Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Offline calculator for iPad?

by Jun 11, 2013 2:47AM PDT

Help! I need to run a series of price calculators OFFLINE and be able Save As on iPads... Below is a list of what I need to be able to do with the calculators. I know Excel is the perfect program but is there a way on an iPad? Any ideas on the best solution??

-Select from lists (Numbers and the Excel web app do not support data validations, and by lists, I mean long lists so Numbers' pop-up menu won't work)
-Enter information such as quantities and discounts
-Run lookup or index functions, meaning find cost in tables based on selections from lists (Not that I know JavaScript YET but could it do this in a PDF form?)
-Run basic math functions such as add, multiply, subtract discounts, etc.
-Save As the completed form (which Google Docs, Dropbox, SkyDrive, etc. all seem to have issues with)

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
Clarification Request
Save As WHAT?
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jun 11, 2013 2:51AM PDT

I see you wrote something about a FORM but what is the format of this file you want to save? I don't see any issue if we use Numbers and save as a new Numbers spreadsheet but I would be guessing that you want to create some other type document.
Bob

- Collapse -
Re: Save As WHAT?
by dodgernine Jun 11, 2013 4:52AM PDT

Sorry to confuse. I just meant "Save As" versus "Save" as using Google Drive auto saves changes to the original file. I am not familiar with using Numbers on an iPad and didn't know if it allowed you to "Save As" to the device or a cloud service. I would want to stick with the same format as changes might need to be made at a later date.

But is there any way to work around Numbers' drop-down list needing to be manually entered? Excel's data validation allows you to source a list from your workbook, ex: A1:A50. In Numbers, if I needed a drop-down of 50 items, I would need to type each one-by-one; then I would also need to enter them in a table to lookup or index the prices from. If any changes needed to be made, they would have to be done twice and any inconsistency would cause errors....

- Collapse -
Then there is no such thing.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jun 13, 2013 1:46AM PDT

All I have is your post to figure out the "specification" of the app you want. As the specification has conflicts such as "using Google Drive" and "Offline" this means that before a programmer can create your apps, they'll have to work with you to get your specifications corrected.

If I guess what you want, it sounds like a custom app and Excel would fail in the field for the usual reasons.

If you think that Excel is the answer then look again at those Windows 8 RT pads.
Bob

- Collapse -
Answer
Re: calculator
by Forum moderator Jun 12, 2013 7:38PM PDT

How about using a Windows tablet in stead of an iOS-tablet?

Excel 2013 runs on Windows 8 Pro. Excel RT runs on Windows RT, but I don't know if it offers all you need.

Kees

Back to Office & Productivity Software forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info