Setting Up¶

Writing in L4 on the LegalSS spreadsheet
Getting the LegalSS spreadsheet working on your computer
Familiarise yourself with the LegalSS Spreadsheet
Next Steps

Writing in L4 on the LegalSS spreadsheet¶

Your main interface when writing with L4 is on a google sheets spreadsheet called the LegalSS spreadsheet. This spreadsheet has a special app function that activates the L4 language.

The current version of the LegalSS spreadsheet is v0.9.4.3 as of May 2023.

Getting the LegalSS spreadsheet working on your computer¶

0. Prerequisites before you can set up the LegalSS spreadsheet¶

You will need a google account, which doubles as a gmail account. You can follow the instructions in www.google.com, under “sign up for free”.
You will need to go to LegalSS spreadsheet (clicking on the link will open the spreadsheet in a new window). The spreadsheet works with the 2 most recent versions of:
1. Chrome
2. Firefox
3. Microsoft Edge
4. Safari

1. Make a copy of the spreadsheet¶

Make a copy of the LegalSS spreadsheet by clicking on ‘File’ at the toolbar found on the top of the page, then choose the fourth option ‘Make A Copy’.

You should get a pop-up like in the image below.

You can change the name of this copy to a more convenient name without affecting the L4 language, otherwise you can leave the default name as it is.

2. Choose where you want to copy the LegalSS spreadsheet¶

Choose where you want to copy the spreadsheet. In this example, we copy to “My Drive”

../_images/choose-where-to-clone-project.png

This will be your copy of the LegalSS spreadsheet.

Contact the L4 developers for help¶

If you do not see a sidebar, contact the L4 developers for help.

Familiarise yourself with the LegalSS spreadsheet¶

../_images/familiarise-yourself-screenshot.png

Orange box: Name of your copy of the LegalSS Spreadsheet¶

In this screenshot, the name refers to the original name of LegalSS spreadsheet.

You should either see the default name “Copy of LegalSSv0.9.4.3” or whatever name you have replaced the default name with.

Blue box: Sidebar showing activated L4 functions¶

This is the sidebar with L4 functions that you should see after refreshing the sidebar.

This sidebar can be scrolled down and contains several sections:

Numbered steps that show how you can use L4’s output.
- Step 1 links to an external web app that can be used to explore whether a legal rule is fulfilled or breached, depending on what is written in the red box.
- Step 2 shows a diagram of the generated legal rule, allowing you to easily refer to whether a legal rule is fulfilled or breached.
- Step 3 shows a diagram that is clickable and can be expanded to show the logic of why a legal rule is fulfilled or breached.
- Steps 4 to 24 are options for you to export the L4 diagram and results into different formats. See Exporting L4 for more information
The area below the numbered steps shows a ‘debugging’ area where you can check the L4 code that you can use to help fix any error you may be facing when writing L4. We are working on creating information about this ‘debugging’ area.

Green box: LegalSS spreadsheet tabs linking to other examples¶

The LegalSS spreadsheet comes with built-in examples that you can navigate to with the tabs at the bottom of the page.

Red box: Environment for writing L4¶

This is where you write your L4 code.

Black box: Liquor exercise example¶

In this particular LegalSS spreadsheet tab is the Liquor exercise, given in grey cells. The grey box with words contains comments; these comments will not run as L4 code.

The light blue box found in the first column shows you what cell is being selected and that will be edited if you type something. In this example screenshot, a cell highlighted in yellow is selected.

You will fill your answer in the cells highlighted in yellow.

Next Steps¶

Once you have finished installation, consider exploring: