Visidata is a fast popular data tool in python https://www.visidata.org/ if you just want data entry.
If I may be permitted a small plug ...
Oleo is a GNU spreadsheet going back absolutely donkey years. I cloned the repo here: https://github.com/blippy/oleo and made minimalist fixes to get the thing to compile.
I wouldn't say that my project is particularly good, but it does have a number of features that I find useful. The next release will include Tcl bindings, so you can customise some of the workings of the app. There's also a module available where you can go to town programmatically.
It opens up a world of possibilities, including stuff like pivot tables.
package require oleo
load-oleo mysheet.oleo
set ws [toMat]
set subset [subRows $ws [mand [mstreq 2 foo] [mstreq 3 bar]]
It has what I think is a nice little query language, too. In the last line I select the rows from the spreadsheet sheet column 2 is equal to foo and column 3 is equal to bar.
I'm kinda dog-fooding it at the moment to put in place features that I need. It doesn't have the full equivalence of SQL-equivalent though.
Semi-related: I always wished there was something like the unholy combination of a spreadsheet and notebook rolled into one. I picture it notebook-like at the top level, then each cell is a widget that the host language can reference parts of in other cells (probably with a variable (eg: something like mathematicas `Out[_]`) or a built in construct (like the `$ABC123` forms in spreadsheet formulas)). A notebook interface would also be good (I think) as a straight up terminal as well, as you (I) typically want to run commands in an order like in a notebook
Some time ago, I remember Microsoft having made a video for a "courier tablet" that was essentially an electronic notebook. Either side of the spine was, by default, just plain "paper" that could be drawn or written on. It had some kind of intelligence to recognize stuff, so if you started drawing out a grid it had basic capabilities that could be attached to that grid, like spreadsheets.
At least, these are things I think I remember. It's not quite what you're imagining, but it was cool and along the same lines.
All spreadsheets used to run in your terminal, in the old days. You can still download one here and I wouldn't be surprised if it still works: https://winworldpc.com/product/quattro-pro/4x
If I’m remembering correctly, I had bought a Borland Turbo C++ compiler circa 1994 (for DOS) that came with a demo sheets application you could build and run.
Teapot is pretty great, it's too bad there is close to zero room for real innovation in the spreadsheet domain. For the most part if it's not spreadsheeting how prophet Dan Bricklin envisioned, people don't want it.
See also: lotus improv
Actually... on that note I realized have never tried lotus improv.
> Teapot is pretty great, it's too bad there is close to zero room for real innovation in the spreadsheet domain.
One issue is that this is hard to do while still retaining backwards compatibility. Lotus Improv basically gave you no other choice, something that Excel The Next Version can't do. And I doubt that we're getting a third MS app, no Multiplan -> Excel -> NewSpreadsheetThingProbablyCalledCopilotAnyway.
I know a lot of people that don't even use Excel's tables, introduced almost 20 years ago. But instead they painstakingly recreate most of its built-in features. It's just an easy shortcut away, and has plenty of GUI support hidden in the ribbon morass, but it's not the default state…
If I may be permitted a small plug ...
Oleo is a GNU spreadsheet going back absolutely donkey years. I cloned the repo here: https://github.com/blippy/oleo and made minimalist fixes to get the thing to compile.
I also based my own terminal-based spreadsheet based off of it call neoleo: https://github.com/blippy/neoleo
I wouldn't say that my project is particularly good, but it does have a number of features that I find useful. The next release will include Tcl bindings, so you can customise some of the workings of the app. There's also a module available where you can go to town programmatically.
It opens up a world of possibilities, including stuff like pivot tables.
It has what I think is a nice little query language, too. In the last line I select the rows from the spreadsheet sheet column 2 is equal to foo and column 3 is equal to bar.I'm kinda dog-fooding it at the moment to put in place features that I need. It doesn't have the full equivalence of SQL-equivalent though.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_1-2-3
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As-Easy-As
What's old is new again.
At least, these are things I think I remember. It's not quite what you're imagining, but it was cool and along the same lines.
the ratio of space / cpu / capabilities (beside the network part) is something that reaches deep in my brain
Does anyone remember this, I can’t find it now.
All the best,
0. https://github.com/andmarti1424/sc-im
1. https://www.syntax-k.de/projekte/teapot/
See also: lotus improv
Actually... on that note I realized have never tried lotus improv.
I found a copy of the win3.1 version here. https://archive.org/details/lotus-improv-2.0-for-windows-2.0...
But my plan is to go for the full nerd experiance and see if I can get the nextstep version to work. https://winworldpc.com/download/7c521434-e280-a0e2-82ac-11c3...
Which will require a NeXT machine emulator https://previous.nextcommunity.net/
Wish me luck.
One issue is that this is hard to do while still retaining backwards compatibility. Lotus Improv basically gave you no other choice, something that Excel The Next Version can't do. And I doubt that we're getting a third MS app, no Multiplan -> Excel -> NewSpreadsheetThingProbablyCalledCopilotAnyway.
I know a lot of people that don't even use Excel's tables, introduced almost 20 years ago. But instead they painstakingly recreate most of its built-in features. It's just an easy shortcut away, and has plenty of GUI support hidden in the ribbon morass, but it's not the default state…
I don’t know if they have Improv pre-installed, but it will let you mount disk images from your computer.
(Personally I find the easy way too easy, so I have NeXT^WOpenSTEP installed on bare metal on a 5x86 box. But that’s me)