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<para>
  <application>Gnumeric</application> is a spreadsheet, a computer
  program to manipulate and analyze numeric
  data. <application>Gnumeric</application> intends to be the best
  spreadsheet available anywhere. It has been developed over many
  years to become fully mature and mathematically
  correct. <application>Gnumeric</application> was created and is
  maintained by the <ulink type="http"
  url="http://www.gnome.org/">GNOME</ulink> project.  This manual
  describes version 1.2 of <application>Gnumeric</application> .
</para>

<para>
  <application>Gnumeric</application> aims for:
  <itemizedlist>
    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>Stability :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        <application>Gnumeric</application> has undergone significant
        amounts of testing. A diverse group of users evaluates
        <application>gnumeric</application> in a wide variety of
        environments. Testing workbooks are used to assess the
        mathematical correctness of the calculations and to validate
        the quality of the file importers. This release can be
        considered safe for use in a production environment.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>File compatibility :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        Transparent access and manipulation of files from other
        applications is vital in a modern office. The gnumeric file
        format is simply compressed XML which can be decompressed into
        text.  <application>Gnumeric</application> can open files from
        several well known proprietary and free spreadsheets including
        MS Excel (tm), Lotus 1-2-3 (tm), Applix (tm), OpenOffice.org,
        Psion, Sylk, XBase, Oleo, PlanPerfect, Quattro Pro and
        HTML. <application>Gnumeric</application> can save files to
        several versions of the MS Excel (tm) file format and can save
        tables into LaTeX <markup>\longtable</markup>, HTML, and roff
        files. <application>Gnumeric</application> also benefits from
        a highly configurable text importer and exporter which ensures
        that data can be transfered smoothly. New formats can easily
        be added in plug-ins.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Minimal cost of transition :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        Learning new and unfamiliar interfaces is an expensive and
        frustrating process. <application>Gnumeric</application>
        attempts to offer optional extensions and enough compatibility
        that a user's familiarity with other applications will still
        apply.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>Sufficient feature set :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        While people quote the statistic that most users only need 20%
        of the features of the software they use, this statistic does
        not mean that only 20% of the features are needed. Most users
        share a common 10% but require distinct features for the rest
        of their work. Implementing enough of the features to support
        day to day use by the average spreadsheet user has taken
        time. <application>Gnumeric</application> attempts to provide
        full implementations of the features it offers, leaving
        features unimplemented until a robust and complete
        implementation exists.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Internationalization :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
	<application>Gnumeric</application> has been translated into
	40 languages, and is being used by people around the globe
	with the symbols appropriate for their local setting.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
	<guilabel>Openness and Scalability :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        Gnumeric is <ulink type="http"
        url="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">free
        software</ulink> released under the <ulink type="http"
        url="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU GPL</ulink>.
        The core architecture is designed to ensure that it can
        comfortably scale to moderately large loads (1 million cells)
        while remaining usable on older hardware. The availability of
        clean, reasonably documented, source code makes it simple to
        modify the spreadsheet, write custom routines or extend
        <application>Gnumeric</application> for special needs.
      </para>
    </listitem>

  </itemizedlist> 
</para>

<para>
  These features of <application>Gnumeric</application> make it
  versitile and powerful. The screenshot of
  <application>Gnumeric</application> show in <xref
  linkend="fig-gnumeric-power-example" /> demonstrates some of the
  features currently available.

  <figure id="fig-gnumeric-power-example">
    <title>An example of what Gnumeric can do.</title>
    <screenshot>
      <mediaobject>
        <imageobject>
          <imagedata fileref="figures/gnumeric-power-example.png" 
              format="PNG"/>
        </imageobject>
        <textobject>
          <phrase>An image of <application>Gnumeric</application>
          showing the use of complex formatting and several grahical
          plots.</phrase>
        </textobject>
      </mediaobject>
    </screenshot>
  </figure>

  <application>Gnumeric</application> currently supports a full
  complement of calculation functions, formattting options, graph
  types and drawing options.
  </para>

<para>
      
</para>

<para>
  <guilabel>The new features of Gnumeric 1.2 :</guilabel>
</para>
        
<para>
  The newest version of <application>Gnumeric</application> includes
  numerous improvements over the versions in the 1.0 series.

  <itemizedlist>

    
    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Improved Analytics :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        This version of <application>Gnumeric</application> includes
        450 sheet functions including all of the functions from the
        North American edition of Microsoft Excel 2000 (TM). This
        version also includes numerous new functions and statistical
        routines imported from the <application><ulink type="http"
        url="http://www.r-project.org/">R</ulink></application>
        statistical language, from the <ulink type="http"
        url="http://www.gnu.org/software/gsl/">GNU Scientific
        Library</ulink>, and from other sources. The random number
        generation has been updated to include Beta, Cauchy,
        Chi-Squared, Exponential power F, Gamma, Geometric, Laplace,
        Levy alpha-Stable Logarithmic, Logistic, Log-normal, Pareto,
        Rayleigh Rayleigh tail, T, Type I Gumbel, Type II Gumbel,
        Weibull Gaussian Tail, Landau, and Uniform integer
        distributions. The derivative valuation routines have been
        expanded to include Black-Scholes (and sensitivities), Garman
        Kohlhagen, Merton Jump Diffusion process, Bjerksund and
        Stensland (American options), Forward Starts, Simple and
        Complex Choosers. The solver has been improved with new linear
        and quadradtic programming routines.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Improved File Import and Export :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        The ability to import and export files of different formats
        has been greatly improved. <application>Gnumeric</application>
        now supports Applix, Excel 1997, 2000 and XP formats (possibly
        encrypted), Lotus, OpenOffice, Plan Perfect, and Quattro
        Pro. These file tools have been made more robust by using the
        GNOME Structured File library.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Improved Graphing :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        The earlier versions of <application>Gnumeric</application>
        relied on the <application>Guppi</application> program for
        graphing. This has been changed in the current version which
        uses a newer framework for the production of graphs. This
        newer framework should provide quicker graphs and will be a
        better platform for future development.
      </para>
    </listitem>

    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Improved Structure based on GTK 2.0 :</guilabel>
      </para>
      <para>
        This version of <application>Gnumeric</application> is based
        on the second version of the Gimp Tool Kit (GTK+), the basic
        libraries of computer code used to build GNOME
        applications. This second version improves on the first and
        provides a sound basis for future programming. Users will
        benefit greatly from this second version of the GTK+
        libraries. <application>Gnumeric</application> is now able to
        produce characters from a much larger range of languages, has
        improved icons, is better integrated with GNOME and has other
        visual improvments like anti-aliased
        fonts. <application>Gnumeric</application> can also now be
        used without problem on a machine with several screens. The
        transition to GTK+ 2.0 has also greatly improved performance.
      </para>
    </listitem>

  </itemizedlist>

  For more details on the changes in
  <application>Gnumeric</application>, refer to the file named NEWS in
  the source code distribution.

</para>

<para>
      
</para>

<para>
  <guilabel>Known Issues in the Gnumeric 1.2 release:</guilabel>
</para>
        
<para>
Issues which cannot be fixed immediately will be added to this list as they are discovered.
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    <listitem>
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      </para>
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    <listitem>
      <para>
        <guilabel>Issue 2:</guilabel>
      </para>
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        Description...
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</para>
        
