1-2-3: a Puzzle

Start Lotus 1-2-3 and key in the following macro in cells H1 through H12. Then press ALT+F3 to start executing a macro. If needed, press ESC and use the arrow keys to highlight cell H1 and then press ENTER. Apparently nothing will happen, but wait for about 10-20 seconds, depending on whether you have a double or single speed Palmtop.

If nothing happens within a minute, check your typing for mistakes and try again. You should see a drawing of a lopsided spiral appear on the screen. When you press ESC or ENTER, the screen will return to an apparently empty worksheet.

As I used to say, "It is left as an exercise for the Lotus 1-2-3 student to explain how this works." (Hint: remove the {Windowsoff} and {Paneloff} commands from the macro. Also delete the last line in the macro.) Then run it again. You may be surprised at the difference in execution speed. However, you may still scratch your head in puzzlement. If you want to save yourself some typing, the SPIRAL worksheet will be available electronically.

{HOME}{WINDOWSOFF}{PANELOFF}

'/RNCVALS~A1..G256~

'/dfVALS~0~.1~~

{RIGHT}/dfb1..b256~0~.5~~

{RIGHT}@sin(a1)*b1~

{RIGHT}@cos(a1)*b1~

{RIGHT}@sin(a1)+d1~

{RIGHT}@cos(a1)+c1~

{RIGHT}+e1+f1~

'/cc1..g1~c2..c256~

'/gtxofglcnqqxf1..f256~ag1..g256~vq

'/REVALS~{HOME}