New bloggage - in 2014 I tried to read some old #QuattroPro for #DOS #spreadsheets in modern software, and concluded the format was effectively obsolete.

More than ten years onward, things are looking much better now, thanks to @libreoffice. But my latest tests also highlight some gnarly issues.

https://bitsgalore.org/2025/05/28/quattro-pro-for-dos-revisited-an-obsolete-format-no-more

Quattro Pro for DOS revisited: an obsolete format no more?

This post provides an update to my 2014 attempts at reading old Quattro Pro for DOS spreadsheets with modern software.

bitsgalore.org

Attention #digipres hive mind - I came across quite an intriguing compatibility issue between an old #QuattroPro for #DOS file that uses the VLOOKUP function and #LibreOffice #Calc.

Details + a demo file here:

https://github.com/openpreserve/format-corpus/tree/master/office/spreadsheet/wq2/vlookup-compat-demo

I'm using a fairly old version of LibreOffice (6.4.7.2), so I was wondering if anyone can reproduce this in a more recent version? If so, please let me know, so I can report this as an issue with the LibreOffice devs.

(Also paging @euanc)

format-corpus/office/spreadsheet/wq2/vlookup-compat-demo at master · openpreserve/format-corpus

An openly-licensed corpus of small example files, covering a wide range of formats and creation tools. - openpreserve/format-corpus

GitHub
Time again (not?) to #WheelOutTheDigitalDarkAgeKlaxon 📯, as here is one of my vintage #QuattroPro for #DOS spreadsheets from 1996, rendered by Quattro Pro for DOS 5.0, running in #DOSBox-X

Funnily enough this immediately gave me inspiration for a new (yet to be written) follow-up to my 2014 post about #QuattroPro for #DOS spreadsheets.

Back then I declared those obsolete because no modern application was able to read them.

Fast-forward 11 years, and @libreoffice calc appears to read them without any problems at all!

Esto después de varias compras anteriores como las de Digital Research, Unix System Labs y otras compañías, pues en palabras de Ray Noorda (presidente y CEO de Novell) “vamos contra Microsoft en la corte y en el escritorio”
#retrocomputingmx #novell #WordPerfect #Quattropro #raynoorda
El 22 de noviembre de 1994, la compañía Novell después de anunciarlo en marzo, termina la compra de WordPerfect Corp, para obtener un procesador de textos, así como la división de Quattro Pro de Borland SC, (para tener su propio programa de hojas de cálculo) que les permitiera competir contra el Office de Microsoft, por mil 400 millones usd.
#retrocomputingmx #novell #WordPerfect #Quattropro #raynoorda
Borland Quattro Pro Vs Microsoft Excel

In the realm of spreadsheet applications, two giants have dominated the scene at various points in history: Borland Quattro Pro and Microsoft Excel. Quattro Pro, a product of Borland (later acquire…

Court Guinness
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If you're a university student, it's the end of the semester!

I teach a few university classes, and I use a spreadsheet to calculate final grades.

Here's how to do the same grade lookup and conversion in #LibreOffice Calc, #QuattroPro and #AsEasyAs

https://youtu.be/Mqgxc7BoJUQ

Look up values in a DOS spreadsheet

YouTube

@the_etrain

Made a career of crunching data and loading spreadsheets. Pivot Tables were a godsend.

#EasyCalc
#SuperCalc
#Lotus123
#QuattroPro
#Excel

Even used a text based one on a MVS mainframe, but I forget the name of the program!