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Dale - I had looked at Open Office about a year ago for a different reason. Good package, it has come a long way. If cost were the only issue, I understand why many use it. But IMO, the automation interface one of the main issues.
MS Office has a rich, mature COM interface which is the key to driving it from AB. And, as importantly, there is tons of how-to help for setting up charts, tables, etc. on the web. Lastly, for those that don't have Office, old copies of Office are available at sub-$100 usually. With the goal of allowing the average user to get something going quickly, it seems to me to be the choice.
-- BruceR
--- In amibroker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, dingo <waledingo@xxx> wrote:
>
> Bruce,
>
> Have you looked at Open Office in light of the expense issue?
>
> d
>
> On Sat, Jun 6, 2009 at 3:16 PM, bruce1r <brucer@xxx> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Herman -
> >
> > I thought that I'd offer what might seem like an unusual answer, that may
> > be of general interest and applies to more than the 3D question -
> >
> > If you can get any chart, include 3D, or something close to what you are
> > after in Excel, then use it.
> >
> > Here's why. I've come full circle. I've spent a not insignificant amount
> > of time writing Gfx routines for graphs and tables. In a sense, though,
> > much of it is re-inventing visualizations (charts, grids, etc.) that already
> > exist in Excel and custom packages (both standalone and Excel add-in). For
> > example, consider multi-series bar charts. It was a significant change to
> > TJ's original bar chart example, but straightforward (and maybe better) in
> > Excel.
> >
> > So, what are the reasons that Excel might not have been considered -
> >
> > - Perceived complexity in using the COM model to control it
> > - Speed in getting and putting large amounts of data
> > - Cost of package
> > - Overkill
> >
> > But, as counter-points, consider -
> >
> > - All of the Excel COM functions are easily abstracted as AFL functions
> > - There is a way using VBScript from AFL to get large amounts of data
> > into and out of Excel. For example on a 1.7GHz machine, 1 column of 5000
> > rows -> 28 milliseconds
> > - Old versions of Excel in basic Office XP 2002 are approx. $50 on
> > EBay, but most people already have a version of Excel
> > - Excel may be driving a tack with a sledgehammer, BUT, at least
> > prototype what you are after, if possible, in Excel charts and then decide
> > if it is valuable and merits custom work. IMHO, your time is one of the
> > most valuable things to consider.
> >
> > So, I've found that the quickest approach is to use the well known and
> > documented Excel UI to set up the charts and, and just use AB to put data to
> > Excel.
> >
> > I think that sometimes, it is important to just get to the end result as
> > quickly as possible. So, if Excel 3D charts will work, let me know and I'll
> > show you how.
> >
> > -- BruceR
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
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