The Ergonomics of Version Numbers - What Version of Excel am I Running?

The Perennial Navigational Challenge to Operate Microsoft Office

Finding out what version of Excel you are using is not always straightforward as the user interface changes rapidly with each release. Once upon a time, Ferdinand Magellan had to circumnavigate the world, now people must collectively circumnavigate new versions of software applications, and Office, in particular, provides particular challenges.

The Traditional Idiom for Version Numbers for Windows Applications

Traditionally, version information was always stored in the Help->About screen. How Style Guidelines have changed!

The Office 2010 "Backstage View" and Corresponding Shortcut (From Help to the File Menu)

Office 2010 introduces the "Backstage View". Here you will find your Excel version by clicking: File->Help (Alt-F-H). In 2010, you'll see the Product Version (say 2010) in the top-right and the actual Excel version in the bottom right (e.g. Version: 14) and Copyright Notice.

The  Excel 2013 Methodology

Try the same keyboard shortcut above in Excel 2013 and you will be asked to share your worksheet - Ha!  Instead you must to File -> Account -> About.

Understanding Large Codebases via Control Flow Diagrams and other Tools

Imagine a large software system, possibly poorly programmed without any documentation or comments. To understand the system well, we need to get a handle on its architecture. The first step could be to evaluate a reference copy, and clean it up. The next step may well be to make some basic documentation.

Tools to understand software:

Control flow diagrams
Data flow diagrams

Control flow diagrams were developed in the nineteen fifties and are used, not just in software, but also in modelling business processes e.g modelling a quality control process.

A rectangle with rounded edges represents a Start or End symbol.
A square or rectangular box represents a Process.
A rectangular box with one vertical bar either side represents a Subprocess.
Decisions/Conditionals are represented by diamond.