microsoft excel Archives

Excel Automation Add-In

Today we are going to cover Excel Automation Add-In which allows you to set your own User Defined Functions. Now, before we jump in, I had a desire to write functions using C#. And I wanted them to be deployable, so not just linked to an excel macro worksheet. With those two requirements, there are a few ways to write Excel Add-Ins which allow User Defined Functions (UDF’s). There are COM add-ins, Automation Add-ins, and XLL Add-ins. For the sake of not using a library to build the XLL Add-In, I was sitting between using a COM Add-In or an Automation Add-In. When researching, I discovered Automation Add-Ins are simpler to set up initially, and also are extensible to the full feature functionality of a COM Add-In. Thus I settled on building an Automation Add-In. Now, to dig into how to get the ball rolling. Getting Set Up Firstly, you’ll ...

What’s The “Power” in Microsoft’s Power BI (Business Intelligence)?

There's been tons of buzz the last few years' about big data and cloud collaboration. How can you, as a business owner, analyst or data interpreter, determine what data is good or bad for effective analytics and reporting? Let's take it a step further, how can you make usable, actionable data available throughout an organization, enable opportunities for new services, and gain vital insights from fragmented and under-analyzed data? This is the 'Power' in Microsoft's Power BI! Before we dig deeper, what is Microsoft's Power BI? Microsoft Power BI, or “business intelligence,” is an impactful cloud-based tool that transforms a company’s data into rich visuals for its employees to collect and organize so they can focus on what matters to them: getting access to the right information, spotting important trends, and reaching important milestones. One way to look at Power BI is Microsoft Excel on steroids. Once the raw data is loaded ...