I have to reply to my own post... There is NO documentation for EXCEL Automation for C++. It is extremely difficult using the VB documentation to get the C++ code right. For example range.PasteSpecial(Paste, Operation, SkipBlanks, Transpose) In VB, all 4 parameters are VARIANTS in the C prototype file excel8.h, the first two parameters are of type long. The "#define" for parameter Paste can nowhere be found I found a pathetic way to work around my problems. Just record a bunch of macros in EXCEL and call them from the C program myapp.Run( COleVariant("MyMacro"),...) //there are 30!!! optional parameters instead of the periods Daniela

I do not understand... How can you get anything done without them. and it is not a headache. I think, the reason that JAVA is different from C (C++) in this respect, is security. In C you can assign any number to a pointer and read and write any byte in memory, sometimes with disastrous results. Only hardware memory management can protect us from unauthorized access. But then, I do not know JAVA. Daniela

Real geeks build their own real-world interfaces. In fact from the point of "employability" any geek should know both. Why don't we add a topic about electronic hardware (I do not talk about adding memory to your computer), I mean real electronics interfaced to the computer. Daniela

My program has a virtual screen, many times larger than the real screen. In order to navigate on the virtual screen, I use scroll-bars. However I do not like that. I want, that when I move the cursor/mouse to the edge of my window, the window "pans" in the desired direction, and my cursor is re-located to the middle of my window. I know, that this is against "the grain" of windows, because I would imprison the cursor inside my window until I exit my application.... but this is what I want. Anybody...? Thanks Daniela

This is a rather late reply, but I just read your post. I am around for a very long time and had to change professional directions many times in my life. If anything, the direction in computer science will change with ever increasing frequency. Do not "overthink" this issue. Just learn how to think, then you can change direction at short notice. Daniela

I think I can answer the question... This job ad was placed by a company, which already has found a qualified person for this job. Problem is, he is a foreigner. In order to obtain a work permit for this person, the company has to prove to the INS that no qualified american does exist. These types of job ads are "super-specific" , otherwise the company would be compelled to interview hundreds of applicants. The trick is, to apply anyway. I intervied applicants in the past, who claimed knowledge in just about any computer language there is... including COBOL. This of course the "give-away", because no respectable computer programmer would ever admit doing COBOL. Turned out, he did not know what I meant with: "Assign the value 10 to the variable X in the language of your choice". In my opinion, your problem is, you are too honest. Do it like the rest of the world... make it up as you go along... Daniela Daniela

Dealing with idiots is the real purpose of this assignement. Daniela

Space will always be filled You probably still have your old CP/M or DOS computer in a box in the garage. Back then, you were forced to write some clever code, because memory was limited. Today, my computer is a 1000 times faster, has a 1000 times more memory and of all the true useful things, it does just as well. The "original adventure game" (you are standing at the end of a long road...) was just as exiting as DOOM is today, despite the fact that a modern video game is vastly more complex and does NOT run on my old computer, it does just the same.... it makes me happy when I play it. Faster CPUs and larger memory chips were not developed because of necessity, rather because it was possible. Then the SW developers "filled the space" with something, which does essentially the same thing as a previous product, except it needs more space. This theory is applicable to virtually anything in our lives. A city decides to do something about the traffic jams and add some lanes to the main highway. I argue, that it does nothing to improve the traffic, because people will drive more, move further away from their work and drive bigger cars. Building more fuel efficient cars does not do anything for the world as a whole either. Because of the "flood" of unsold gasoline, it only will encourage people in the rest of the world to waste the resources just the same as the US does. I can go on with other examples almost forever. My point is: We humans have to learn to be happy with less. We have to restrict ourselves voluntary about everything we do. If we keep on doing things for no other reason but: "because we can", the next generation of GMC Suburbans will be twice as big and use a gallon a mile. The next generation of hard-drives will have 1TB of space, and it will be filled just as fast as the 5.25 floppy on my CP/M computer. Fortunately for us geeks, the environmental impact of playing DOOM is rather minor. But we should not pretend, that technical innovation "for the heck of it" does anything useful for mankind. Still, if nothing else, computer programming is great fun. Daniela

I want to export data from a MFC program to EXCEL 97. The function prototypes are in excel8.h This is all part of excel8.olb. The only documentation I can find is for VB (vbaxl8.hlp on the MS Office distribution CD) WHERE CAN I FIND THE DOCUMENTATION FOR THE FUNCTIONS OF excel8.h (for C/C++ not VB) Anybody who knows COM, and OLE Automation should know... I am just a rookie when it comes to this part of programming Ethernal gratitude is guaranteed... Daniela