XL Toolboxes

A SpreadsheetWorld, Inc. Website

Home

XLHeatTransfer

XLLink

Software for Dynamic Linking of Excel Workbooks

Features:		XLLink is
Bi-Directional Dynamic Link between Workbooks Communicate Workbooks on Different Instances of Excel Communicate via the Internet		Affordable Scalable Effective Innovative User Friendly Fast

The cost of the XLLink is $199/station. The implementation process for XLLink is tailored to each end user, and training, consulting, or applications development required to successfully accomplish customer objectives is priced separately. SpreadsheetWorld will provide a quotation for each customer based on our analysis of the customer’s objectives. Academic Licenses are available for a limited number of stations at a substantially reduced price.

XLLink software is a unique Excel-based system engineering tool designed to dynamically control and communicate system parameters between team members in real time. It is designed to support a dynamic Integrated Collaborative Environment (ICE). XLLink is a lightweight SpreadsheetWorld Toolbox which is designed to enable real-time, bi-directional workbook communication across a network. It implements Windows® socket programming techniques to tightly couple separate Excel instances together. XLLink circumvents common problems associated with sharing workbooks and other workbook communication techniques. Workstations are identified by IP address and workbook communication may occur over a LAN or even over the internet.

Integrated Collaborative Environment (ICE)

The combination of ICEMaker© and XLLink enables the rapid, low cost deployment of ICE methods. ICEMaker provides publish/subscribe parameter passing between ICE Stations, while XLLink provides lower level real time parameter passing needed for dynamic system simulation, real time parameter iteration needed to support goal seeking, optimization, and Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis. This innovative approach to technical teamwork challenges the inefficiencies of traditional design team meetings and the confusion caused by unsynchronized, unlinked technical design and analysis methods. In ICE, technical design and analysis is conducted in real-time by a team of ICE-trained technical professionals working together with linked design tools and carefully scripted processes.

The Excel Communication Problem

Excel natively provides some parameter communication abilities, but these techniques do not adequately support real-time communication requirements. Workbook sharing allows multiple users to manipulate the same workbook at once, and only one copy of subject workbook exists at the end of the day. The smallest possible automatic update interval (Excel XP) is 5 minutes or whenever the workbook is saved. Also, VBA tools are not directly available to all users of shared workbooks. With direct workbook linking, an open workbook may reference data and/or computational routines in other closed workbooks. This provides real-time data updates, but the owners of workbooks that are being referenced in this manner may not open/modify their workbooks until the reference has been broken. This creates a large systems engineering scheduling problem. A true "instance-independent" technique for dynamically communicating Excel worksheet data is needed. XLLink provides that capability.

Current XLLink Capabilities

XLLink provides real-time data communication between two workbooks. Data entered in either workbook instantly appears in the other workbook. Workbook structure and sheet names are able to be kept in sync between workbooks. Cell formatting may also be communicated between workbooks. "Round-trip" data communication supports iterative analysis needed for goal seeking, optimization and uncertainty analysis. XLLink currently includes a special "goal seeker" that coordinates iterative analysis between workbooks. It provides the capability for automatic listing of other IP addresses / workstation names that exist on the local network. You are also able to "daisy-chain" workbooks together with XLLink such that, for example, data is entered into Book1 which is instantly updated in Book2 which in turn instantly updates the data in Book3, etc.