esCalc provides encryption choice for data entered in the cellset. Under encryption, cellset description and cell tips help users with certain execution privileges understand the meaning of the data in the cellset. In this article you’ll learn about the esCalc registration and how to encrypt a cellset.
1. Registration code and license
Different editions of esCalc that offer not the same range of functionalities are controlled by corresponding registration codes. Detailed information of each esCalc edition and the way of getting a registration code can be found at the official website http://www.raqsoft.com/product-escalc.
You can download the esCalc installation program from the official website and install it according to instructions, which have been included in esCalc Basics: Installation and Usage. It is the free edition that by default you install.
If you’ve already had the registration code for a standard edition, you can conduct the registration for esCalc by following these steps:
Run esCalc and click Help>Registration in menu bar:
Enter your registration code and click on the Scan button to verify if it is a valid one and view the corresponding privileges. If the verification passes, then click on Register button to proceed. If, in particular, you want to use the free edition, leave the registration code blank.
You can click on Check points to view the functionalities the current edition of esCalc offers, like automatic link to the official website or not, print or not:
More information about various editions can be found at the official website by clicking on More Editions.
2. Cellset description and file encryption
To briefly describe an esCalc cellset file, you can write a cellset description. Click Tool>Cellset description in the menu bar, and the Cellset description window pops up, and you can view or write the descriptive information. Below is a esCalc cellset:
Add cellset description for it:
The file encryption function esCalc provides prevents unauthorized view of or access to files. There are four levels of encryption from the lowest to the highest: view, fill in, editing and full control.
Click Tool>Cellset password in the menu bar to set the input password in the pop-up Cellset password window:
There are password setting and non-password setting. Behind the Input password, enter a password for full control access privilege; and after that select the non-password access privilege when you don’t use a password.
To set a password, just enter it in the password box. In the above, abc is used as the password for full control access privilege. You can select the non-password access privilege in the drop-down list:
If For full control is selected, users are granted the highest level of full control over the file without a password required. In this case the password just entered will be canceled, which equals the decryption of the cellset. With the full control access privilege, users can do whatever they want with the cellset. Note that a user can set cellset password or write cellset description only with full control access privilege.
If you set abc as the password for full access to the cellset, and specify that access is not allowed without the password entered by selecting Disable to open. After that you save the setting and close the cellset. Next time you open the cellset, a system prompt will ask you to enter the password. For example:
Only if a correct password is entered that you can access the file with full control privilege. If an incorrect one is entered, the user’s access will be denied.
If you set the password for full control access privilege as abc and select some other privilege for non-password access privilege, then next time you’ll open the cellset file according to the specified access privilege.
3. Privileges specification
Now let’s modify the esCalc spreadsheet used in the preceding section to automatically calculate the age of each employee. The way is to enter the expression =age(C3) in D3 and == age(C3) in E3. Notice the use of double equal sign in E3’s expression. Here’s what you’ll get as the result after the expressions are entered:
You can see that D3, as well as its homocells, have all changed to the related calculation cells for calculating ages of employees according to their dates of birth. In esCalc, the same operation acting across the homocells is performed by entering the formula in mere one cell of them. To know more about the computing mechanism, see esCalc Structure: Smart Formula Copying.
Set the non-password access privilege as For view:
Then the cellset will only be reopened for viewing. That way you’ll only be able to view the data and the cellset description, without the privilege of editing them.
In the case of not having the full control access privilege, you can click Tool>Unlock advanced privilege in the menu bar to unlock the encryption and restore the full control:
Enter the correct password and manipulate the cellset in your full control.
If the non-password access privilege is set as For fill in, then the cellset will be reopened according to this specified privilege. This privilege permits you to modify the data in the cellset, or the formulas in the calculation cells, but not the data and formulas in the related calculation cells. For example, you modify the data in C4 in the following cellcet to 1985-05-13 and the expression in D3 to =year(C3) and its color to blue, then you’ll get the following result:
With the fill in privilege, you can modify the cells’ data in the cells and their appearance properties, as well as the formulas in the normal calculation cells. But you’re not allowed to view or modify the data or formulas in the related calculation cells. In spite of this, the data in the related calculation cells will change if the related data changes, like what E4 gets as the computing result:
Also under this privilege, you are forbidden to change the structure of the cellset, like add/delete column/row/band. Please see documents on esCalc structure and editing esCalc spreadsheets for explanations about rows or bands.
Now select For editing for the non-password access privilege and open the cellset again. The spreadsheet is opened only for editing. Under this privilege, you can perform fill in operation and do editing in a band. Modify the cellset as follows, for example:
You add the data of an employee in Technology department and delete Rachel Johnson’s data. After you enter the new data, the related calculation cell E3 automatically calculates the related data of the new employee, while D3’s formula remains inert. For editing privilege still forbids the viewing or modification of the formulas in related calculation cells, and the adjustment of the structure of a band.
For more knowledge about operations of editing a band, please refer to esCalc Editing: Band.