I'm struggling for some time with this problem and I am not able to find any solution on-line. Closest I get is how to write Basic function that can be used in Calc's formula, but since Basic and BeanShell are completely different languages, I can't find the right syntax/procedure to achieve the same functionality in the latter language.
In Writer one can have a table (not the spreadsheet—just ordinary table), where you can press F2 over cell and enter some formula, e.g. =<C2>*<E2> to calculate product of values in C2 and E2 cells.
I wrote BeanShell method String amountInWords(String amount, String currency) which converts passed amount (e.g. 1,234.59) and currency (e.g. "USD") into words (one thousand two hundred thirty four dollars, fifty nine cents). Now I would like to hit F2 over some cell and type formula like =amountInWords(<Table2.D3>, "USD") and to see above mentioned output as the cell content. Unfortunately I get ** Expression is faulty ** message.
Can someone, please, advice me, how to make use of this method in the described manner or alternatively confirm, that this is impossible? Thank you very much in advance!
Writer table formulas are much more limited than spreadsheet formulas. There is a list of supported functions at http://libreoffice-dev.blogspot.com/2019/11/calculations-inside-of-writer-tables.html. AFAIK calling macros is not supported.
Probably what you want instead of a table is to embed a Calc spreadsheet into the Writer document at that location by going to Insert -> Object -> OLE Object. Then rewrite amountInWords as a Basic user-defined function (UDF).
If you must use BeanShell then write a Basic UDF that loads and calls the BeanShell method. Or you could create a BeanShell Calc add-in although that is more difficult, requiring XML configuration files. For add-ins, it may be easier to write in Java rather than BeanShell as there are more examples and documentation available.
Or, instead of embedding a spreadsheet, create a search-and-replace Writer macro in BeanShell that performs any needed calculations in the table. Set the macro to run on an event such as when the document is opened.
Related
I'm new with vba (i know only R) and I'd need to perform the operation below but i don't know how to do it:
I need to create two distinct lists of numbers, for example: A={2,4,6,8,9} and B={4,6,9} and then I need to create a third variable that contains only the numbers of A that are not in B: C={2,8}.
How can i do that?
Thank you
VBA does not provide a method or structure for doing that. You will need to loop through the collections and test each value against every other value.
You may use a dictionary object or an array (or a spreadsheet) to hold the sets. You may use nested FOR - NEXT loops to loop through the sets.
VBA is a simple and powerful language. A prime reason people use R and python, in spite of their complexities and difficulties, is that VBA is very old language that does not include native methods of handling multi-dimensional sets.
I am working on huge excel sheets from different sources about the same thing. The way the sources report it and write down information is different. So, for example, one would write the location as "Khurais" whereas the other would write it as "Khorais".
Since both of these files are contain important information, I would like to combine them in one excel sheet so that I can deal with them more easily. So if you have any suggestion or tool that you think would be beneficial, please share it here.
P.s. The words in the excel sheet are translations of Arabic words.
You could use Levenshtein distance to determine if two words are "close" to each other. Based on that you could match.
You could use FuzzyLookup, a macro that allows you to do appropriate matching. It worked really well for me in the past and is actually really well documented.
You can find it here: https://www.mrexcel.com/forum/excel-questions/195635-fuzzy-matching-new-version-plus-explanation.html including examples on how to use it.
Hope that helps!
PS obviously you can also use it stricly within VBA (not using worksheet functions)
The Double Metaphone algorithm springs to mind. It attempts to convert strings into phonetic representations. For example, "Folly" and "Pholee" should have the same phonetic code.
If you could generate these codes, you could then match your records based on them, instead of the strings.
Here's an article that explains, along with sample VBA code:
https://bytes.com/topic/access/insights/965241-fuzzy-string-matching-double-metaphone-algorithm
Hope that inspires you :)
Only my second stack question, I'm pretty new to ssrs, but I'd rather do it the right way and learn now, then have to come back and fix everything later.
I'm going to create a semi-flexible reporting (SSRS) standard for my company and getting global consensus ahead of time is impossible. My proposed solution will be to create a formatting table that I can update to alter the look and feel of all my reports of one type. (tables, charts etc.) I have thought of two ways to do this and I am looking for advice on which is better and if how I am thinking it will work...will actually work. I am totally willing to research all the specifics of how-to, but I'd really appreciate a hint on how to start.
Is there a way to reference which attribute (e.g. name, background color) your expression is in? It would be awesome if I could use the same code for all the attribute's expressions and just have that code find it's spot in the table.
something like:
attribute.value = lookup(ReportFormataDataset as RFD, attribute.name =
RFD.name and left(me.name, 3) = RFD.prefix)
Alternatively I could run a loop in VBA code to change the attributes based on what's in the table. I plan to create a report template with naming conventions to help. (e.g. hdr, ttl, bdy prefix) so it could look like:
for each reportItem in report
for each el in FormatTable
'make sure the report item is what I think it is, like header
if left(ReportItem.name, 3) = el.prefix then
'e.g. backgroundcolor = Blue
name.value = el.value
end if
end loop
end loop
but then when would I run it, I would imagine this slowing my report a lot if I did this in the expressions. Maybe with variables instead?
I found this:
tips-tricks-ensure-consistency-sql-server-reporting-services-reports
but it seems very cumbersome to maintain if I add a formatting requirement later I'll have to add that parameter to all the reports and the attribute.
I know this seems a little fishing-y but I am not sure how either of these would work and I know I could throw days of effort at either when an expert could point me in the right direction in 5 minutes so... sorry if this is not in the 'stack spirit' and thank you.
We have implemented something similar, and have used the method of setting up a shared dataset that all the reports call. This returns a single record, that includes all the images, background colours and date formats we might use across the reports (including company logo and branding colours).
If we had a date in a cell for example, we would then set the number format to
=First(Fields!FullDateFormat.Value, "ReportConstants")
Where ReportConstants is the named of the shared dataset.
This also allows us to have the same report deployed both in the UK and the US, yet both use their native date format, as this is set by the database instance, instead of within the report.
Now whether this is the right approach to take or not is another question, but it works for us, using the ~50 reports in multiple locations, without having to configure each one individually all the time.
Is this helpful?
I am looking for a direct and efficient method to read out csv-files and handily work with the data in Excel/VBA?
The best thing would be: direct access of data by specifying row and column. Can you tell me of your preferred option? Do you know an additional option to the following two?
A: Use Workbooks.Open or Workbooks.OpenText to open the csv-file as a workbook. Then work with the workbook (compare this thread).
B: Use Open strFilename For Input As #1 to write the data into a string. Work with the string (compare this thread).
Thanks a lot!
==========EDIT=========
Let me add what I have learned from your posts so far: The optimal option to do the task depends too much on what you want to do exactly, thus no answer possible. Also, there are the following additional options to read csv files:
C: Use VBScript-type language with ADO (SQL-type statements). I still am figuring out how to create a minimal example that works.
D: Use FileSystemObject, see e.g. this thread
The fastest and most efficient way to add CSV data to excel is to use Excel's text import wizard.
This parses CSV file, giving you several options to format and organize the data.
Typically, when programming one's own CSV parser, one will ignore the odd syntax cases, causing rework of the parsing code. Using the excel wizard covers this and gives you some other bonuses (like formatting options).
To load csv, (in Excel 2007/2010) from the "data" tab, pick "From Text" to start the "Import Text Wizard". Note the default delimiter is tab, so you'll need to change it to comma (or whatever character) in step 2.
I have a table called Animals. I pull data from this table to populate another system.
I get Excel data with lists of animals that need to go in the Animals table.
The Excel data will also have other identifiers, like Breed, Color, Age, Favorite Toy, Veterinarian, etc.
These identifiers will change with each new excel file. Some may repeat, others are brand new.
Because the fields change, and I never know what new fields will come with each new excel file, my Animals table only has Animal Id and Animal Name.
I've created a Values table to hold all the other identifier fields. That table is structured like this:
AnimalId
Value
FieldId
DataFileId
And then I have a Fields table that holds the key to each FieldId in the Values table.
I do this because the alternative is to keep a big table with fields that may not even be used each time I need to add data. A big table with a lot of null columns.
I'm not sure my way is a good way either. It can seem overly complex.
But, assuming it is a good way, what is the best way to get this excel data into my Values table? The list of animals is easy to add to my Animals table. But for each identifier (Breed, Color, etc.) I have to copy or import the values and then update the table to assign a matching FieldId (or create a new FieldId in the Fields table if it doesn't exist yet).
It's a huge pain to load new data if there are a lot of identifiers. I'm really struggling and could use a better system.
Any advice, help, or just pointing me in a better direction would be really appreciated.
Thanks.
Depending on your client (eg, I use SequelPro on a Mac), you might be able to import CSVs. This is generally pretty shaky, but you can also export your Excel document as a CSV... how convenient.
However, this doesn't really help with your database structure. Granted, using foreign keys is a good idea, but importing that data unobtrusively (and easily) is something that will need to likely be done a row at a time.
However, you could try modifying something like this to suit your needs, by first exporting your Excel document as a CSV, removing the header row (the first one), and then using regular expressions on it to change it into a big chunk of SQL. For example:
Your CSV:
myval1.1,myval1.2,myval1.3,myval1.4
myval2.1,myval2.2,myval2.3,myval2.4
...
At which point, you could do something like:
myCsvText.replace(/^(.+),(.+),(.+)$/mg, 'INSERT INTO table_name(col1, col2, col3) VALUES($1, $2, $3)')
where you know the number of columns, their names, and how their values are organized (via the regular expression & replacement).
Might be a good place to start.
Your table looks OK. Since you have a variable number of fields, it seems logical to expand vertically. Although you might want to make it easier on yourself by changing DataFileID and FieldID into FieldName and DataFileName, unless you will use them in a lot of other tables too.
Getting data from Excel into SQL Server is unfortunately not so easy as you would expect from two Microsoft products interacting with eachother. There are several routes that I know of that you can take:
Work with CSV files instead of Excel files. Excel can edit CSV files just as easily as Excel files, but CSV is an infinitely more reliable datasource when it comes to importing. You don't get problems with different file formats for different Excel versions, Excel having to be installed on the computer that will run the script or quirks with automatic datatype recognition. A CSV can be read with the BCP commandline tool, the BULK INSERT command or with SSIS. Then use stored procedures to convert the data from a horizontal bulk of columns into a pure vertical format.
Use SSIS to read the data directly from the Excel file(s). It is possible to make a package that loops over several Excel files. A drawback is that the column format and the sheet name of the Excel file has to be known beforehand, and so a different template (with a separate loop) has to be made each time a new Excel format arrives. There exist third-party SSIS components that claim to be more flexible, but I haven't tested them out yet.
Write a Visual C# program or PowerShell script that grabs the Excel file, extracts the data and outputs into your SQL table. Visual C# is a pretty easy language with powerful interfaces into Office and SQL Server. I don't know how big the learning curve is to get started, but once you do, it will be a pretty easy program to write. I have also heard good things about Powershell.
Create an Excel Macro that uses VB code to open other Excel files, loop through their data and write the results either in a predefined sheet or as CSV to disk. Once everything is in a standard format it will be easy to import the data using one of the above methods.
Since I have had headaches with 1) and 2) before, I would advise on either 3) or 4). Because of my greater experience with VBA than Visual C# or Powershell, I´d go for 4) if I was in a hurry. But I think 3) is the better investment for the long term.
(You could also go adventurous and use another script language, such as Python as I once did because Python is cool, unfortunately Python offers pretty slow and limited interfaces to SQL server and Excel)
Good luck!