I have some data in an Excel sheet that represents a hierarchy. As the tree is large and reviewing the data is becoming quite a task, I am trying to generate a pictorial representation of the tree. Excel doesn't seem to have built-in support for tree generation. What would be the best way to generate the tree from within Excel? Are there add-ons available?
Suggestions related to tree generation using other tools would also be welcome. (I have already tried the org chart option in Visio. For some reason, it could not open my Excel file.)
There is a solution for both node-link tree or treemap. But it do require another tool since drawing this on Excel only would be very difficult if not impossible.
I propose to use the Funfun Excel Add-in which allows you to use JavaScript directly in Excel. With the capability of using JavaScript, you could make use the powerful libraries like D3.js or HighChart.js so that drawing tree chart would be much easier.
Here are two examples of generating trees in Excel.
I used D3.js in the first example and Hightchats.js in the second example. I made those two examples in Funfun online editor and then linked them to my Excel. You could check the code on the links below.
https://www.funfun.io/1/edit/5a36aaf145ac15144af3fe1e
https://www.funfun.io/1/edit/5925013604ce702ccfb22b0b
Here is what you need to do to link these samples to your Excel.
1). Insert the Funfun add-in from Office Add-ins store
2). Create a new Funfun or load a sample from Funfun online editor.
3) Have fun :)
Disclosure: I'm a developer of Funfun
Maybe you could use Excel Treeview control in a useform, you can find a great tutorial here. i have never used it personaly though.
Seems like VisualStudio 2010 allow you to do things a little smarter : you can have a look here. But i don't know enough this part of MS to help you anymore on this way.
And yet, the subject was discussed on another forum pointing to other third party tools.
I have used the ActiveX Treeview Control on Excel sheets, and it is fine. HOWEVER, depending on your version of Windows and which Security Updates you have, it may or may not work. I developed an application using one, for a major City bank, but we had to re-work entirely when certain upgrades were applied company-wide. After a very long and useless discussion with Microsoft in the US, we got nowhere at all. If you Google "excel treeview security upgrades" you'll find various discussions. I suggest using 3rd party, though I can't suggest one.
I ve heard things like you cannot manipulate tables in C# but can through VBA.
Does any one know what can be done via VBA which cannot be done via C# PIA?
One thing I remember while working on a Excel addin was that the OnAction method of pictures/shapes added on a worksheet will not call into the C# addin which seems like a limitation. You can set the OnAction to a VBA macro only.
This might not be directly related to your question on the differences in C# and VBA but it just crossed my mind when I saw the questions.
Fundamentally, there is no real difference. You can do pretty much anything in either environment, especially if you're talking about VB.net and C# - they are more or less different syntaxes that target the same libraries and platforms.
There are some syntactical differences where certain features of one language do not have direct equivalents in the other, but as long as you have a few basic elements you can write code to achieve the same ends in both.
In some programs you can use VB script (which is a variant of VB) for macros, and in those cases C# can't be used as a direct replacement. But that is a limitation of the host programs, not of VB/C# per se.
edit:
You've changed the question completely now, so this answer is probably no longer relevant.
You cannot debug a problem as it happens on a user's PC with C# because you will not have Visual Studio installed there. With Excel VBA, you can debug from any PC you run the code on.
EDIT (response to Anonymous' comment)
Whilst you can remotely debug this is not the same, as far as I understand. It requires at least the firewall to be opened up to permit the debug traffic (will likely require some major signoff in big corporates) and you cannot debug and repair an ongoing user problem as it happens. Obviously this can't be done with most programming environments, but it was one of VBA's strengths - well, depending on your point of view, I suppose.
i think the most important difference from a business perspective is that with C# you no longer have as many "non programmers" lob managers, etc that can produce code (macros).
The process is inherently more formalised.
In terms of syntax there are lots of differences... but none that are really an issue in terms of the ability to make use of the object model.
Sometimes you will find C# requires a few more lines of code, but in others less. Also you will find that alot of the times where you were required to use System API calls are now redundant.
I built an excel model used to analyze real estate transactions. I would like to create a user interface to overlay the model so that the file can be distributed to clients to evaluate potential investments
The interface will serve two primary functions:
1)Enhance the user experience by creating an easy to follow input page. The entered data will then flow through to the model from which reports will be generated for the user to view.
2)Protect the intellectual property of the model by restricting the user from the underlying model. The user will not be able to view or edit the formulas in the excel file.
I believe this can be done using MS Acess/Visual Basics but I was hoping to find a program that is more professional looking. Can anyone suggest a program/programming language in which this type of user interface could be created?
Thank you in advance for your help.
You don't have to use Access, VBA (Visual Basic For Applications) is built right into Excel. There are good books available and lots of web resources. Your main problem seems to be the UI is not professional - I'd disagree, out of the box it will look like an application developed 5-10 years ago, but it will still work and look ok.
If you want a really slick interface, I'd suggest you look at WPF and integrating that into Excel. However there is a big learning curve to get that going, I'd get a basic UI going, show/sell that to your customers, and then ask them what they want.
I think my first question would be how savvy are you with development? You really didn't elude to that in your post.
If your using Excel 2007, there are ways to hide menu commands in Excel and remove a lot of the current interface and replace it with your own. It looks like Excel and functions like Excel, however, the ribbon interface looks vastly different. The other side is just to add a Tab or Menu and have your commands there. It sounds like you want use Excel as your UI, but replace the commands with your functions.
If you want to HIDE your IP, and you decide VBA is the way to go, then your code is stored inside the Excel Spreadsheet and is accessible to anyone who knows how to open the VBA editor.
If you decide to do it in .NET, then your functionality exists in an assembly outside Excel, and the .NET runtime loads it when you open the Spreadsheet. No amount of poking around inside Excel will help them find your "code".
There are lots of code samples to help you with both. I would recommend VB.NET if you decide to do .NET. From a pure syntax point, VB.NET handles lots of the office programming "quirks" well and can help you speed development. Here is the office development site, that you can go and get information before making a decision.
Also, according to this article you need to buy Visual Studio Professional 2008 or 2005 to get the graphical designers and such. If this isn't feasible or affordable, VBA might not be a bad idea to start with.
In regards to my development savvy, I am novice. I am familiar with the basics of VB but doing the actual development for the type of UI I have in mind is beyond ability. I plan to hire a developer to create the UI but before I can do that I need to decide the language it will be built in.
MrTelly, Chris, I appreciate your advice.
I am currently in the search for a skilled developer willing to collaborate to determine the best language to build the UI and then execute the development. If you have any recommendations or would like to discuss the project yourself I can be contacted at phtwright#gmail.com .
Recently I've been doing lots of weekend coding, and have began to really need a bugtracker as things are gaining speed. This is probably the worst case scenario because I basically have to let things cool down over the week,so I simply can't remember the bugs in my head. So far I've been using a text file to jot down bugs,but I'd rather use something a bit better.
The biggest points here are ease of use and very little setup time.Don't want to spend more than an hour learning the basics and trying to install something. Also in my case I'm on a Mac so that would help, but solutions for other platforms are welcomed as they will likely help others.
FogBugz has a student/startup edition that's free indefinitely, for 2 or less users.
Personally, I use Excel. (Wait, come back, I'm not crazy!) For a bigger / team project, I've gotten a ton of mileage out of Bugzilla, but that tends to be kind of overkill for a one-person project.
But, a well-organized spreadsheet, with columns for things like "status", "description", "code module", "resolved date," etc, gets you pretty close to what you'd need for a small project. Sorting a spreadsheet by column isn't anywhere near a search, but its a whole lot better than "find in text file."
Heck, if you use Google docs rather than excel, you can even publish the thing as an RSS feed and get it anywhere.
And, the major advantage is that the setup time and learning curve are both effectively nil.
Addendum: And of course, the instant your "One-Person Bug Tracker" becomes a "Two-Person Bug Tracker" you must switch to something better. Bugzilla, FogBugz, anything. Trust me, I've been there.
Trac or Redmine are both pretty good. I don't know how easy they are to set up on a Mac.
It's worth mentioning that FogBugz also has a free version for up to 2 users, which would suit you. It is hosted so there is no installation and you can use something like Fluid to access it in its own window.
I don't think you need a full blown bugtracker for your scenario.
Try tiddly wiki, store each bug in a tiddler and give them tags like 'open' or 'closed'.
There is no installation required (only one html file), and it's very easy to use.
And platform neutral.
If you're working on a LAMPP stack, then for ease of setup and use I would probably recommend Mantis. It's written in PHP / MySQL and the only installation involved was specifying where the database should be created and what credentials should be used.
Oh, and its FOSS.
I would suggest Omnigroup's Omnifocus - it's an excellent task tracker, and if you just make the mental leap from bug to task, I think it works famously for one man projects as well as being an excellent way to organize your no doubt burgeoning task queue.
Eclipse has a really interesting system--I don't know why so few people seem to know about it.
It's tied in with their to-do list. It gives you the ability to enter bugs with as much or as little info as you like. You can tie it to versioning or an external bug tracker if you like. It's a decent bug tracker in itself.
The real trick is how it works with your source code.
Before you begin work you select a bug from the list. All the time you're coding, it tracks what files you are editing. It can close old tabs for you, and will also highlight areas of the source tree that you have modified a lot.
The nice thing is, you can go back to any bug you've edited an you will get your "Environment" back. Not only all your notes and stuff, but the same tabs will open up and the same sections of code in the navigator will be highlighted.
Also eclipse works with virtually any language, it's not just restricted to Java...
let me put in a good word for ditz - it's a bit bare-bones, but it has the invaluable feature that bugs are checked into your repository. it's also very easy to use once you get used to its way of doing things
You can use fogbugz for free if you're a one man team.
It's super easy to use and quick to learn.
They made it so that bugs are really easy to enter, no mandatory fields.
I'm the author of BugTracker.NET mentioned in another post. If I were looking for a tracker for JUST ONE PERSON with MINIMUM hassle, I'd use FogBugz, because it's hosted. No installation, no need to worry about backups.
But, what are you doing about version control? Don't you have to worry about that too, and backing that up? If so, consider something like Unfuddle or CVSDude where you can get BOTH Subversion and Trac, or Subversion and Fogbugz.
I use Mantis at home and I'm happy with it. It can be a pain in the arse to get it working so you can choose to download a free and ready-made VM installation. Cannot be easier than that,
Maybe a spreadsheet would be the next logical step? I know it sounds really un-sexy, but if you're the only user, you don't have to worry much about others mucking it up, and it adds a few basic features over a text file like sorting. Then if you later need to graduate to something RDBMS-backed, you would likely have a feasible import path. I just know that for me, when working by myself, I don't tend to get around to putting bugs in anything that requires more care and feeding than that (of course when working with others the collaborative needs make a more defined repository a requirement, but that's a different story).
EDIT: After noting the availability of free, hosted access to FogBugz, I'm re-thinking the bar for care and feeding...
RT from BestPractical is great.
I also get a lot of mileage out of just keeping a list of items in a text file with vi, if I can express them all in one line. This is usually for many small todo items on a single component or task.
I've tried bugtracker.net and even though it's a little bit rough on the edges, it's free and was built with ASP.NET:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=66812
Are you using a source control repository as well? If not, you really should, even though you're only a one-man team.
My personal preference is to use a VMWare Virutal Application (free) that offers no-hassle setup gives you access to both Trac and Subversion. You can find many different virual appliances through searching. Here is one example of getting a Trac/SVN virtual appliance up and running:
http://www.rungeek.com/blog/archives/how-to-setup-svn-and-trac-with-a-virtual-appliance/
Trac is an excellent project management tool that sports a bug tracker, wiki, and integrated source control management. It's adaptable to your needs, and fits me very well personally.
I use bugzilla for this purpose. Plus for me was that it has integration with Eclipse (precisely with Mylyn). FogBuzz has it to but AFAIK it is nonfree.
Plus it sits on my laptop so I can code and add/remove bugs when offline (it was biggest disadvantage of hosted solutions for me)
Installation was not a problem in Ubuntu (and any debian-based distro I suppose).
I dig ELOG in those cases, it's more of a personal blog, but it's easy to handle and install, the data is local on your computer and you can search all entries via fulltext. Always sufficed for me.
If you have a Windows box with IIS and MSSQL (including SQL Server Express), you should look at Bugtracker.net. It is free and open source (you get the source code), and it is extensible.
Even if you are a one man shop, having a free bug tracking system with this much power will allow you to grow over time, because it is fairly easy to add future users into the system.
You can also customize it for the look of your organization, business or product.
Ontime 2008 by Axosoft is free for a single user licence. It's industrial strength and will give you alot more that just bug tracking!
http://www.axosoft.com
Jira which now has free personal licenses.
I am using leo for this purpose. To be more specific, its cleo plugin.
Of course you might need to spend some time to get used to leo, but it will pay off.
A flat text file is just a list, an Excel spreadsheet is a two-dimensional list.
leo lets you keep the data in a tree! And it also has clones.
We are developing a web application which is available in 3 languages.
There are these key-value pairs to translate everything. At this moment we use Excel (key, german, french, english) for this. But this does not work well ... if there is more than 1 person editing this file, you have no chance to automatically merge the different files.
Is there a good (and free) tool which can handle this job?
--- additional information ---
(This is a STRUTS application) But the question is how to manage these kinds of information in general (or at least in an conveinient way, which also supports multiple users editing this single file ("mergeable" filetypes))
Why not use gettext and manage separate .po files? See that blog entry.
If you can store this information in plain text then you will be able to use a version control system like subversion to help you with merging changes. Subversion is free.
The free guide (the "Red Book") to subversion gives a fairly good explanation of how this kind of merging works.
http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.5/svn.basic.vsn-models.html#svn.basic.vsn-models.copy-merge
EDIT: Another thought - if you really want to stay using a spreadsheet - Google Docs supports simultaneous editing of a spreadsheet. You could import your existing spreadsheet and get your multi-user merging wishes for free with very little change to how you work.
Good Question.
There are some "Best Practice" depending on what you actually code in (java, ms-windows c#).
I solved this (but I think there must be a better way) by using a SQL db instead of excel file, and a wrote a plug for VS (VB6,........,..., emacs) that was able to insert new keys into the db without going to round trip with version control. The keys are the developers name of what they think is a best guess for a label. (key => save, sv => "spara", no => "", en => "save").
This db can then be generated as a module, class, obj, txt, to appropriate code(platform)
and can be accessed, depending on the ide, so in c#, bt,label = corelang.save;
Someone else can then do all the language stuff, and then we just update the db and rerun the generation to the platform resources.
After years of seeing localization done, including localization at large companies like Sony. I can only say the "standard" is Excel :)
There are tons of good ideas around, and probably many better ways to do it, but in real-life excel seems to be the best/cost effective solution that doesn't require training or making complex new tools to get the job done.
Found out, that Intellij Idea (at leas in version 7 and 8) has an editor for application resources. But it is not free at all. And it does not scale for bigger resource files with more than 1.000 keys.
Another good choice would be to use Google's spreadsheets ... for those who don't know it - it is like an "online Excell web-application". It can handle concurrent access from multiple users. Yay! But sadly, it comes from Google. This makes it impossible to be used in commercial projects.
So,
still searching...
cheers,
mana