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lortordermur / sfcalcsheet

The science fiction calculation spreadsheet
The Unlicense
39 stars 2 forks source link
asteroids astronomical-algorithms astronomy astronomy-astrophysics black-holes calculations calculators collabora-office excel google-sheets libreoffice libreoffice-calc moons office-365 planets science-fiction scifi spreadsheet stars worldbuilding

readme

SFCalcSheet logo

SFCalcSheet – The science fiction calculation spreadsheet

Download · Screenshots · How-tos · Formulas

Summary

This is a cross-suite spreadsheet for performing various science fiction and astronomy related calculations. The aim is to cover all common math problems in SF while keeping it simple for the user. The spreadsheet can assist with worldbuilding in science fiction and fantasy, or be used as an aid in amateur astronomy.

While being developed and maintained in LibreOffice Calc, SFCalcSheet also works nicely in Excel Online, desktop Excel and Collabora Office. It works flawlessly in Google Sheets too if converted to .xlsx format first.

To get started you can check out the releases page, some screenshots, or browse the formulas that are used in the spreadsheet. There are a few how-tos too. If you would like to share informal feedback or constructive criticism, there are an official Reddit thread and a Discord channel as well.

Included calculators and converters

Write protection

To avoid overwriting the default values by an accidental save, the spreadsheet file can be write protected in Unix-like environments using chmod 444 sfcalcsheet.ods. These permissions allow for the file to be opened for editing (you might get an additional prompt for this) but it cannot be saved back to the same file. You can make the file writable again with chmod 664 sfcalcsheet.ods.

Caveats

SFCalcSheet attempts to keep algebraic complexity on a manageable level for the sake of maintainability. The following formulas are simplistic approximations and should not be used for work requiring scientific accuracy:

Frequently asked questions

How do I get the spreadsheet downloaded and running?

To obtain the zipfile containing the SFCalcSheet distribution, click on the latest release in the right-hand sidebar. On the release page click the “sfcalcsheet-vx.xx.zip” file under “assets”. Download this file to a subfolder in your usual download location and unpack it. If you have an office suite installed (such as Microsoft Office or LibreOffice), open sfcalcsheet.ods and you are done. Should this not work, but you have Google Drive or OneDrive, save sfcalcsheet.ods to it, then click the uploaded file to open it in the respective web-based office suite.

Here is a comprehensive how-to.

How can I stay updated about new releases?

The easiest way to not miss out on SFCalcSheet releases is to subscribe to the Atom feed. Alternatively you can join the Discord channel which will notify you of any commits to the repository.

Not all calculators from the list are in the spreadsheet, why?

The README file follows the development version of SFCalcSheet so features may be mentioned that were not yet in the latest release. To get the development version click the green “code” button at the top of the web page and then “download ZIP”, or alternatively download sfcalcsheet.ods directly from the file list.

Does it really work in office suites other than LibreOffice?

Yes, but in several cases only with serious flaws that cannot be fixed in the spreadsheet. SFCalcSheet uses some pretty fancy OpenDocument functions and cell styles, and therefore cannot be guaranteed to fully function in every office software. Apart from LibreOffice it has been tested in the following office suites featuring OpenDocument support:

Alas, many of the remaining glitches cannot be fixed without breaking SFCalcSheet in LibreOffice, because OpenDocument support is oftentimes outdated or incomplete.

SFCalcSheet looks broken in Google Sheets.

OpenDocument support in Google Docs has been worsening recently. A workaround is to export SFCalcSheet to .xlsx format in LibreOffice or Collabora Office and upload that exported file instead. You can also use an online converter such as CloudConvert.

Where can I see the equations?

Most of the math is (invisibly) performed in the cells right of the calculator boxes. If you move the selection to those you can see the formula in the input line at the top of the window. However, the formulas PDF file has it conveniently all in one place.

What are those 12.34E+56 numbers about?

It is scientific exponential notation for very large and very small numbers. “E” is a shorthand for “ten to the power of”. Hence, 12.34E+56 is identical to 12.34 ✕ 10⁵⁶, and 12.34E-56 is identical to 12.34 ✕ 10⁻⁵⁶.

I am tired of typing sizable numbers with lots of zeros.

Fortunately, the aforementioned exponential notation is available in every numerical input field in SFCalcSheet. If you need to do some preparatory math before keying in the values, use the “Simple Calculator” on the Conversion sheet or type your calculation into Google or Wolfram Alpha.

I miss a specific calculator or feature.

Great, and this can be helped! Just file an issue on SFCalcSheet’s issue tracker and I will look into it.

I cannot edit cell styles. The dialog simply does not open.

To fix this you must unprotect all sheets. You can do so by selecting all tabs using shift-click and selecting Tools->Protect Sheet from the main menu.

I would like to see the hidden interim calculations.

This can be easily done by editing a cell style. Bring up the styles sidebar using the F11 key and right-click on the “InterimResult” style. Choose to edit, and on the font effects tab set the text color to anything other than black.

Some cells containing large results are too narrow for their content. What can I do?

Unlock the current sheet using Tools->Protect Sheet and then use the handles on the column bar to adjust the width.

Long footnotes appear cut off in the calculators.

This is a known issue in Excel and there is currently no fix for it. To see the whole text, select the cell with the footnote so you can read the text from the input line at the top of the window.

What is that nice sans font in the LibreOffice screenshots?

It is SFCalcSheet’s default font, DejaVu Sans. It comes preinstalled on most desktop Linux distributions.

How can I send you a private message?

For this, please message /u/lortordermur on Reddit. You can also message me on my Discord server.

How you can support the project

There are a couple of ways you can participate and help:

Licenses used

Project files: The Unlicense

Logo background: Creative Commons CC0; image source: An artist's rendering of a planet in the sky. Lunar landscape star brown dwarf, science technology.