Most of what I need to accomplish is doable with Google docs spreadsheets, except locking only certain fields to allow updates by the public so they can do their own calculations based on the data. I would like the lowest method entry cost of writing simple table data with some functions that allow user update/selection. Free form portable/gadget style would be terrific.
I imagine excel could do a lot of what I'm looking for but I don't think it would do what I want without a download of the excel doc, or making someone copy off my google doc spreadsheet to their own, thus losing automatic updates made to the sheet if they just use mine.
I've been trying to do this off and on in asp.net mvc, but when I have full c# to fall into, my feature creep eats me up and I don't finish what I accomplish in 30 min in a spreadsheet.
you can write very basic HTML page with few fields and formulas calculation in JavaScript.
Related
I need to send RFQs to various vendors using their specific forms which are Excel formatted. I need specific information from my co-workers in order to properly fill out the vendor's forms. I was thinking about using MS Forms to gather the specific info I need from my co-workers, then hoping some how that data could easily/automatically be transferred to the vendor's specific Excel form based on the MS Forms responses. The responses received determine which vendor form, and in most cases multiple vendor forms, to use. Then each completed form saved as its own file.
I was looking at different MS Flows, PowerApps, and Power Automate templates that have already been created, but I'm sure one matches my needs or if any of those are the best solution. I did watch some videos about how to create your own MS Flow/PowerApp, but I wasn't sure it was going to be a viable solution. I am hoping to streamline the action of copying & pasting the data, but I'm not sure how I would go about setting up a way, if there is one. Or if there is a "dummies" how to way or if the way would be over my head.
Background knowledge/experience: I have zero experience or base knowledge of coding. I can record macros, but cannot edit the coding, I have to re-record it from scratch. I can do simple IF formula's & Pivot Tables in Excel. I tried for a minute to teach myself PowerBi, but think knowing SQL first would be better from my understanding. Haven't dived down rabbit hole of trying to teach myself SQL, if that's even possible without some base coding knowledge. I want to learn these things and how to do more, but lack of time is a factor. I piece and squeeze in micromillimeters of knowledge in when I can from Googling and YouTube. I haven't had much luck Googling this, because what I'm typing in the search bar isn't producing helpful results as far as I can tell.
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 have a dozen spreadsheets with identical structure and formulas, essentially tables, only the data differ, say one spreadsheet per country.
For example there is a spreadsheet to manage the US employees, another for the UK employees, and another for the Canada employees.
They are exactly the same except that each will store a different set of employees.
The spreadsheets act both as a database to store data and a user-interface to interact with data.
Each change (updating or adding a formula, updating some drop-downs values, changing style...) has to be replicated in all the spreadsheets which is time consuming and error-prone.
As an example I could change the formula to compute the seniority of each employee by editing the 3 spreadsheets.
I was wondering if there was a reasonably simple way to avoid duplicating the common parts, only having different data.
I'd like to avoid a full-blown development with plenty of VBA code, a complete database, some user input forms... but if really necessary I can write some VBA and build some database to fill in the blanks if there is no out-of-the-box solution.
With a full-blown development I would do something like:
store all the employees in a single SQL database table
develop a single spreadsheet
when opening the spreadsheet ask the user to choose a country to only load the this country's employees
save the data changes to the database
If you're effectively talking about an efficient way to handle version control so that input sheets that have previously been distributed to users match a master template, then I'm afraid there is no out-of-the-box solution.
I use something along the lines of http://datapigtechnologies.com/blog/index.php/building-version-control-in-excel/ to force users to download the latest template should they be using an older one.
In addition, I also place a big note at the top to prompt users to download a new template each time, rather than recycle an old one, because if a user didn't enable macros the automatic download of the latest template won't kick in.
Note that the above screenshot shows a form that I've built in Excel's grid itself, using shudder merged cells. (i.e. It is not a userform)
If the templates need to preserve user-submitted data that isn't held centrally, then you're probably going to need to develop an add-in along the lines of what the authors do in the book Professional Excel Development.
We get at least 20 queries a day on an average from our clients, where in we have to open and look at data on 4 to 5 Excel sheets to answer them. questions such as what is my available balance, am i eligible for this etc. All our clients are connected to our intranet and have access to internet. I was wondering is there a way where we can develop a front end app (do not have budget for MS VB or any other) either in excel or any other to connect these 4 to 5 excel sheets to retrieve the data in response to queries (e.g. using perhaps some if and true/false queries). I am not an advanced Excel user but would be great for an advice from tech experts.
Yes, i wouldn't call it an app but consider a worksheet like a dashboard. You can have a cell for entering client name, and then use formulas to look up relevant information of the name entered. The cosmetic and arrangement of the information retrieved and published on the dashboard is up to you and of course do consider investing some time in the looks and feel if you want to enjoy using it.
Things you may consider are:
Place the files are kept and file name convention
because your dashboard will look for information in external workbooks, ensure that the files are saved in a fixed directory and have a specific file name. if the external files are updated from time to time by other folks, let them know too that they have to save it in a particular folder with a specific name format.
Properly structure the source of data
Format you data source into tables so that it is easier for use with formulas. Throw away titles if any in the data source worksheet. Use tools like "Table" under the INSERT tab. When data are properly organized, they can be easily looked up using formulas such as VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, MATCH-INDEX, and COUNTIF.
Be good with formulas
Since we have no budget for VB, then good formulas will be needed. There are plenty of help on the internet for this I think you'll have no problem in it.
Employ sanitary check measure
It is difficult to tell if our formula isn't functioning properly when we have no counter check measure. Certainly you want to give your clients accurate information. One way to check is, think of alternative ways to get the information wanted and check if it matches to the first way. Another way is to retrieve a sequence of related information to be put on the dashboard, then do simple calculation to check if the numbers add up. Use conditional formatting to highlight errors if necessary.
I think these are key consideration, there may be more, but this is what i can think of for the moment.
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.