Days Off Calculator
What's new

The information on this page applies to the Windows and Mac versions of the calculator. The Web version provides a subset of the features in the Windows and Mac versions.

New in version 5.1

Version 5.1 fixes a bug in version 5.0 that could cause the calculator to enter an infinite loop and become unresponsive in certain circumstances.

New in version 5.0

Weekend options

Past versions of the calculator have assumed that weekend days are Saturday and Sunday. However, in some regions of the world, the "normal" weekend days are Thursday and Friday, or Friday and Saturday. Now, you can set which days should be considered as weekend days.

Automatic display preparation

When you select a display type, or set other display options, the calculator automatically prepares the display according to your specifications, without your having to give a separate command for the purpose.

Saving displays

The calculator now provides a Save command as well as a Save As command for displays.

Multi-line headers and footers

Display headers and footers can now include more than one line of text.

Cancelling displays

You can now cancel a lengthy display while it is still being prepared.

New terminology

Reports are now called displays. Extras are now called either unfilled shifts or surplus shifts, depending on the calculation strategy used.

New in version 4.1

Work with more employees

Now, the calculator can handle up to 999 employees per day, not 99 as before.

Edit displays inside the calculator

The display area now has text-editing functions built in, including clipboard functions (select all, cut, copy, and paste), drag-and-drop of text, find-and-replace, 5-level undo and redo, and revert.

Preview HTML displays

The calculator can now preview HTML displays directly in your Web browser, rather than merely showing raw HTML.

Choose fonts

You can now choose the font and text size for displays. In addition, you can set the on-screen zoom level.

More printing options

When you command the calculator to print a display, there is now a confirmation dialog box. In this box, you can choose whether to print the entire display or only selected text; how many copies to print; and whether or not multiple copies should be collated. You can also set margins in the Page Setup dialog box.

A new display name

The display called a worksheet in previous versions of the calculator is now called a scratchpad. It's exactly the same display, but the new name prevents confusion with worksheets contained in spreadsheet files.

New in version 4.0

System requirements

The Windows version of the calculator requires a Pentium or later computer, running Windows 98, 2000, ME, NT 4.0, XP, Vista, or later. Windows 3.1 and 95 are no longer supported. Your screen resolution must be 800x600 or higher.

For the first time, there is a Mac version of the calculator. The Mac version requires Mac OS X 10.1 or later.

Linux is not supported at this time. Linux users may wish to try the calculator's Web version, which has many of the calculation and display options of the Windows and Mac versions.

One program, not two

There is no longer a separate Days Off Reporter program. Now, display functions are combined into the calculator's main screen.

You can export solutions to either the clipboard or a file, and import solutions from either the clipboard or a file. The calculator can generate displays either from the solution it calculates, or from a solution you import.

View displays directly from the calculator

Now, when you generate a display, the calculator shows the display itself. You can then save the display to a file, print it, or copy it to the clipboard. No longer do you have to use some other program to see the display. (This replaces the "send to application" feature of previous versions.)

Browse the file system

Now, when you save a display, you can use the standard system "save as" dialog box to choose its location. Similarly, when you import a solution, or specify name list and data files, you can browse the standard "open" dialog box. You don't have to enter folder or file names manually (unless you want to).

File names can be as long as the operating system allows - no more 8-character limit.

More display options

The new TSV (tab-separated values) display is similar to the CSV display, but with tabs separating data. When you use a TSV display, you can select the entire display, copy it to the clipboard, and paste it directly into a spreadsheet - no separate saving and opening steps are needed.

Assignment displays can now have headers and footers on every page.

Preferences are easy to manage

When you exit the calculator, your calculation and display settings are automatically saved as preferences (unless you choose not to), and they are restored automatically the next time you start the calculator.