African Business with custom PC programs, databases, and templates using Microsoft technologies"
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Tel: 011 802-2685 / 011 802-6440/1 ~ Fax: 011 802-4576 and 086-635-7902/3 ~ Cell: 082 389-3481/2 ~ e-mail: info@softwareafrica.co.za