2.3 APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE

 

2.3  APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE

Getting the computer and the peripherals —the hardware is the only beginning. But it's your choice of software that will really determine the utility or uselessness of your new PC.

1. Applications Software Tools

Application software is the software designed to help you solve problems specific to business or perform specific business tasks. Application software then is the layer of software closest to you.

Basically, there are four categories of applications software (See Fig. 2-12).

Fig. 2-12  The four basic categories of applications software

·    Basic productivity software consists of programs found in most offices and probably on all computers, on personal computers and on larger computer systems. Most of the common applications software packages used today are productivity tools. There is simply to make users more productive when performing general tasks. Examples are word processing, spreadsheet, personal finance, presentation graphics, database mana-

gement, group collaboration, desktop and personal information management, integrated, and web browsing applications.

·    Business and specialty software, often called vertical market software, consists of programs developed for a specific business or industry. Whatever your occupation, you will probably finish it, also has specialty software tools available to it. This is true whether your career is dairy farmer, building contractor, police officer, dance choreographer, or chef. Examples are desktop-publishing software, project management software, computer-aided design (CAD) and manufacturing (CAM) software, drawing and painting software, multimedia authoring software.

·    Entertainment software consists of action and adventure games that can be played at home through a television set or personal computer or in an entertainment arcade of the sort found in shopping malls.

·    Education and reference software is used to educate and entertain. Because of the popularity of videogames, many educational software companies have been blending educational content with some of the features popular in games. Computers alone won't boost academic performance, but they can have a positive effect on student achievement in all major subject areas, preschool through college. In addition to educational software, library search and reference software has become popular. For instance, there are CD-ROMs with encyclopedias, phone books, mailing lists, maps, and reproductions of famous art.

2. Common Features of Applications Software

Although applications software packages differ in their use of specific commands and functions, most of them have some features in common:

·    Insertion point: The insertion point is the movable symbol on the display screen that shows you where you may enter data next. You can move the insertion point around using either the keystroke's directional arrow keys or by clicking with the mouse.

·    Scrolling: scrolling is the activity of moving quickly upward or downward through the text or other screen display. A standard computer screen displays only 20～22 lines of standards-size text. Of course, most documents are longer than that. Using the directional arrow keys or a mouse, you can move (scroll) through the display screen and into the text above and below it.

·    Windows: a window is a rectangular section of the display screen with a title bar on top. Each window may show a different display, such as a word processing document in one and a spreadsheet in another.

·    Menu bar: a menu is a list of command options, or choices. A menu bar is a row of menu options displayed across the top or the bottom of the screen.

·    Pull-down menu: a pull-down menu is a list of command options, or choices, that is “pulled-down” out of the menu bar. Pull-down menus can be opened by keystroke commands or by “clicking” (pressing) the mouse button while pointing to the title in the menu bar and then dragging the mouse pointer down. Some menu “pop-up” from the menu bar and so are called pop-up menus.

·    Help menu and screens: a help menu offers a choice of Help screens, specific displayed explanations of how to perform various tasks, such as printing out a document. Having a set of Help screens is like having a built-in electronic instruction manual. Help features also include searchable topic indexes and online glossaries.

·    Buttons: in a graphical interface, buttons are used to represent file names and the popular features and functions. Buttons are usually identified by a small graphic, called an icon. Most applications use toolbars to group related buttons.

·    Toolbars: a toolbar is a row of on-screen buttons, usually appearing immediately below the menu bar, used to activate a variety of functions of the applications program. Toolbars can often be customized and moved around on the screen.

·    Dialog box: a dialog box is a box that appears on the screen. It is used to collect information from the user and to display helpful messages.

·    Default values: default values are standard settings employed by the computer. When the user does not specify particular margin widths in your page setup, the word processing program will use the manufacturer's default values.

·    Macros: a macro is a feature that allows you to use a single keystroke, command, or toolbar button to automatically issue a predetermined series of commands. Thus, you can consolidate several keystrokes or menu selections into only one or two keystrokes. Although many people have no need for macros, you will find them quite useful if you need to continually repeat complicated patterns of keystrokes.

·    OLE: many software applications have the ability to integrate applications using OLE (object linking and embedding). This feature enables you to embed an object created using one application (such as graphics) into another application (such as word processing). Changes made to embedded object affect only the document that contains it. Objects can also be linked. In this case, changes made to the object are automatically made in all the linked documents that contain it. Thus OLE facilitates the sharing and manipulating of information. An object may be a document, worksheet, chart, picture, or even a sound recording.

·    Clipboard: many application software programs allow you to copy an item from one document and then paste it into another document or application, or copy an item and place the copy in another part of the same document. The clipboard is the area where the copy is held before it is pasted.

·    Tutorials and documentation: How are you going to learn a given software program? Most commercial packages come with tutorials. A tutorial is an instruction book or program that takes you through a prescribed series of steps to help you learn the product. Tutorials must be contrasted with documentation. Documentation is a user manual or reference manual that is a narrative and graphical description of a program. Documen-

tation may be instructional, but features and functions are usually grouped by category for reference purpose. For example, in word processing documentation, all cut-and-paste features are grouped together so that you can easily look them up if you have forgotten how to perform them. Documentation may come in booklet form or on diskette or CD-ROM; it may also be available online from the manufacturer.

3. Productivity Software Tools

Let us now look at the various types and uses of productivity software for:

·    Word Processing.

·    Spreadsheet Applications.

·    Personal Finance.

·    Presentation Graphics.

·    Database Managers.

·    Group Collaboration.

·    Desktop And Personal Information Management.

·    Integrated Applications.

·    Web Browsers.

（1）Word Processing Software.

Word processing software allows you to use computers to create, edit, store, and print documents. You can easily insert, delete, and move words, sentences, and paragraph—without ever using an eraser. Word processing programs also offer a number of features for “dressing up” documents with variable margins, type sizes, and styles. The user can do all these manipulations on screen, in “wysiwyg” fashion, before printing out hardcopy (wysiwyg stands for “what you see is what you get”, meaning that the screen displays documents exactly as they will look when printed).

Today, popular word processing programs are Microsoft Word for the PC, Word for the Mac, Corel WordPerfect for the PC, and WordPerfect for the Mac.

Word processing software also offers the following features:

①Creating Documents.

Creating a document means entering text, using the keyboard. As you type, word wrap automatically continues text on the next line when you reach the right margin. That is, the text “wraps around” to the next line.

②Editing Documents.

Editing is the act of making alterations in the content of your document. Some features of editing are insert and delete; undelete; search and replace; cut, copy, and paste; spelling checker; grammar checker; and thesaurus.

·    Insert and Delete: inserting is the act of adding to the document. You simply place the cursor wherever you want to add text and start typing; the existing characters will move aside. Deleting is the act of removing text, usually using the Delete or Backspace keys.

·    Undeleteor Undo: These commands allow you to change your mind and restore text that you have deleted. Some word processing programs offer as many as 100 layers of “undo”, allowing users who delete several blocks of text, but then change their minds, to reinstate one or more of the blocks.

·    Search and Replace: The search command, or find command, allows you to find any word, phrase, or number that exists in your document. The Replace command allows you to automatically replace it with something else.

·    Cut, Copy, and Paste: Typewriter users were accustomed to using scissors and glue to “cut and paste” if they wanted to move a paragraph or block of text from one place to another in a manuscript. With word processing, you can easily select the portion of text you want to move and then use the Cut or Copy command to remove it or copy it. Then use the Paste command to insert it somewhere else.

·    Spelling Checker, Grammar Checker, Thesaurus: Many writers automatically run their completed documents through a spelling checker, which tests for incorrectly spelled word. Some programs have an Auto Correct function that automatically fixes such common mistakes as transposed letters “teh” instead of “the”. Another feature is a grammar checker, which flags poor grammar, wordiness, incomplete sentences, awkward phrases, and excessive use of the passive voice. If you find yourse1f stuck for the right word while you're writing, you can use an on-screen thesaurus, which will present you with the appropriate word or alternative words.

③Formatting Documents.

Formatting means determining the appearance of a document. There are many choices here.

·    Type: You can decide what typeface and type size you wish to use. A particular typeface and size is called a font. All variations of a particular typeface are called a font family. You can specify whether the font should be underlined, italic, or boldface.

·    Spacing and Columns: You can choose whether you want the lines to be single-spaced or double-spaced (or something else). You can specify whether you want text to be one column, two columns, or several columns.

·    Margins and Justification: You can indicate the dimensions of the page borders, or margins-left, right, top, and bottom around the text. You can specify whether the text should be justified or not. Justify means to align text evenly between left and right margins, as is done, for example, with most newspaper columns. Ragged right means to not align the text evenly on the right, as is done with many business letters (text is left-justified). Ragged left means the left side of the text is not evenly aligned (text is right-justified), and centered means that each line of text is centered on the page.

·    Pages, Headers, Footers: You can indicate page numbers and headers or footers. A header is common text (such as a date or document name) that is printed at the top of every page. A footer is the same thing printed at the bottom of every page.

·    Other Formatting: You can specify borders or other decorative lines, shading, tables, and footnotes. You can even pull in (“import”) graphics or drawings from files in other software programs.

It's worth noting that word processing programs (and indeed most forms of applications software) come from the manufacturer with default settings. Thus, for example, most word processing programs will automatically prepare a document single-spaced, justified, and with 1-inch right and left margins unless you alter these default settings, which is easy to do.

④Printing Documents.

Most word processing software gives you several options for printing. For example, you can print several copies of a document. You can print individual pages or a range of pages. You can even preview a document before printing it out. Previewing (print previewing) means viewing a document on screen to see what it will look like in printed form. Whole pages are displayed in reduced size.

（2）Spreadsheet Software.

What is spreadsheet? Spreadsheet software takes its name from the accountant's columnar worksheet, which it imitates. A spreadsheet is a worksheet consisting of a collection of cells formed by the intersection of rows and columns. Each cell can store one piece of information: a number, word or phrase, or formula. Today the principal spreadsheet programs are Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3.

①Principal Features.

Spreadsheet software worksheets include the following features:

·    Columns and Rows: Column headings appear across the top (“A” is the name of the first column, “B” is the second, and so on). Row headings appear down the left side (“1” is the name of the first row, “2” the second, and so forth).

·    Cells, Cell Addresses, and Cell Pointer: The place where a row and a column intersect is called a cell, and its position is called a cell address. For example, “A1” is the cell address for the top left cell, where column A and row 1 intersect. A cellpointer indicates where data is to be entered. The cell pointer can be moved around like the insertion point in a word processing program.

·    Values: A number, date, or formula entered in a cell is called a value. The values are the actual numbers used in the worksheet—dollars, percentages, grade points, temperatures, or whatever.

·    Formulas, Functions, Recalculation: Now we come to reason the electronic spreadsheet has taken officers by storm. Formulas are instructions for calculations. For example, a formula might be A1+A2+A3, meaning to add the contents of cells A1, A2, and A3.

Functions are built-in formulas that perform common calculations. For instance, a function might sum or average a range of numbers or round off a number to two decimal places. An example of a function is SUM (A1:A3), meaning “Sum (add) all the numbers in the cells with cell addresses A1 through A3”.

After the values have been plugged into the spreadsheet, the formulas and functions can be used to calculate outcomes. What is revolutionary, however, is the ease with which the spreadsheet does recalculation. Recalculation is the process of recomputing values automatically, either as an ongoing process or as data is being entered of afterward, with the press of a key. With this simple feature, the hours of mind-numbing work required to manually rework paper spreadsheets has become a thing of the past.

The recalculation feature has opened up whole new possibilities for decision making. As a user, you can create a plan, put in formulas and numbers, and then ask yourself, “What would happen if we change that detail?” and immediately see the effect on the bottom line. This is called the what-if function. For example, if you're buying a new car, the “what if” function lets you consider various options: Any number of things can be varied: total price ($10,000? $15,000?), down payment ($2000? $3000?), interest rate on the car loan (7%? 8%?), or number of months to pay (36? 48?). You can keep changing the “what if” possibilities until you arrive at a monthly payment figure that you're comfortable with.

Spreadsheets can be linked with other spreadsheets. The feature of dynamic linking allows data in one spreadsheet to be linked to and automatically update data in another spreadsheet. Thus, the amount of data being manipulated can be enormous.

②Analytical Graphics: Creating Charts.

Another useful feature of spreadsheet packages is the ability to create analytical graphics. Presented in spreadsheet forms, as rows and columns of numbers, financial data is not always easy to comprehend. Whether viewed on a monitor or printed out, analytical graphics, or business graphics, help make sales figures, economic trends, and the like easier to comprehend and analyze.

The principal examples of analytical graphics are bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts. Quite often these charts can be displayed or printed out so that they look three-dimensional. Spreadsheets can even be linked to more exciting graphics, such as digitized maps.

（3）Presentation Graphics.

Computer graphics can be highly complicated, such as those used in special effects for movies. Here we are concerned with just one kind of graphics, called presentation graphics.

Presentation graphics are part of presentation software, which uses graphics and data/ information from other software tools to communicate or make a presentation to others, such as clients or supervisors. Presentations may take use of some analytical graphics-bar, line, and pie charts—but they most often include bulleted lists. Examples of well-known presentation software packages are Microsoft PowerPoint, Aldus Persuasion, Lotus Freelance Graphics, and SPC Harvard Graphics.

Some presentation software packages provide artwork call clip art that can be electronically cut and pasted into the graphics. These programs also allow you to use electronic painting and drawing tools for creating lines, rectangles, and just about any other shape. Depending on the system's capabilities, you can add text, animated sequences, and sound.

（4）Groupware.

Most microcomputer software is written for people working alone. Groupware is software that is used on a network and serves a group of users working together on the same project. Groupware improves productivity by keeping you continually notified about what your colleagues are thinking and doing, and vice versa.

Groupware is essentially of four types:

·    Basic groupware: Exemplified by Lotus Notes, this kind of groupware uses enormous database containing work records, memos, and notations and combines it with a messaging (e-mail) system—It is infom1ation—centered and allows people to do workgroup computing, focusing on the information being processed. Thus, a company like accounting giant Coopers & Lybrand uses Lotus Notes software to let co-workers organize and share financial and tax information. It can also be used to relay advice from outside specialists, speeding up audits and answers to complex questions from clients. Groupware is more than just multiuser software, which allows users on a network to access the same data; groupware does this but also allows users to coordinate and keep track of an ongoing project.

·    Workflow Software: Workflow software, exemplified by ActionWorkflow System and Process, It helps workers understand and redesign the steps that make up a particular process—thus, it is process-centered. It governs the tasks performed and coordinates the transfer of the information required to carry out the tasks. It also routes work automatically among employees and helps organizations reduce paper-jammed bureaucracies.

·    Meeting software: Examples of meeting software are Microsoft NetMeeting, Netscape's Collaborator, and Ventana's Group Systems V, which allow people to have computer- linked meetings. With this software, people “talk”, or communicate, with one another at the same time by typing on microcomputer keyboards.

·    Scheduling software: Scheduling software such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Schedule Plus, and Power core's Network Scheduler 3 uses a microcomputer network to coordinate co-workers, electronic date books or appointment calendars so they can figure out a time when they can all get together (Note: Scheduling software is useful only if everyone uses it regularly and consistently—otherwise appointment information and the like will be missing).

Groupware has changed the kind of behavior required for success in an organization. For one thing, it requires workers to take more responsibility. Ethically, of course, when you are contributing to a group project of any kind, you should try to do your best. However, when your contribution to the project is clearly visible to all, as happens with groupware, you have to do your best. In addition, using e-mail or groupware means you need to use good manners and be sensitive to others while you're online.

（5）Desktop Accessories.

Pretend you are sitting at desk in an old-fashioned office. You have a calendar, clock, calculator, Rolodex-type address file, and notepad. Most of these items could also be found on a student's desk. How would a computer and software improve on this arrangement? Many people find ready uses for types of software known as desktop accessories and personal information managers (PIMs).

·    Desktop accessories: A desktop accessory, or desktop organizer, is a software package that provides an electronic version of tools or objects commonly found on a desktop: calendar, clock, card file, calculator, and notepad. Some desktop accessory programs come as standard equipment with system software (such as Microsoft Windows). Others, such as Borland's Sidekick or Lotus Agenda, are available as separate programs to run your computer's main memory while you are running other software. Some are principally scheduling and calendaring programs; their main purpose is to enable you to do time and event scheduling. Suppose, for example, you are working on a word processing document and someone calls to schedule lunch next week. You can simply enter a command that “pops up” your appointment calendar, type in the appointment: save the information, and then return to your interrupted work. Other features, such as a calculator keypad, a scratch pad for typing in notes to yourself and a Rolodex-type address and phone directory (some with an automatic telephone dialer), can be displayed on the screen when needed.

·    Personal information managers: A more sophisticated program is the personal information manager (PIM), a combination word processor, database, and desktop accessory program that organizes a variety of information. Examples of PIMs are Commerce, Ecco, and Lotus Organizer (PIMs are often integrated into e-mail and groupware products).

（6）Integrated Software and Software Suites.

What if you want to take data from one program and use it in another-say, call up data from a database and use it in a spreadsheet? You can try using separate software packages, but one way not be designed to accept data from the other. Two alternatives are the collections of software known as integrated software and software suites.

①Integrated Software: “Works” Programs.

Integrated software packages combine the features of several applications programs—such as word processing, spreadsheet, database, graphics, and communications—into one software package. These so-called “works” collections give good value because the entire bundle often sells for $100 or less. The principal representatives are Apple Works, ClarisWorks, Lotus Works, Microsoft Works, and Perfect Works.

Some of these programs have assistants that help you accomplish various tasks. Thus, Microsoft's works for Windows 95 helps you create new documents using any of “task wizards”. The wizards lead you through the process of creating a letter, for example, which permits you to customize as many features as you want.

Integrated software packages are less powerful than the corresponding single-purpose programs, such as a word processing program or a spreadsheet. But that may be fine, because single-purpose programs may be more complicated than you need. For instance, you may have no use for a word processor that will create an index. Moreover, single-purpose programs demand more computer resources. Microsoft Word takes about 20 megabytes on your hard disk, whereas Microsoft Works takes only 7 megabytes.

However, system software such as Windows makes the advantage of sharing information in integrated programs redundant, since the user can easily shift between applications programs that are completely different. In addition, integrated programs are largely being replaced in the Windows environment by software suites.

②Software Suites: “Office” Programs.

Software suites, or simply suites, are applications like spreadsheet, word processing, graphics, communications, and groupware, which are bundled together and sold for a fraction of what the programs would cost if bought individually.

“Bundled” and “unbundled” are jargon words frequently encountered in software and hardware merchandising. Bundled means that components of a system are sold together for a single price. Unbundled means that a system has separate prices for each component.

The principal suites, sometimes called “office” programs, are Office from Microsoft, SmartSuite from Lotus, and Perfect Office from Corel. Microsoft's Office 2000 consists of programs that separately would cost perhaps $1500 but as a suite cost roughly $700. A trade-off however, is that such packages require a lot hard-disk storage capacity.

（7）Web Browser.

The Internet, that network of millions of interconnected networks, “is just a morass of data, dribbling out of [computers] around the world,” says on writer. “It is unfathomably chaotic, mixing items of great value with cyber—trash.” This is why browser software has caught people's imaginations, he states. “A browser cuts a path through the tangled growth and even creates a form of memory, so each path can be retraced”.

The most exciting pad of the Internet is probably that fast-growing region or subset of it known as the World Wide Web. The World Wide Web, or simply the Web, consists of hundreds of thousands of intricately interlinked sites—called home pages—set up for on-screen viewing in the form of colorful magazine-style “pages” with text, image, and sound.

To be connected to the World Wide Web, you need a modem and an automatic setup with an online service or Internet access provider, which often provides the browser software for exploring the web. A Web browser, or simply browser, is software that enables you to “browse through” and view Web sites. You can move from page to page by clicking on or selecting a hyperlink—either underlined text or a graphic, or by typing in the address of the destination page.

There are a great many browsers, including some unsophisticated ones offered by Internet access providers and some by the large commercial online services such as America online, CompuServe, and Prodigy. However, the recent battle royal for Web browser prominence has been between Netscape, which produces Navigator and Communicator, and Microsoft, which offers Microsoft Explorer.

4. Installing & Updating Applications Software

You can buy a videotape, CD-ROM, or audiotape, insert it into its players, and view or listen to it by simply pressing a button. This is not the case with software, no matter whether it is systems software or applications software. To use it in your microcomputer, you must first install it. Installation means coping and usually decompressing program files from a CD-ROM or other medium to your hard disk. Directions for installing come with the instructions (documentation) accompanying the software. Additional advice is available, sometimes through a toll-free 800 numbers, from the software manufacturer.

The installation program may also ask you to specify what kind of microcomputer and monitor you are using, whether you are using a hard disk, and so on. Once installed, the software program will store most of your responses in a special file (.ini) on the disk. Each time you load the software, it will refer to this file.

5. Software Versions and Releases

Every year or so, software developers find ways to enhance their products and put forth a new version or new release.

·    Version: A version is a major upgrade in a software product. Versions are usually indicated by numbers such as 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, and so forth. The higher the number preceding the decimal point, the more recent is the version.

·    Release: A release is a minor upgrade. Releases are usually indicated by a change in the number after the decimal point—3.0, then 3.1, then perhaps 3.11, then 3.2, and so on.

Mindful that many users may avoid a new “X.0” version on the theory that not all the bugs have been worked out yet, some software developers have departed from this system. In 1995, for example, Microsoft decided to call its new operating system “Windows 95” instead of “Windows 4.0”.

Most software products are upward compatible (or “forward compatible”). Upward compatiblemeans that documents created with earlier versions of the software can be processed successfully on later versions. Thus, you can use the new version of a word processing program, for instance, to get into and revise the file of a tem paper you wrote on an earlier version of that program. However, downward-compatible (“backward compatible”) software is less common. Downward compatible means that software developed for a new version of a software product can be run on older versions. For example, if you can run your new word processing program on your old operating system then the new package is downward compatible.

KEYWORDS

NOTES

（1）groupware（群件）。群件的概念目前尚无一个明确的、统一的定义，关于其组成部件也没有一个统一的说法。一般认为群件是由3部分组成的：小组动态交流功能（Team dynamics）、文档管理功能（Document management）和应用开发功能（Application develo-

pment）。典型的群件产品是Lotus公司的Lotus Notes。

（2）project management（项目管理）。是指组织和指导项目开发人员在预定的进度和预算范围内实现计划的结果。

（3）macro（宏）。宏是一系列组合在一起的Word命令和指令，它们形成了一个命令，以实现任务执行的自动化。可以创建并执行宏（宏实际上就是一条自定义的命令），以替代人工进行的一系列费时而单调的重复性操作，自动完成所需任务。

（4）OLE（Object Linking and Embedding，对象链接和嵌入）。可以使用链接对象或嵌入对象将在Office程序或支持链接对象和嵌入对象的程序中创建的文件的全部或部分添加到其他文件中。链接和嵌入的主要区别在于数据的存放位置以及在将其插入目标文件后的更新方式。

（5）workflow software（工作流软件）。工作流是一类能够完全或者部分自动执行的过程，它根据一系列过程的规划、文档、信息或者任务能够在不同的执行者之间进行传递和执行。

EXERCISES

1. Fill in the following blank.

（1）        software allows you to create and edit documents.

（2）        is activity of moving quickly upward or downward through the text or other screen display.

2. Label each of the following statements as either true or false.

（1）Word processing and database management are two most popular applications.

（2）Electronic spreadsheet software enables you to perform “what-if” calculations.

（3）A worksheet is composed of fields, records, and files.

（4）You can access the World Wide Web using multimedia authoring software.

（5）OLE is used to collect information from the user and display helpful messages.

3. Describe each of the following terms:

（1）Icon.

（2）Toolbar.

（3）Macro.

（4）Clipboard.

（5）Cell.

（6）Cell address.

（7）Formula.

（8）Compatible.

READING MATERIALS

Ethics & Intellectual Property Rights:

When Can You Copy

Information technology has presented legislators and lawyers—and you—with some new ethical questions regarding rights to intellectual property. Intellectual property consists of the products, tangible or intangible, of the human mind. There are three methods of protecting intellectual property: patents (as for an invention), trade secrets (as for a formula or method of doing business), and copyrights (as for a song or a book).

1. What is a Copyright

Of principal interest to us is copyright protection. A copyright is the exclusive legal right that prohibits copying of intellectual property without the permission of the copyright holder. Copyright law protects books, articles, pamphlets, music, art, drawings, movies and computer software. Copyright protects the expression of an idea but not the idea itself: Thus, others may copy your idea but not your particular variant of it. Copyright protection is automatic and lasts a minimum of 50 years; you do not have to register your idea with the government (as you do with a patent) in order to receive protection.

These matters are important because digital technology has made the act of copying far easier and more convenient than in the past. Copying a book on a photocopier might take hours, so people felt they might as well buy the book. Copying a software program onto another floppy disk, however, might take just seconds.

Digitization threatens to compound the problem. For example, current copyright law doesn't specifically protect copyright material online. Says one article:

Copyright experts say laws haven't kept pace with technology, especially digitization, the process of converting my data—sound, video, text—into a series of ones and zeros that are then transmitted over computer networks. Using this technology, it's possible to create an infinite number of copies of a book, a record, or a movie and distribute them to millions of people around the world at very little cost. Unlike photocopies of books or pirated audiotapes, the digital copies are virtually identical to the original.

2. Piracy, Plagiarism, and Ownership of Images and Sounds

Three copyright-related matters deserve our attention: software and network piracy, plagiarism, and ownership of images and sounds.

·    software and network piracy: It may be hard to think of yourself as a pirate (no sword or eye patch) when all you've done is make a copy of some commercial software for a friend. However, from an ethical standpoint, an act of piracy is like shoplifting the product off a store shelf—even if it's for a friend.

Piracy is theft or unauthorized distribution or use. A type of piracy is to appropriate a com-

puter designor program. This is the kind that Apple Computer claimed in a suit (since rejected) against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard alleging that items in Apple's interface, such as icons and windows, had been copied.

Software piracy is the unauthorized copying, of copyrighted software. One way is to copy a program from one floppy disk to another. Another is to download a program from a network and make a copy of it.

Network piracy is using electronic networks to distribute unauthorized copyrighted materials in digitized form. Record companies, for example, have protected the practice of computer user' sending unauthorized copies of digital recordings over the Internet.

The easy rationalization is to say, “I'm just a poor student, and making this one copy or downloading only one digital recording isn't going to cause my harm.” But that single act of software piracy, multiplied million of times, is causing the software publishers a billion-dollar problem. They point out that the loss of revenue cuts into their budget for offering customer support, upgrading products, and compensating their creative people.

Piracy also means that software prices are less likely to come down; if anything, they are more likely to go up.

If publishers, broadcasters, movie studios, and authors are to take a chance on developing online and multimedia versions of their intellectual products, they need to be assured that they can cover their costs and make a reasonable—perhaps by the development of anticopying technology and by laws that make it a crime to disable that technology—the Information Superhighway may remain empty of traffic because no one wants to put anything on the road.

·    Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the expropriation of another writer's text, findings, or interpretations and presenting it as one's own. Information technology puts a new face on plagiarism in two ways. On the one hand, it offers plagiarists new opportunities to go far afield for unauthorized copying. On the other hand, the teleology offers new ways to catch people who steal other people's material.

Because their overheads are low, electronic online journals are willing to publish papers that attract a small number of readers. With the explosion in the number of such journals, it is very hard to keep track of all the academic and scientific papers published there. Correspondingly, it may be difficult to how when a work has been plagiarized.

·    Ownership of images and sounds: Using computers, scanners, digital cameras, and your power to alter images and sounds is almost unlimited. What does this mean for the original copyright holders? An unauthorized sound snippet of a soul musician's famous howl can be electronically transformed by digital sampling into the background music for dozens of rap recordings. Images can be appropriated by scanning them into a computer system, then altered or placed in a new context.

The line between artistic license and infringement of copyright is not always clear-cut. In 1993, a federal appeals court in New York upheld a ruling against artist Jeff Koons for producing ceramic art of some puppies. It turned out that the puppies were identical to those that had appeared in a postcard copyrighted by a California photographer. But what would have been the judgment if Koons had scanned in the postcard, changed the colors, and rearranged the order of the puppies to produce a new postcard?

In my event, to avoid lawsuits for violating copyright, a growing number of artists who have recycled material have taken steps to protect themselves. This is usually involves paying flat fees or a percentage of their royalties to the original copyright holders.

These are the general issues you need to consider when you're thinking about how to use someone else's intellectual property in the Digital Age. Now let's see how software fits in.

3. Public Domain Software, Freeware, and Shareware

No doubt most of the applications programs will be commercial software packages, with brand names such as Microsoft Word or Lotus 1-2-3. However, there are a number of software products that are available to you—often over the Internet—as public domain software, freeware, and shareware.

·    Public domain software: Public domain software is not protected by copyright and thus may be duplicated by anyone at will. Public domain programs have been donated to the public by their creators. They are often available through sites on the Internet or through computer users groups. A users group consists of individuals who share interests and trade information about computer systems. You can duplicate public software without fear of legal prosecution. (Beware: Downloading software through the Internet may introduce viruses when you run the programs.)

·    Freeware: Freeware is software that is available free of charge. Freeware is usually distributed through the Internet or computer users groups. Why would any software creator let the product go for free? Sometimes developers want to see how users respond so that they can make improvements in a later version. Freeware developers often retain all rights to their programs, so that technically you are not supposed to duplicate and distribute it further. Still, there is no problem about your making several copies for your own use.

·    Shareware: Shareware is copyrighted software that is distributed free of charge but requires users to pay a fee in order to receive technical help, documentation, or upgrade. Shareware, too, is distributed primarily by communications connections such as the Internet. An example of shareware is WinZip, a program for decompressing/com- pressing computer files, which you can obtain from the Internet. Is there my problem about making copies of shareware for your friends? Actually, the developer is hoping you will do just that. That's the way the program gets distributed to a lot of people, some of whom, the software creator hopes, will make a contribution or pay a registration fee for advice or upgrades. Because shareware is copyrighted, you cannot use it as the basis for developing your own program in order to compete with the developer.

4. Proprietary Software and Types of Licenses

Proprietary software is software whose rights are owned by an individual or business, usually a software developer. The ownership is protected by copyright, and the owner expects you to buy a copy in order to use it. The software cannot legally be used or copied without permission.

Software manufacturers don't sell you the software so much as sell you a license to become an authorized user of it. What's the difference? In paying for a software license, you sign a contract in which you agree not to make copies of the software to give away or for resale. That is, you have bought only the company's Permission to use the software and not the software itself. This legal nicety allows the company to retain its rights to the program and limits the way its customers can use it. The small print in the licensing agreement allows you to make one copy (backup copy or archival copy) for your own use.

There are several types of licenses.

·    Shrink-wrap licenses: Shrink-wrap licenses are printed inserted into software packages and visible through the clear plastic wrap or printed directly on the plastic wrap. The use of shrink-wrap licenses eliminates the need for a written signature, since buyers know they are entering into a binding contract by merely opening the package.

·    Single-user licenses: A single-user license limits the use of the software in a network to one user at a time.

·    Multiple-user licenses: A multiple-user license allows more than one person in a network to use the software. Each user is assigned a license, and only these people may use the software.

·    Concurrent-use licenses: A concurrent-use license allows a specified number of software copies to be used at the same time. If, for example, the concurrent-use license is for 10 users, any 10 users in the company may use the software at the same time.

·    site licenses: A site licenses permits a customer to make as many copies of a software product as necessary for use just within a given facility, such as a college computer lab or a particular business.

The Basics of C++

I am writing this for those people who want to learn how to program in C++, especially those who have trouble. It is for those of you who want a sense of accomplishment every time your program works perfectly. If you want the sense of accomplishment, read on.

C++ is a programming language. It is a programming language of many different dialects, just like each language that is spoken has many dialects. There are about four major ones: Borland C++, Microsoft Visual C++, Watcom C/386, and DJGPR. You can download DJGPR at http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/ or you may have already another compiler.

Each of these compilers is a little different me library functions of one will have all of the standard C++ functions, but they will also have other functions. At times, this can lead to confusion, as certain programs will only run under certain compilers, though I do not believe this to be the case with the programs in these tutorials.

If you don't have a compiler, I strongly suggest you get one. A simple one is good enough for my tutorials, but get one.

C++ is a different breed of programming language. It has only a few keywords for DOS, and it has no keywords to use for output. This means that almost everything is stored in a header file. This gives the use of many functions. But lets us see real program.

#include <iostream.h〉

int main()

{

cout<< "HEY, you, I’m alive! Oh, and Hello World!"

return 0;

}

That does not look too bad, right? Let's break down the program and then look at it. The #include is a preprocessor directive which tells the compiler to put code in the header file iostream.h into our program! By including header files, you can gain access to many different functions. For example, the cout function requires iostream.h.

The next thing is int main(). What this is saying is that there is a function called main, and that it returns an integer, hence int. Then those little braces ({and}) are used to signal the beginning and ending of functions, as well as other code blocks. If you have programmed in Pascal, you win how them as BEGIN and END.

The next line of the program may seem strange. If you have programmed in other languages you might think that print would be used to display text. However, in C++ the cout function is used to display text. It uses the <;<; symbols, known as insertion operators. That quotes tell the compiler that you want to output the literal string as -is. The ; is added to the end of all function  calls in C++.

The penultimate line of code is ordering main to return 0. When one returns a value to main, it is passed on to the operating system. As a note, declaring int main() or void main() both will generally work. It is accepted practice to some to declare main as a void, but to others it is extremely upsetting. Previously, these tutorials had used void main, however, this is NO LONGER recommended, as it does not conform to the ANSI standard.

After, the brace closes off the function. You can try out this program if you want, just cut and paste it into the IDE of a compiler such as DJGPR or save it to a file ending with a .cpp extension, and use a command-line compiler to compile and link it.

Comments are extremely important to understand. When you declare that an area is a comment, the compiler will ignore it. To comment it is possible to use either //, which declares that the entire line past that point is a comment, or it is possible to use /* and then */ to block off everything between the two as a comment. Certain compilers will change the color of a commented area, but some will not. Be certain not to accidentally declare part of your code a comment. Note that this is what is known as “commenting-out” a section of code, and it is useful when you are debugging.

So far you should be able to write a simple program to display information typed in by you, the programmer. However, it is also possible for your program to accept input. The function you use is known as cin>>.

Wait! Before you can receive input you must have a place to store input! In programming, these locations where input and other forms of data are stored are called variables. There are a few different types of variables, which must be stated. The basic types are char, int, and float.

Char is used to create variables that store characters, int is used to create variables that store integers (numbers such as 1, 2, 0, -3, 44, -44), and float is used to declare numbers with decimal places. In fact, they are all keywords that are used in front of variable names to tell the compiler that you have created a variable. That is known as “declaring a variable”. When you declare a variable, or variable, you must end the line with a semi-colon, the same as if you were to call a function. If you do not declare the variable you are attempting to use, you will receive numerous error messages and the program will not run.

Here are some examples of declaring variables:

int x;

int a, b, c, d;

char letter;

float the_float;

It is not possible, however, to declare two variables of different types with the same name.

#include <iostream.h>

int main()

{

int thisisanumber;

cout<<"Please enter a number:";

cin>>thisisanumber;

cout<<"You entered:"<<thisisanumber;

return 0;

}

Let's break apart this program and examine it line by line. Int is the keyword that is used when declaring a variable that is an integer. The cin>>sets the value of thisisanumber to be whatever the user types into the program when prompted. Keep in mind that the variable was declared an integer, which means the output will be in the form of an integer. Try typing in a sequence of characters, or a decimal when you run the example program to see what you get as a response. Notice that when printing out a variable, there are not my quotation marks. If there were quotation marks, the output would be “You Entered: thisisanumber”. Do not be confused by the inclusion of two separate insertion operators on a line. It is allowable, as long as you make certain to have each separate output of variable or string with its own insertion operator. Do not try to put two variables together with only one <;<; because it will give you an error message. Do not forget to end functions and declarations with the semi-colon(;). Otherwise you will get an error message when you try to compile the program.

Now that you know a little bit about variables, here are some ways to manipulate them. *, ·, +, /, =, ==, >, <; are all operators used on numbers, and these are the simple ones. The * multiplies, the-subtracts, and the + adds. Of course, the most important for changing variables is the equal sign. In some languages, = checks if one side is equal to the other side, but in C++ == is used for that task. However, the equal sign is still extremely useful. It sets the left side of the equal sign that must be one AND ONLY one variable, equal to the right side. The right side of the equal sign is where the other operators can be used.

Here are a few examples:

a=4*6;   // (Note use of comments and of semi-colon) a is 24

a=a+5;   // a equals the original value of a with five additional units

a==5    // Does NOT assign five to a. Rather, it checks to see if a equals 5.

The other form of equal, ==, is not a way to assign a value to a variable. Rather, it checks to see if the variables are equal. It is useful in other areas of C++ such as if statements and loops.

You can probably guess what the <; and > are for. They are greater than and less than checks.

For example:

a<5   //Checks to see if a is less than five

a>5   //Checks to see if a is greater than five

a==5  //Checks to see if a equals five, for good measure

EDI, E-BUSINESS, AND ERP

1. What is EDI

（1）I thought electronic data interchange (EDI) was an old technology. Why am I still hearing about it?

EDI refers to the electronic exchange of business information between two companies using a specific and structured format. The concept has been around since the 1970s and has traditionally been used to automate buyer-seller transactions such as invoices and purchase orders. But as more processes within a company become automated, EDI has expanded to areas such as inventory management and product distribution.

（2）How does it work?

EDI relies on standards, or common methods of defining classes of business data, which allow computers to recognize what data belongs to what department in a company. In the early days of EDI, many companies built-in house EDI standards, but as interest grew, industries started to agree on common standards, administered by standards organizations. These standards, which allow computers in different organizations to share information over privately built, closed networks known as value-added networks, led to the use of EDI for corporate purchasing.

（3）What are the benefits?

Consider a very simple non-EDI-based purchase. A buyer decides he needs 365 hammers. He creates a purchase order, prints it out and pops it in the mail. When the supplier gets the order, she types it into her company's computer system. The inventory guy puns the order and ships out the hammers. Next, the supplier prints out and mails an invoice. It's not hard to imagine that this process could take several days. EDI has the potential to cut massive amounts of time out of the process. Sending documents, such as purchase orders or invoices, electronically takes minutes, not days, and shipments can often go out the day the order comes in. Moreover, the electronic format does not need to be rekeyed upon arrival, which also eliminates the possibility of typos. And EDI reduces costs by cutting down on data input, routing and delivery.

（4）What does all of this have to do with the Internet?

Building an EDI system has traditionally required a substantial investment in some heavy-

duty computers and networking equipment for both parties. Sometimes a large buyer, such as Wal-Mart, will require that all its suppliers be EDI compliant. That puts a burden on smaller suppliers, forcing them to choose between a heavy technical investment and a loss of business. And EDI isn't instantaneous. Because it uses information that frequently resides in mainframes, the quality of information on an EDI network depends on how frequently the data is refreshed from the mainframe.

And that's the promise of the Web, which offers much lower connectivity costs. That, added to the lower costs of PCs and simpler software, makes EDI over the Web a compelling proposition. Moreover, XML, an open standard for sharing data on the Web, is starting to appear as a method of coding EDI standards, which could provide technical clarity across industries.

2. E-Business

（1）What does e-business really mean.

The most basic definition of e-business is simply this: using the internet to connect with customers, partners, and suppliers. But the term also implies the transformation of existing business processes to make them more efficient. To engage in e-business, companies need to be able to unlock data in their back-end computer systems, so they can share information and conduct electronic transactions with customers, partners, and suppliers via the internet. And for some companies, engaging in e-business means adopting new web-enabled business models—auctioning off surplus goods, selling products directly to consumers, or joining in online purchasing cooperatives with their competitors. Without a doubt, embarking on an e-business effort requires as much thinking about business strategy as it does about technology.

（2）How is e-business different from e-commerce.

In some instances, the terms are used interchangeably. But to purists, e-commerce refers only to online transactions. The term e-business encompasses online transactions, but it also refers to online exchanges of information, such as a manufacturer letting its suppliers monitor production schedules via an extranet (a secure web site that can be accessed only by authorized parties), or a financial institution letting its customers review their banking, credit card, and mortgage accounts via a single web interface. In this respect, e-business overlaps with the business, technology disciplines of customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM).

（3）Just how much electronic commerce is being conducted via the net?

Despite all the hype, Internet-based e-commerce currently amounts to only a small fraction of the U.S.GDR. But experts predict e-commerce volumes will grow exponentially over the next few years, particularly in business-to-business e-commerce—that is, transactions between businesses and their suppliers, partners, and business customers. Cambridge, Mass.-based market researcher Forrester Research Inc. predicts business-to-business e-commerce in the U.S. will grow from $406.2 billion in 2000 to $207 trillion in 2004. By contrast, Forrester predicts that business-to-consumer e-commerce in the U.S. will grow from $38.8 billion in 2000 to $184.5 billion in 2004.

（4）Who should be in charge of a company's e-business effort?

In some companies, early web efforts were led by marketing or IT departments as special projects. But that is starting to change, as e-business becomes a higher priority for the business as a whole. A recent survey of large global corporations by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and The Conference Board found that nearly 50 percent of them have full-time units devoted to e-business. A survey of dotcoms and traditional companies by International Data Corp. A Darwin sister company found that roughly 50 percent of e-business efforts are headed by CEOs.

（5）Have all companies jumped on the e-business bandwagon.

Not yet. Pricewaterhouse Coopers and The Conference Board found that 70 percent of the global companies they surveyed derive less than 5 percent of their revenues from e-business. Several factors have kept some companies surveyed from rolling out e-business initiatives, including the following: potentially high and uncertain implementation costs; lack of demonstrated ROI within their industry; concern about tax, legal, and privacy issues related to e-business; and scant use of the internet among their customers.

3. What is ERP

（1）I'm tired of pretending I know what ERP is.

An enterprise resource planning software, or ERP, doesn't live up to its acronym. Forget about planning—it doesn't do that—and forget about resource, a throwaway term. But remember the enterprise part. This is ERP's true ambition. It attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company to create a single software program that runs off one database.

That's a tall order. Each of those departments, like finance or human resources, typically has its own computer system, each optimized for the particular department. Typically, when a customer places an order, the order begins a mostly paper-based journey from in-basket to in-basket around the company, often being keyed and rekeyed into different computer systems along the way. All that lounging around in in-baskets causes delays and lost orders, and all the keying into different computer systems invites errors. Meanwhile, no one truly knows the order status.

（2）So what can ERP do?

ERP automates the tasks necessary to perform a business process—such as order fulfillment, which involves taking an order from a customer, shipping it and billing for it. With ERP, when a customer service representative takes an order, he or she has all the necessary information—the customer's credit rating and order history, the company's inventory levels and the shipping dock's trucking schedule. Everyone else in the company can view the same information and has access to the single database that holds the order. When one department finishes with the order, it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any point, one need only log in to the system. With luck, the order process moves like a bolt of lightning through the organization.

（3）Sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?

To do ERP right, your company needs to change the way it does business. And that kind of change doesn't come without pain. It's critical to figure out if your way of doing business will fit within a standard ERP package before signing the check. The move to ERP is a project of breathtaking scope, and the price tags on the front end are enough to make even the most placid CFO a little twitchy. In addition to budgeting for software costs, financial executives should plan to write checks to cover consulting, process rework, integration testing and a long list of other expenses before the benefits of ERP appear. Underestimating the price of teaching users their new job processes can lead to a rude shock, and so an failure to consider data warehouse integration requirements and the cost of extra software to duplicate the old report formats. Oversights in financial planning can send the cost of an ERP project spiraling out of control. The impact will be far greater than any other systems project you have undertaken.