Initial Tips: If you have a VAX, with VT100's, use the COMPILVMX.COM procedure to build Portacalc-VM and use that. If you have a PDP11, your best bet is the PortaCalc that's in the directory with PCCPDP.COM. Munge that file up into a .CMD file (with the leading "$ " characters removed to let MCR allow it, and other minor fixups) and build PCC-PC from that. Then use that for the remaining. You'll need to compile, then build the libraries (LBRCRE.CMD will do that), then link. Some device names may need to be altered in the .CMD and .ODL files too; it's hard to get it all exact on a VMS system where your MCR is not very much like the real thing and CCL is unavailable... Now set your system up so you know how to fire up the spreadsheet and print out Portacalc.tut (the tutorial). With the tutorial in hand, follow it along with the real spreadsheet and go thru its instructions. (If you built PortaCalc-PC for PDP11, use 10 K sizes for starters as the sizes for value and formula storage; smaller if you must. You'll need some auxiliary storage, but a minimum is not known to the author. Hopefully, 10K will do. If you run out of space, try using negative numbers instead of positive ones. When you're satisfied with the tutorial, then go thru PORTACALC.TU2 (a short mini-tutorial) to see a little of how table lookups can be done. Then read through the manual (after passing it through Runoff to make it legible) once. The manual is a reference, not an introduction, so it's best not to try and absorb it all at once. As a useful example, the BER.* file supplied is for producing a Business Expense Report and will do all the normal arithmetic for you (though it assumes 20 cents/mile for mileage). The second line has just the day part of the date and is rather crude, but it's been useful at the author's site. Now define a system logical name DK: or set up a virtual disk globally assigned as DK: (init with the /SDI switch to avoid multiple directories on it in RSX) and move all the AK*.CMD, KY*.CMD, and Keypad.pic onto DK:. Make them world readable. You may want to use the SPREAD.COM file on Vax to run the sheet from. Read your other README and AAAREADME files and see how you want to tailor the spreadsheet. Now build any other versions you like. One tailoring you may want on a PDP11 is a set of global answers to the file size questions. You can edit Spredsht.for on a PDP11 to read these replies somewhere else than the console (like a disk file on another globally assigned name) and have the default be the console if the name is defined as the console by the user. This would speed up program start. You may also want to select which KEYPAD*.PIC to copy as DK:KEYPAD.PIC depending on your terminals. Type them each out and pick the one you like best. Keypadavo.pic is the one we use at the author's site. On the VAX, the program will start reading SYS$INPUT, and so you can automate the replies easily by running from a .COM file. Finally, if you have problems or especially if you produce any more documentation or new versions, send them to Glenn Everhart, 409 High St., Mt. Holly NJ 08060; (preferably in machine readable format...most any medium will do). That way they can be given out to all users. There aren't many bugs, but you may do things I don't.