Programming in the Portable Computer Environment Programs developed and enhanced away from the office solve "real world" problems and can give your company a competitive business edge. The HP 110 and Lotus 123 have been used for this purpose since 1984. This article discusses proven programming techniques and the inherent advantages of such programs. The portable computer environment is your environment away from the office. Different problems occur away from the office which simply don't exist in the more controlled office environment. Often times you have no support personnel and you are on your own. Programs developed in this unique environment tend to solve a different set of problems than programs developed in-house. In 1983, a new company position required me to incorporate my geologic background into computer financial analysis of petroleum investments. My areas of knowledge were subsurface petroleum geology and reserve determination and not computers. To learn a little about computers while traveling, I purchased one of the early laptop computers; the Model 100 by Radio Shack. This little computer was light and could be used anywhere. The laptop traveled with me through the western US and was used in meetings with different oil companies, lending institutions, and investment groups. The Model 100 was used for taking trip notes and scheduling appointments. This laptop was a useful tool in my new position, but lacked the necessary memory and programming capabilities of industry standard computers. The 1984 introduction of the HP 110 with built-in Lotus 123 and 272 kilobytes of RAM solved a number of problems. Most financial analysis in my industry was now being done on Lotus 123. In addition, most new technical programs were being written for MS DOS computers. This new portable enabled me to quickly teach myself both Lotus 123 and MS DOS. The airplane, airport, motel room, and the well site became my classrooms. After becoming familiar with Lotus, I began designing simple templates for personal use. The first templates were fashioned after standard economic and engineering programs. These were then risk adjusted for geologic uncertainties associated with petroleum reservoirs. These templates were stored on the portable's RAM disk and taken with me when traveling. The templates were used in several meetings and improved group communications considerably. When meeting with investors or partners, the petroleum reservoir was first explained from geologic terms. The templates were then used to explain the reservoir in economic terms. The portable computer helped bridge the gap between earth science and economics. On the other hand, the templates were useful when reviewing investments being sold by other oil companies. The seller would explain the geology and economics. The portable computer then helped review the overall investment potential. This evaluation technique enabled me to accurately evaluate twice as many investments on the road than was previously practical. I began programming away from the office shortly after developing my first Lotus templates. If my model didn't answer an important question about petroleum economics during a meeting, the template was changed so that it would. By answering these questions, out of town business meetings became more productive and travel time and expenses were reduced. At first, only minor changes to the original templates were needed to answer standard financial questions encountered away from the office. If the changes took less than 30 minutes, they were made during breaks in the meeting. If more time was needed, the changes were made in the motel room. Gradually, more complex questions were answered. Some of the more complex questions took two days of programming time to solve. If the question needed to be answered before the meeting progressed, it was better to get the job done before leaving town. My early Lotus templates took from 15 to 30K of memory. They slowly became larger as they began answering more questions. One template designed specifically for negotiations grew to 110K. This template enabled my company to better negotiate out of town business transactions. This resulted in more profitable investment decisions and a substantial travel cost savings. Case histories show that the portable computer saved our company over one million dollars in a two year period (see Interact, January 1987, p. 75-76). Programs developed away from the office tend to be concise solving only those problems which need to be solved. Since the programs are actually used during business meetings, data entry must be brief. As a rule of thumb, the portable computer works well in a business meeting if data entry and program execution take no longer than half an hour. Group focus tends be lost if more time is taken. When I first began bringing the portable computer to business meetings, it was used sparingly. At the time, portable computers were novel and many of my associates simply didn't trust these new machines. Nobody wanted the computer to disprupt on-going business activities. We soon found the opposite to be true. The portable often improved the group dynamics of a meeting. If the template helped answer questions common to the group, business negotiations continued. Meetings were not stalled or postponed as often. The portable becomes an invaluable business tool in this setting. The programmer also benefits from programming away from the office. I was dealing with experts in finance, marketing, engineering, and banking. By developing programs that would answer questions to these groups, my personal knowledge of these fields grew tremendously. Programs developed in the dynamic world of business tend to be a synthesis of expert opinion. These programs are constantly being updated and answer the questions current to your industry. When you return from a trip, the revised template can be transferred to the office computer. A written description of all changes made to the original template can be circulated to other members of your office. This enables your company to take advantage of what was learned during your most recent out of town trip. Since using the portable computer in business, I've had the opportunity of giving talks on the subject to a wide group of professions, including: real estate agents, financial planners, toxicologists, attorneys, engineers, accountants, bankers, students, corporate executives, doctors, stock brokers, publishers, and construction agencies. Many of these professions are already using the portable computer on a daily basis. If you travel, you can develop programs on the road that solve current problems in your profession. One real estate agent uses a Lotus template and his HP 110 to help explain the various financing methods of purchasing a new home. He developed the original template in the office, and then changes it to meet the needs of various clients he encounters away from the office. His clients are better able to choose the financing method which best fits their needs. His clients are better informed and his sales have increased. A toxicologist is just beginning to use the portable computer in his daily business activities. He is currently designing Lotus templates that are specific to his profession's needs. Since he doesn't have time to program in the office, he is doing his original design work on the road. I've been programming away from the office for almost three years now. The HP 110 is taken on all business trips and the programs deveolped while out of town are paying dividends. Most questions concerning economics can now be quickly answered. This allows me more time to concentrate on my profession. Other people are using the portable computer to help solve problems unique to their profession. Programs developed away from the office can give you new insights into the questions current to your industry. The HP 110 and these newly evolving programs can help you and your company increase overall productivity. Programming in the office differs somewhat from programming out of town. When on a business trip, you don't have the organizational convenience or assistance offered by the office environment. You also need to answer a specific set of questions within the time frame of your trip. Taking a little time organizing your trip before leaving pays off. For some reason, I frequently forget the charger and end up purchasing another one out of town. I now have seven chargers for three components. Ink jet cartridges also plague me on trips. They tend to plug more frequently after a flight. A couple of spare cartridges solves this problem. You can put your address list and travel agenda into the Lotus database. This comes in handy when changing trip agenda in mid-stream. Simply go to the database, and make the necessary changes. A new agenda can then be printed for convenient reference. If you take the portable computer without the disk drive, make sure your Lotus templates are stored in memory before leaving town. I also keep my most frequently used templates stored on CompuServe Information Service. This information can easily be accessed using the built-in modem and a phone. CompuServe becomes a convenient source of additional information when out of town. If you don't plan on bringing a printer with you, make a printed copy of all templates you plan on working with on the trip. It's easier to make programming changes to a template if you are working with a hard copy. Usually, I bring just the portable computer on short trips of two days or less. On longer trips, I also bring the printer and disk drive. I carry 5 disks and 100 sheets of paper for each week of travel. Other miscellaneous equipment includes 3 chargers, 2 ink jet cartridges, 3 sets of HP IL cables, a serial to printer cable, and a copy of ZORK III. Many of the organizational conveniences of the office can be taken with you by organizing your computer equipment before leaving home. Airports and airplanes are good places to use the portable. Spare time spent waiting on connections or delayed flights can be used reviewing templates loaded in memory. This is a good time to make needed programming changes before arriving at your destination. The portable computer and components are pretty sturdy but try to carry this equipment on board your flight. I checked my equipment through baggage once and ended up with a cracked disk drive after claiming it. It's sturdy equipment, but not indestructable. If you plan on using the modem from the motel, see if you can arrange for a direct line to your room. The modem built into the HP 110 can't use a phone line connected through a motel's switchboard system. If you can't get a direct line, you will need to find a private phone to use the modem. Let's assume that you are now in a meeting and everything is going as planned. Everybody is pretty much in agreement with what needs to be done and suddenly a new "What if" question hits the group that can't be answered with your current speciality template. The meeting is stalled until the question is answered. In other words, it's time to make a few changes to your existing template. After writing down the question, see if you have another template that might help answer the question at hand. If a small revision to the current template must be made, it's usually better to wait for a break in the meeting before making the change. It's difficult to listen to what's going on in the meeting while making programming changes to your template. When the meeting convenes, the answer to the earlier question is ready for presentation. If you have the printer, a hard copy of the revised template can be distributed to the group. If the group is satisfied with the results, the question is answered and the meeting continues on schedule. No one Lotus template can conveniently answer all possible questions that can occur in a business meeting. Sometimes several templates are needed to answer a complex set of questions. Other times a major revision to an existing template needs to be made. A major revision to an existing program can take days to complete. If the meeting is key to a large investment decision, I find it best to program the revision before leaving town. The question is still fresh in the group's mind and should be answered as quickly as possible. Time spent returning to the office before revising the program can weaken the group's attention and interest. Before attempting a major program revision out of town, determine what changes are necessary. Then estimate how long it will take to make the needed program changes. If the meeting can be rescheduled shortly after the new program is completed, check your agenda to see if you can work this time into your schedule. If these details can be worked out, you can begin revising the template when convenient. It's difficult to make a major revision to a large Lotus template without the printer and disk drive. The printer can print the listing of the template for error checking. The disk drive conveniently backs up all changes made to the original template. A major revision is faster and less error prone when you break the programming into separate sections. Work on one section, check it for errors, then proceed to the next section. Print a copy of each section you have finished before proceeding to the next. This helps keep track of your work and progress. When you've finished programming your revision, check the new template against the original. Since the new template was developed from the original, many of the calculations should be the same for both. Run a standard set of variables for each template and make a printed copy. Compare the calculated results of the new template to the original. The unrevised portion of the new template should match the calculated results shown on the original. Now enter variables into your template necessary to solve the problem you are working on. Check all calculated data in the revised portion of your new template by hand. After modifying and checking your new template for errors, it is ready for presentation to the group. If the template has successfully answered the question presented at the previous meeting, business negotiations are ready to continue. I find the sooner you can answer a major "What if" question, the better chance you have of accomplishing your business objective. The HP 110 portable computer and the ability to program away from the office have made doing business away from the office more efficient than once possible. Conclusions The HP 110 has introduced a new twist to programming Lotus 123 templates. The traveling business person can now modify original templates to help answer "What If" questions before returning to the office. This helps increase the productivity of business trips, saving both time and money. Lotus templates developed on the road solve "real world" problems as they occur. These modified templates can be brought back to the home office for final modification and transfer to your main computer system. The home office enjoys the benefits of the program developed on the road as well as the professional who travels. The HP 110 is a practical and easy to learn business tool which can be incorporated into various professions to enhance their overall productivity. ___________________________________________________________________ Stephen C. Sanders is a certified petroleum geologist with 12 years experience in the petroleum industry. He has held technical and management positions with both major and independent oil companies and is president of Kinetics Energy Company and partner of OPEC, USA. He currently offers a series of short courses on uses of the portable computer by the petroleum investor and the technical professional. He is also working with CompuServe on formation of a Petroleum Special Interest Group. For further information: 1211 Maricopa Suite 260 F, Ojai, CA 93023, Phone: 805-646-7194.