Excel for mobile phone

We continue to get acquainted with useful applications for mobile devices that support Java technology. Today, following a good workflow, we will work closely with the J2ME-application MiniExcel, which differs not only from the rich functionality of the table processor, but also the ability to export data to "large" Excel. But about everything on schedule.

Requirements for the "hardware", the cost is also the installation of the program

For work with a mobile table processor, almost any phone with support for MIDP 1.0, 2.0 specifications will also work with 56 KB of free memory to run the application. The need for the characteristics of the display is also not so critical. Of course, on the color screen, the interface of the program is much more pleasant to see, but for lack of it, monochrome will also come down. By the way, you can see the list of compatible devices on the developer's website. True, having run with eyes on the above models, it is allowed to conclude that the above list is far from complete (apparently, web designers of the company Simprit do not have time for labor achievements of phone manufacturers). If you plan to save MiniExcel data on a remote server, then you need to take into account a couple of moments. First, you must first activate the mobile network access service. Secondly, you need a computer with a dedicated IP address on the Internet also installed software MiniExcel Connection Manager, performing server functions on the machine. Before installing the server software, make sure that the Java Runtime Environment version 1.4 or higher is installed on the computer.

Java-midlet MiniExcel (61 kb) is available in the Downloads section of the developer's website or through WAP at http://www.simprit.com/wap.wml.

The cost of the application is 10 US dollars, but those who wish to experiment before purchase will benefit from a free thirty-day version of the program.

The owners of BlackBerry communicators are also not forgotten: they have their own version of MiniExcel for them. This program is also a functional richer also at a price more expensive ($ 25).

MiniExcel performance characteristics

The list of possibilities inherent in the program is quite impressive, so we will limit ourselves to only a modest enumeration of the main functions, later on we will gradually switch to some features of work with the keyboard.

So, in stock at MiniExcel:
• Working with tables containing up to 26 columns (from A up to Z) also 99 lines (from 1 up to 99). The number of cells can vary depending on the number of available memory
• Perform basic arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, crushing, construction to power), including support for comparison operations
• Manipulation of different types of data
• Support for trigonometric, logical and mathematical functions
• Work with text values, including the time is also the date
• The presence of a clipboard with the ability to copy as individual cells, as well as entire data areas. It is permissible here to include the manipulation of columns as rows (insertion, deletion, changing the width of columns)
• Support of function keys
• Save data (as separate sheets) in the device memory or on an external Internet server
• Integration with Microsoft Excel also with Intuit's Quicken financial product line

Naturally, all this scop of operations should be managed somehow, and with a tiny telephone keypad, which the developers have equipped with four modes of operation.
The main mode Browse ("Browse") is used to move through cells, rewind pages, go to the beginning / end of the table. For this mode, the joystick, which most of the modern phone models are equipped with, is the best way to go. Pressing the joystick or the "5" button switches the keyboard to the data entry mode.

Various keyboard modes (screenshots from the developer's website)

A couple of other modes - F1 also F2 - contain the most frequently used control functions of the program. Among them: insert / delete columns / rows of the table, change the width of columns, conclude information on free memory, save documents and work with the clipboard. In the program parameters it is allowed to configure the server configuration (address, user login / password), change the format of numeric data, pores also dates.

MiniExcel Connection Manager

We will install the MiniExcel server on your computer. For this we download the miniexcel-cm.zip archive (1.6 Mb) from the developer's website and also unharness it. As a situation, if the path to the Java interpreter (java.exe) is correctly registered in PATH environment variables, then it will be enough to start the application two times by clicking on it with the mouse. Otherwise, manually go to the bin directory of the installed Java-machine and also open the server application with the command java.exe -jar miniexcel-cm.jar.
From the mandatory settings, you should pay attention to the port, which will result in the exchange of traffic between the customer and the server. In addition, do not forget to look in the User Info menu to edit the list of users who will be allowed access to the resources of the manager. Please note that for an unregistered version, only one user with the name test is available, also a password. Lastly, click the "Test connection" button to check the Internet connection.

MiniExcel Connection Manager

Manager Settings

Now we pick up the phone also in the settings of MiniExcel (Settings -> Server), specify the coordinates of our server, including the login / password of the new user. Everything, now at any time is allowed to save the table data on the server side (Options -> Sheet -> Save to server).
Specifically, all data sent to the server is stored as ordinary XLS files that are opened by the "mature" Excel program. Thus, it is allowed to copy the excel file to the server for further work with it from a mobile phone. Unfortunately, the attempt to save the act with the Cyrillic alphabet on the server was not successful (the font encoding is distorted), but it is possible to pronounce Russian-language tables without problems.

Summing up

Of course, MiniExcel deserves respect, if only because its developers managed to combine so many features in such a small application. From the positive aspects of this program, we will allocate the consistent functionality, low demand for the resources of the phone, low cost, as well as export of data to the Excel format. In the negative, we will write down only one-sided work with the Cyrillic alphabet.