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iPF Noob
Hi, did you save those changes and annotations as flattened?
Best apps for working with PDF, Excel and Word files?
- Thread starter djpritchard
- Start date
Hi, did you save those changes and annotations as flattened?
Hi guys,
Brand new to ipad, should be arriving in the mail in a week or so. Bought it for surfing but want to use it for work. Was hoping you could clarify some things for me. Here is what I want to use it for at work. I work out in the field with no access to wi-fi or 3G. In the past i have used an Excel spreadsheet on a laptop and filled in the various cells with my comments. I then send this to my customer with my recommendations.
What I am wondering is can I save a blank copy of a spreadsheet with the various headings so that I can pull it up every week and make notes on how things have changed from the weeks before? Ideally I would pull up the sheet from the previous week, observe the notes and record any changes or new observations. I need to save this somewhere that I can access it without having wi-fi or 3G access?
Any insight and info would be very much appreciated!
Brand new to ipad, should be arriving in the mail in a week or so. Bought it for surfing but want to use it for work. Was hoping you could clarify some things for me. Here is what I want to use it for at work. I work out in the field with no access to wi-fi or 3G. In the past i have used an Excel spreadsheet on a laptop and filled in the various cells with my comments. I then send this to my customer with my recommendations.
What I am wondering is can I save a blank copy of a spreadsheet with the various headings so that I can pull it up every week and make notes on how things have changed from the weeks before? Ideally I would pull up the sheet from the previous week, observe the notes and record any changes or new observations. I need to save this somewhere that I can access it without having wi-fi or 3G access?
Any insight and info would be very much appreciated!
No, I haven´t saved them at all. Didn´t know that I had to to that
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Please excuse my English, while this isn´t my native language
Thanks in advance – any answer will be appreciated
//Peter from Sweden, Europe
There isn't one for the iPad. Best you can do is make it into a pdf and annotate that with GoodReader.
The iPad could be a great business tool but things like this demonstrate that it isn't and is not intended to be. Entertainment is what it's about.
Gabriel1
iPF Noob
TonyR said:
That's quite a sweeping statement, I used my iPad to run a multi-million pound project for almost 2 months.......it coped fine except for two specific occasions. On those two occasions we found workarounds. Whilst it may not suit every business yet, it certainly can be done......I refer to earlier quotes, it's just a different way of doing things and although sometimes a bit frustrating........show me any piece of complex technology which isn't a bit frustrating at times.
The Archangel
So, when you were compiling the project reports how did you cope on the iPad with tracking changes and comments from other contributors?
That's quite a basic business functionality that I have not found a viable workaround for.
Gabriel1
iPF Noob
TonyR said:
We used two methods, marking up pdf's and highlighting text in docs.........normally I would consider this a painful way to do it but when you have no option (I lost the ability to walk during this period) you find alternative methods and just get on with it. My team worked with this with no dissent at all and I would suggest that their time management was better as they had to focus more intently on the tasks in hand.
The Archangel
Which is exactly my point. One of the most basic business functions, reviewing, editing and commenting on documents is not supported. I imagine your work around involved your colleagues having to create and send you a PDF which you then annotated and then someone had to sit down and transcribe your annotations into the document. If you had all been using iPads you simply couldn't have done it.
And iTunes is not a business tool for getting files on and off an iPad. Yes, there are third party apps like Dropbox and GoodReader, but the basic supplied tool, iTunes, is an entertainment package, not a business one.
How are you doing for monitoring and updating your project plan too or does that involved someone transcribing your changes for you too?
Gabriel1
iPF Noob
TonyR said:
Seriously, I am old enough to remember running projects without computers and mobile phones........I make best use of the technology in front of me however, to answer your question regarding the project plan, I had, prior to my illness the services of a planner, so I was able to update tasks, using a file imported into numbers, with progress, which was then sent on to the planner as I would normally. I was also able to deal with the client through the iPad, manage subcontractors, deal with procurement, resolve design issues, update cost plans (this was the other issue we had, we stripped the formulea from excel sheets, I then updated all the areas to which I would normally then when exported back the cells were copied and pasted into the main spreadsheet which was pdf'd for my final review, however, if we had planned for this we could have looked at a better solution).
What I had to do was change my way of thinking about how I did my job.......and not only did it work, it worked successfully. We didn't use any additional resource (people or computers) yet maintained the smooth running of the project.......just because we had to change our views from the model you know is not the issue, we made it work and the only resource I had to do this with was an iPad.
Was it easy, of course not, neither my team nor I had any notice of my illness so we had to make do. The point here is, that it can be used, this was an unplanned event and it worked......if we were to have planned it then a cleaner solution may have been found.
For your info, iTunes was not utilised for this purpose......in fact I don't think the iPad was connected to the computer during the entire period.
Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't possible.
The Archangel
Me too. But it took a lot more resource than would be generally acceptable today.
Possible with some effort but it's just that rather than helping the task in hand I tend to find myself fighting Mr Job's machine all the way to make it do what I need to. Not everyone has the luxury of a planner to transcribe the output the iPad can provide into something other people can use.
Gabriel1
iPF Noob
TonyR said:
Oh I agree, I actually hate having planners, much rather have control of the plan myself but these days they have cropped so much of our teams when pricing jobs that we can't do some of the tasks I always considered essential anymore.
Anyway, I think the point was that at a push it can be done and actually I would be happy to try again although preferably with some planning.
I also think that by the time we get around to iWork 12 or 13, then there will be proper integration of Office including formatting and mark-ups. I also think that someone like Primavera is going to release a planning app before long, as a minimum for updating.....the iPad is the obvious device for this, to be able to update the plan at the work face would be perfect.
The Archangel
Agi2002
iPF Noob
Downloaded the quick office And it doesn't work for what I need it for. I uploaded an excel document I need for work and most of the formulas didn't pull through. Not sure if it's because it's a long formula it didn't pull through? Not sure, but I emailed apple and tried to see if they would refund it and they stated it I had to take it up with the developer. Sucks!
