Logic, computing and people

We know that our spreadsheets should be functional and error free, but there is  a tension between how we review a spreadsheet to ensure that it is correct and the functionality of the spreadsheet itself. None of us like Big Brother breathing down our necks too closely. In What is a Cell Map?  I discussed the creation of a simplified version of a spreadsheet to aid review and error trapping. However, the map is itself a spreadsheet. If you created maps for each worksheet in your workbook, the workbook would quickly bloat and become unmanageable. The obvious answer is to post your maps somewhere else, but clearly linked to primary workbook. The ACBA-Mapping package does just that. It generates a separate Map Book to hold all the spreadsheet maps (and other analyses) associated with the parent workbook. The parent workbook has a new worksheet that maintains a summary of all the detailed analyses generated for the workbook. This new worksheet is called 'DataList_and_MappingC...

It is a simplified, colour coded version of an Excel Worksheet. The map shows the structure of the worksheet, its input cells, constants, primary formula and 'named' ranges. The map is designed for spreadsheet developers who work in isolation (i.e. not part of a team), but who, nevertheless, build complex spreadsheet systems. It highlights oddities and inconsistencies within a spreadsheet structure. Excel has its own built-in auditing and mapping tools. Excel's name manager and formula auditing tools These are useful for auditing one formula or one name, but they become overburdened with detail when trying to audit/review a whole worksheet. The ACBA Mapping   [A revised version of the software is now available. Stephen Allen 05 September 2023] utility generates a map of the original spreadsheet and three map keys to aid the interpretation of the detail. For example, I went on strict weight reducing diet last year where I measured the weight/volume of everythin...

In the first decade of this millennium I developed two significant add-ins for Excel, that guided my approach to the structure of Excel workbooks ( ACBA-EWP.xlam ) and the review of those workbooks for errors etc ( ACBA-Tools.xlam ). The software can be downloaded from the links. Diets would be boring if they never changed. The Electronic Working Papers software assumes that workbooks do NOT stay static in terms of their structure. Rather they change and develop over time. It provides a methodology within which the changes and development can be managed. The reference to working papers is designed to show the rationale for that development. More detail about about operational mechanics of the software are available at ACBA Electronic Working Papers . It is almost inevitable that Excel workbooks developed over time will become corrupted and error prone. The ACBA Tools software provides a series of simple tools that allows the user to review individual worksheets for their f...