What is Sharp Tools?
Sharp Tools is a java spreadsheet. It features full formula support, standard cvs file format, printing support, undo/redo, a clipboard, sorting, data exchange with Excel, histogram generation, and a built-in help system. It was written primarily for grade keeping purposes, so this is not a finished product and a very simple spreadsheet. Its still a nice to play with it and with the included source what it does.

Some features of Sharp Tools;
  • A Friendly Interface
  • Compatibility with Microsoft Excel
  • Configurable Preferences
  • Formulas and References
  • File Operations
  • Clipboard Operations
  • Undo and Redo
  • Insertion and Deletion of Rows and Columns
  • Sorting Operations
  • Find and Find Next
  • Histograms
  • Password Security

System requirements
  • Java version 1.6.0 (tested with version 1.6.0ga5)


Sharp Tools on an eComStation machine with Open JDK


Installing Sharp Tools
Download SharpTools-1.4.1.tgz (0.3Mb). Open the ".tgz" file and then open the directory/map "SharpTools-1.4.1.tar". Copy the directory/map "SharpTools" to a drive/directory of your choice. Copy from the subdirectory/map "bin" the files "images.jar", "sharptools.ini" and "SharpTools.jar" to the root of the directory/map "SharpTools". Delete, if you want, subdirectory/map "src", here you can find the source of the program. That's it!

The used cmd file
Sharp Tools works with Open JDK in OS/2-eCS. I have a "sharptools.cmd" file with the following contents; 
@echo off
SET BEGINLIBPATH=[drive: java]\JAVA160ga5\bin
SET path=[drive: java]\JAVA160ga5\bin
[drive: SharpTools]
cd [drive: SharpTools]\SharpTools
java -Duser.home=[drive: SharpTools]\SharpTools -classpath SharpTools.jar;images.jar SharpTools
 2>SharpTools-bugs.txt
I had to split the line "java -Duser.home..." in two parts because of this page. Note the space between "SharpTools" and "2>SharpTools-bugs.txt". I use 2 separate folders (directories), one for Java and one for Sharp Tools with the files created by this program. The references used in the cmd file;

  • [drive: java] = drive with Java
  • [drive: SharpTools] = drive with Sharp Tools

should be replaced with real drive letters. Save the file and name it "sharptools.cmd" or use the file from "sharptools-ecs.zip", see below. This file is copied to the "Sharp Tools" directory/map. Furthermore, different paths?, adjust according to your needs.
Create a new program object. Specify the path and file name: "[drive: SharpTools]\SharpTools\sharptools.cmd". In the tabpage Session check the boxes "OS/2 window", "Running as an icon" and "Close Window to end program". In the tabpage General you can enter the name "Sharp Tools". There is an OS/2 icon in the file "sharptools-ecs.zip".

Parameters / options explained
  • The statement "-Duser.home=[drive: SharpTools]\SharpTools" will ensure that Sharp Tools will save all necessary files in own directory instead of saving them in the home directory.
  • The addition "2>SharpTools-bugs.txt" ensures that errors are saved in the file "SharpTools-bugs.txt". The 2 in "2>" is not a typo! The file stays normaly empty on my system.

Remarks running Sharp Tools
The program was developed primarily for grade keeping purposes, so this is not a finished product and a very simple spreadsheet. It uses a file extension "csv" and for me that stands for "Comma Separated Value". The saved file is not, values are tab (Hex 09) delimited, so I'm not happy with that. I'm used to drag my mouse over the area needed in a formula, but this is a no go in Sharp Tools, you have to enter cell references manually. Also pasting from an other program is only possible with text or values, but not with functions and alike. The histogram is only value based and very primitive, it is not possible to swap X and Y axis. It is therefore not possible to present information from the budget sheet in a meaningful way. In OS/2 we have more spreadsheet programs which do much better.

Download
In the file you can find above command file (all drive letters are on set to C:) and an OS/2 Sharp Tools icon: sharptools-ecs.zip.

revision July 23, 2020