Skip to main content

Generating the "ACBA-Mapping" Add-In

Background

This Add-In is designed to map the underlying structure of an Excel worksheet. It. provides the means of reviewing the way that a worksheet operates both in terms of its layout and the relationship between blocks of formulae.

The program for the Add-In can be downloaded from the link 'ACBA-Mapping'. Please read the following description of the process before attempting to activate it. 

Generating 'ACBA-Mapping'

The 'ACBA-Mapping' link will download the Add-In file to your personal Downloads folder. The File Explorer icon on your Task Bar, is the entry point.

From your TaskBar

Clicking this will open File Explorer. You want the Downloads folder - encircled in green.

File Explorer normally opens to the 'Quick access' panel in the first instance.

The Downloads folder is usually ordered youngest to oldest. So 'ACBA-Mapping' should be right at the top.

The Downloads Folder

'ACBA-Mapping' contains active code, which will have been disabled during the Download process to protect your computer from malicious viruses. 

The code must be enabled if the mapping process is to become functional. Click the Properties icon on the Home ribbon (encircled in the image above) and choose 'Properties' from the dropdown list. This will generate a dialog form - shown below.

The Properties Dialog

The Unblock box (shown above encircled in green) must be ticked.

Where to store the Add-In

In theory you can run code files from any directory on your hard disk (including the Downloads folder), but Microsoft provides a special folder for your Excel Add-Ins. Excel monitors that folder and allows the user to activate and deactivate his add-ins, at will, from the Developer tab. This is a good place to store 'ACBA-Mapping'.

However, Microsoft does not make it easy to find. The following instrctions will guide you through the process, if you need it.

  1. Open a new window in File Explorer .- go to the File tab and select -> Open new window
  2. In the new Explorer window select 'Hard disk (C:\)' from the left hand list.
  3. Work down the directory tree until the Address Bar reads > This PC > Local Disc (C:\) > Users > User (the directory User may replaced by your name or a shortened version of it).
  4. At this point click inside the Address Bar it will change to read 'C:\Users\User'.
  5. After User (or your name) add a back slash '\'.
  6. You will be offered a selection of subdirectories to choose from.
  7. Select 'C:\Users\User\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft'.
  8. You will be presented with another list of subdirectories.
  9. Select 'AddIns' - normally the first one.
  10. Go back to the 'Downsloads' window and move 'ACBA-Mapping' from there to the 'AddIns' window

Ready to 'Activate'

The Add-In file is now in the right location, but will not activate automatically unless you instruct Excell to do so. Go to the 'Developer' tab on the Ribbon - see below. 

Now click the Add-Ins icon. This will generate the Add-Ins interface form.

Only now are you ready to activate the 'ACBA-Mapping' by clicking on it. Even so, Microsoft Excel wants to make doubly sure that you really mean to activate the code.

If you wish to use the Mapping software, you must 'Enable Macros'.

Where is the 'Map and Review' software?

On activating 'ACBA-Mapping' you will notice an extra tab has been introduced into your Excel Ribbon. It appears between the 'VIEW' and the 'DEVELOPER' tabs and is called 'ACBA-Mapping'.

Initially, the ACBA-Mapping appears mostly inactive.

Most of the Ribbon buttons appeared greyed out (inactive). This is intentional. You cannot create a map or any other analysis until the system has generated a linked workbook in which to store the map. Both parent file and map file are always hyperlinked to each other in both directions.

Rather than clutter up the directories of your working files, all MAP files are stored in a separate directory under your 'My Documents' folder. It is called '\ACBA Mapping\MapFiles\'.

Checking your version of 'ACBA-Mapping'

The most recent versions of the 'ACBA-Mapping' software have an 'About Me' icon within the Ribbon.



This opens a form giving details about the software, including the version number and the date of creation - see the image below.


Access to Help

There is a discussion group dedicated to providing a forum for help and information - Excel - Cell Mapping. I recommend you join the group.

Alternatively, you can email me directly from the Stephen Allen link within the form.

Acknowledgements

Experts in Excel have offered their advice and I am very grateful for this. My thanks go to Patrick O'Beirne (Systems Modelling), Jan Karel Pieterse (JKP Application Development Services) and Hans Hallebeek (HC & TS).

Spreadsheet Risks

Spreadsheet errors and inconsistencies is a subject that is of concern by professional developers as well as amateurs. The European Spreadsheet Risk Interest Group (EuSpRIG) considers the problems from an academic and professional perspective. The following links provide access to the EuSpRIG website and discussion forum.


Popular posts from this blog

Cell Maps - Critical Comments

Cell maps are intended as tools for reviewing spreadsheets. If you spot an error or an inconsistency in the cell map this should be recorded and, if practicable, corrected. The cell mapping software provides a method for recording a reviewer's comments. All comments are linked to a specific map (or data table), The comments for a workbook under review are collated in a single worksheet. In this case, there's just one comment. The comment above refers to the area highlighted towards the bottom of the map below and are hyperlinked.to the specific area of the map through the column headed 'Map/Source Link'. The top left cell the source range provides a link back to the 'Comments. worksheet'. The yellow cells suggest that users should be entering information for collection by a formula, but which one.  At the this point I went back to the orginal worksheet and traced the dependents for some of these 'so called' user entry cells - also coloured yellow as it ...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Revised Cell Map!

  In the Blog ' What is a Cell Map? ', I included an image of a Cell Map. On reflection the presentation was muddled. A simpler and clearer design seemed worthwhile. The result below is more clearly rectangular, with the headings for the map, the formula table and the names/validation table matched along the same row. The validation table is new and highlights where user inputs are limited by validation and the nature of the validation criteria. The revised software is available at ACBA-Mapping . In addition, although software is intended to be intuitive and self explanatory, it rarely is. I have created a user group at    MSExcelCellMapping@groups.io   . You are welcome to join and ask questions about the software. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1w3tHk1l-G9LjmCsOqMBkJpE9kaSj0iX_/view?usp=sharing Spreadsheet errors and inconsistensies is a subject that is of concern by professional developers as well as amateurs. The European Spreadsheet Risk Interest Group (EuSpRIG...
Post a Comment
Read more

Loading an Excel Add-In

  Microsoft offers a range of Add-Ins and other extensions to Excel’s normal functionality. These are accessed most easily from the ‘Developer’ ribbon. The Developer Tab Clicking the Add-Ins icon, offers the user a list of all Add-Ins currently available to your Excel program. The problem comes when your particular program isn’t listed there. Even when you know where the Add-In file is and double click it, the functionality is still not activated. According to SuperUser.com , the problem results from security patch in KB31152, released in July 2016. Apparently, Microsoft software engineers have said: "With this update, we changed the behaviour of Excel so that it will not load certain file types (including .xlam) when they are untrusted. The easiest workaround is to find the add-in that is causing you trouble, right-clicking on it in Windows Explorer, and checking Unblock" However, SuperUser.com recommend placing the add-in in a Trusted Location (in Excel, go to File ...
Post a Comment
Read more