I'm trying to create a skills matrix for work, but im not sure how to go about it, considering that Excel only allows you 32 columns in a data form.
My problem is that I need 57 columns, 1 Staff Name column and 56 jobs columns.
I was hoping to possibly have 1 normal text cell for the names, and check boxes for the other 56.
Any ideas on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.
Brian, you did throw Mac and I for a loop with your 'Data Form!' For your project - an easy way to several people to insert data into a spreadsheet - there's a million ways to do it. However, there are a few common guidelines:
No matter what holds the data, the user experience it what matters
Second, making dynamic code (especially with ranges), will do best
Using proper error handling will help keep you, the developer, in the know
You can use a simple UserForm, or an ActiveX sheet object to input data
Use smaller DataTypes & WorkSheet functions wherever possible; this will reduce system resources, and run faster
When you decide on a path, and want to learn specifics, please come back and post more at that time.
Danny,
ExcelVBADude
Related
Microsoft's official site has an explanation on how to use scenarios in Excel.
If you name the input cells, the scenario manager will show the name, so it's easier to remember that $C$5 is, say, the price.
My question is: is it possible to set up the scenarios in a table somewhere in Excel, and get the scenario manager to read from there? Setting multiple scenarios in the scenario manager is very fiddly, time-consuming and error-prone, especially when the inputs are linked - e.g. setting 10 scenarios where each scenario is an x% change from the previous.
Any suggestions?
PS I know all these things can be done very easily in a scripting language like Python or R, but in this very specific case the calculations are not too complex and the file needs to be shared with other people, so I must use Excel.
VBA would be a last resort because some of these people have VBA disabled by default.
Edit
To clarify, what I'd need is a way to create a table like this below, where those in blue are the inputs, and those in grey are the outputs. I have put together a banal example below, along the lines of the example in the VBA macro answer given below, but the general idea is:
define a number of scenario as the combination of multiple inputs (more than 2) ;
create a table showing, for each scenario, the inputs and some key outputs;
note the table doesn't have all the possible combinations of all the inputs, like the macro given in one of the examples - that would be too much and wouldn't be very readable.
I could put together a quick VBA script that changes the inputs in the model, reads the result and creates the table, but I was wondering if there is a better way - VBA is typically not very robust, in the sense that just changing the location of one cell can often mess things up. I usually avoid Excel for the more complex models (this would be banal in any scripting language), but this I have to do in Excel.
EDIT #2:
Trying to further clarify what I have in mind, I have put together the screenshot below. Each output is the result of many different calculations, and CANNOT be calculated as a small, simple formula - if it could, I would not have any issue, of course!
My issue is that:
- if I change an input, then all the many many calculations occurring behind the scenes change
- the outputs are read from all those calculations
- I cannot use two-way what-if tables
If even this is not clear, the only other thing I can try is to upload an Excel file, which is generally discouraged on SO.
Scenario Manager is a built in function with it's own GUI.
For this reason, the function will be limited in what it can call (only data entered in the GUI)
VBA will allow you to manipulate this data, telling it where to pull the changing values and what data to change it by
So the answer for your specific query:
Can I use Excel without VBA to perform Scenario Manager tasks not set by the GUI?
No.
But it doesn't mean fiddling with the Manger itself would be horrendous. There are ways to teach and learn with it, but also if you save a macro enabled document, users should be able to turn the macro on with the click of a button - so VBA can be an option too
I hope this helps?
I am trying to create a spreadsheet that allows me to keep track of a customer with general details (name, phone number, address...) bu then also keep a very specific list of all the products they have ordered. I want to be able to run reports on frequency of all details including what has been ordered. I have a bit of programming experience but not a whole lot of Excel experience so I know how I would write a program but not exactly how to do it in Excel. My thought is to have one sheet dedicated to the general specifications of the customer and then a second sheet that keeps track of the orders per customer. I want to be able to click on a hyperlink or something of the sort that will take me to the second sheet and automatically fill in the customer name. I want the first sheet to have the guest information running horizontally in rows but then the second sheet would have the names running horizontally on the top row and the orders would go down each column under the names. This way it keeps all of my sheets tidy and allows for me to run the type of reports I'm looking for. The main issue I'm having is figuring out a way to create a link that will do the action I want. I understand how to program but don't know Visual Basic very well but if someone was able to offer a similar code I would be able to decipher it and change it to my needs. Or if someone has a more efficient thought on how to set up the spreadsheet I'm all ears! Thanks a ton!
what you need is to create a pivot table with a data model.
The instructions are longer then what it actually takes!
here are few tutorials about the subject:
youTube video
MSDN instructions
PS don't write code in Excel unless strictly necessary. If it's a data issue, use data model
I am looking at formatting a report which has been automatically generated by a 3rd party system. As we have no access to the Database directly i would like to build a Macro which would format the report into a more readable format.
I had initially thought about ingesting this raw data into a database as i am pretty competent a writing the SQL queries, however i think it would be easier if someone could run this through a macro.
The initial report shows which users have attempted which training modules and their completion status.
N.b. A user may have completed a module several times, therefore will appear multiple times.
The link below is the spreadsheet with two sheets, sheet 1 is the raw data and sheet 2 is how i would like things to appear.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p1hipx17q3mf3dm/Learning-Report.xlsx
Any help / ideas would be much appreciated as i am pretty new to the whole macro's in excel thing.
Many thanks
Ian
I am answering in the same manner the question is phrased so please bear with me...
Identify all unique employees (for rows)
Identify all unique courses (for columns)
Find all the attempts and compute
a. Highest Score
b. Status
Put the data in the second sheet.
See if the question has been precise... the answer would also be to the point.
My current employer (to remain nameless) has a collection of incredibly sophisticated Microsoft Excel 2003 worksheets (developed by contractors, also to remain nameless).
The employer is replacing the Excel-based solution with a SalesForce-based solution (developed by other contractors, likewise to remain unnamed). The SalesForce solution is also very complex using dozens of related objects and "Dynamic SOQL" to contain the data and formulas which previously was contained in the Excel-based solution.
The employer's problem, which has become my problem, is that the data from the Excel spreadsheets needs to be meticulously and tediously recreated in .CSV files so it can be imported into SalesForce.
While I've recently learned I can use CTRL-` to review formulas in Excel, this doesn't solve the problem that variables in Excel have cryptic names like $O$15. If I'm lucky, when I investigate $O$15, I'll find some metadata explaining if n cells up and/or some other data m cells to the left, and/or (in rare instances) there may be a comment on the cell.
Patterns within the Excel spreadsheets are very limited, rarely lasting more than 6 concurrent rows or columns and no two sheets which need to be imported have much similarity.
Documentation of all systems are very limited.
Without my revealing any confidential data, does anyone have any good ideas how I might optimize my workflow?
It's not clear exactly what you need to do: here are 3 possible scenarios, requiring increasing knowledge of Excel.
1. If all you want is to convert the Excel spreadsheets into CSV format then just save the worksheets as CSVs.
2. If you just want the data and not the formulae then it would be simple (using VBA) to output anything that isn't a formula (the cell.Formula won't start with =).
3. If you need to create a linkage excel-->csv-->existing Salesforce objects/SOQL then you will need to understand both the Excel Spreadsheets and the Salesforce objects/SOQL that have been created. This will be difficult unless you have good knowledge and experience of Excel and also understand what the salesforce App requires.
Brian, if you're still working on this, here's one way to approach the problem. I use this kind of process often for updating data between SFDC and marketing automation apps.
1) Analyze the formulae that you're re-creating in Salesforce.com to determine what base data fields you need (stuff that doesn't have to be calculated from something else.
2) Find those columns/rows in your spreadsheets and use Paste Special -> Values in a new spreadsheet to create an upload file with values instead of formulae that you need for each data area (leads, prospects, accounts, etc.)
3) If you have to associate the info with leads or contacts or accounts and you have already uploaded or created those records in Salesforce.com, be sure to export them with their ID numbers. That makes it easy to use the vlookup formula in Excel to match up fields that you need to add and then re-upload the data into Salesforce.
Like data cleaning, this can be a tedious process. But if you take it step by step it shouldn't be too hard. Good luck.
First, I dont have any experience with programming. If I ever start, then this would be probably my first. I keep looking for answer until I found this site.
I am looking outside the box because in excel doing a data of 1 million + row and 20 + column would take a very long time just to wait for the calculation to be done and the copy and paste with formula would take longer. Imagine I have to let the computer running for 8+ hours with the helps of marco and F4 (repeat). All my formula have to paste into number only with I have done with the formula. And even I break the files into piece, the files sizes are 20MB to 110MB without active formula. Opening the file is taking forever.
I wonder how to write a programme with 1) dialog box, 2) the excel command and formula (sort, delimiter, concatenate), 3) ability to create graph, 4) with tabs to view different set of data or graph 5) add in a set of data 6) limiting the number (1-100000), etc. Outlook something look like utorrent.
What compiler suitable for this programme? It's easier you tell me which 'book' to read that me finding which 'book' is suitable because even if it is I might flip it through and go on to the next one. 'book' may refer to book, way, steps, etc.
I'm not sure what you actually want. With 1M+ rows and 20+ columns, an Excel sheet doesn't seem to be the right tool for the job. So do you...
want to keep using Excel, but automate the job? Use Excel VBA like renick suggested. It's the language that Excel uses internally for macros, but you can write any kind of automated processing you'd like. Beware, however, that VBA is not exactly the best language to start a programming experience with. (That's my personal opinion, and what matters is of course whether you get the job done).
want to switch to something else? A database management system seems better suited for the amount of data you have. Microsoft Access is part of Office and might already be on your system. Getting your data into and out of the database could be a problem, but the advantage you have is that a database is built to handle colossal amounts of data and will happily munch your figures for several days without failing. You can access the data using the Structured Query Language (SQL), which is not really a programming language, but very powerful (and it most certainly has CONCATENATE, ADD etc.). Graphing is more difficult, but can also be done.
If you know excel then Excel VBA is a VERY capable language to do all this. I would suggest you go to the VBA Dev Center here to get started.
I can't believe I'm about to say this (for most things I do it would be the wrong choice) but:
If the computations aren't that complex (just lots of them) Python might be a good bet.
If you can get the input as a CSV file than, for about 10 lines of code, you can write a loop that will be run for each line of input and hands you the values to play with.
for line in open('filename', 'w')
values = line.split(',')
#values has the values from this line as strings.
#these can be converted to numbers:
x = float(values[0])
n = int(values[1])
#... and then processed
That might not be the cleanest/best approach but it's simple and straight forward.
p.s. For 1M+ rows, don't expect it to be blazing fast (10 sec to a min or so, depending on what you do to the data)