Read Me

Application Overview
====================

The Objectsheet is an evolution of the spreadsheet that makes creating data-centric models easier and less error-prone. Instead of a "large grid of cells and scattered formulas", the Objectsheet uses finite-sized tables, Javascript objects, and formula templates.


Downloading and Running the Application
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Download and unzip the file into a local directory or onto a server where you want to run the application. The application runs from where you download the files; there is no installer.

The Objectsheet is launched through an .html front end file. The files are located in the top level directory. There are three options for launching the application:

1. objectsheet.html: a single html file that consists of the entire application.  This is the normal file used for the objectsheet application.  Objectsheet content/models can be saved within the single html file.

2. osc.html: sample html file that loads aggregated Javascript and css files (os.js and os.css, respectively).  os.js and os.css are aggregated code separate from the html (unlike objectsheet.html, where the javascript and css are embedded in the html).  osc.html can be modified to provide a general html wrapper around objectsheet sections.  this approach provides requires less storage when you have several files that use the objectsheet.  The tutorial pages on the Objectsheet website use this approach.

3. os.html: small html file that loads invididual js and css files (this process is bootstraped by os_mgr.js). Best for use on a local machine when developing the application itself.

The AggregateFiles.html application combines the separate .js and .css files in the /pgm directory into either the single objectsheet.html (see 1. above) or os.js and os.css (see 2 above).

System Requirements
===================
The Objectsheet is completely browser-based.  It runs on Internet Explorer (versions 6 and 7) and Mozilla Firefox (versions 1.5-2+).  Safari also works, but file loading and saving does not yet work.  It has been tested on Windows (2000 and XP), and Apple OS X.

Application Files
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When unzipped, the Objectsheet application consists of the following directories:

./ (top level directory): contains the html front-end files that start the Objectsheet, readme and changelog
./pgm: 11 separate Javascript files and 3 separate css files that form the core functionality of the Objectsheet.  The aggregate files os.js and os.css also reside here
./test_support: 3 html and 1 python source files. Javascript performance tests, standalone test of panel.js, and file aggregator.