<s>
F9	O
is	O
a	O
financial	O
reporting	B-Application
software	I-Application
application	O
that	O
dynamically	O
links	O
general	O
ledger	O
data	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
financial	O
cell-based	O
formulas	O
,	O
wizards	O
,	O
and	O
analysis	O
tools	O
to	O
create	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
reports	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
calculated	O
,	O
filtered	O
,	O
and	O
drilled	O
upon	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
announced	O
in	O
1988	O
as	O
Acclink	O
for	O
Accpac	O
as	O
a	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
Add-in	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
released	O
under	O
F9	O
name	O
later	O
in	O
1989	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Subsequently	O
F9	O
was	O
developed	O
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
Spreadsheet	B-Application
Platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
F9	O
was	O
developed	O
to	O
allow	O
a	O
non-technical	O
user	O
,	O
typically	O
an	O
accountant	O
,	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
dynamic	O
,	O
customized	O
general	O
ledger	O
financial	O
report	O
using	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
that	O
is	O
'	O
hot-linked	O
'	O
to	O
an	O
accounting	O
system	O
's	O
general	O
ledger	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
F9	O
addin	O
was	O
a	O
significant	O
software	O
effort	O
in	O
that	O
it	O
used	O
a	O
coding	O
trick	O
to	O
break	O
the	O
small	O
memory	O
model	O
limit	O
1-2-3	B-Application
imposed	O
on	O
addins	O
and	O
allowed	O
F9	O
to	O
be	O
run	O
as	O
a	O
compact	O
memory	O
model	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allowed	O
F9	O
to	O
be	O
written	O
in	O
C	B-Language
(	O
using	O
a	O
Microsoft	O
C	B-Language
DOS	B-Device
compiler	O
)	O
rather	O
than	O
assembler	O
allowing	O
easier	O
changes	O
and	O
debugging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
F9	O
addin	O
was	O
developed	O
for	O
Excel	B-Application
in	O
1989	O
and	O
with	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
1-2-3	B-Application
version	O
that	O
supported	O
Windows	O
and	O
problems	O
with	O
the	O
Lotus	O
Programming	O
Language	O
(	O
LPL	O
)	O
the	O
Excel	B-Application
version	O
of	O
F9	O
soon	O
far	O
outsold	O
the	O
1-2-3	B-Application
version	O
.	O
</s>
