Logic, computing and people

Nearly all spreadsheet error values are as a result of a problem within a formula, but … The ACBA Mapping software was made available in its ribbon-based format in December 2021. There had been considerable testing of the technical aspects of the software and its interaction with the ribbon. However, relatively little testing had been undertaken on publicly available spreadsheet collections like the Enron Corpus. I began reviewing the Enron spreadsheets on a workbook by workbook basis in early spring 2022. The results of that review will be published later. However, it became clear the different authors had very different approaches to the construction of spreadsheets. In particular, I came across cell constants which were themselves error values. I should emphasise that these were not as a result of formula errors. The original ACBA Mapping software had not taken account of this possibility. Cell Constant - Error Values The spreadsheet file “NYMEX Straddles” displays the fol...

A preamble to using ACBA Maps The National Geographic magazine has an excellent article by Geoff McGee (12 October 2015) - How to Make Maps and Influence People . It provides a brief over view of the approaches uses to make their maps influential. Maps may or may not be beautiful, but they are always intended to make an impact, to focus the readers’ or viewers’ attention on something important. An extract from the McGee article states:- “Mode says the historical masters of persuasive maps, though, were the British during their imperial height, when maps helped promote the size, power, and presumable invincibility of a small island nation’s global empire. They used not just maps themselves, he says, but also visual and geographical tactics to shape the viewer’s perception.” Before focussing on ACBA Maps, it is worthwhile considering how maps have developed over the millennia. Maps have always been designed to influence their readers. The mechanisms employed to guide these crea...

 Overview ACBA Mapping software package provides a methodology for logging the development of a Worksheet (or the whole Workbook) over time. There are three primary elements to the package – the maps of worksheets, the lists of worksheet/workbook characteristics and the development commentary/logs. This detail is held in a separate but connected workbook. Each of these primary elements will be considered separately. This article considers the worksheet maps. Worksheet Maps ACBA Mapping delivers a view of your spreadsheet from a different perspective. In this view, colours map the according to the functionality of each cell. The detail of the cell, its specific formula or current value remain hidden. This means there is less to distract the reviewer keen to understand the spreadsheet’s overall structure and approach. Geographic or road maps have keys and / or legends designed to illustrate the symbols and their meaning. Similarly, ACBA maps have a key to the mapping categori...

The Mapping software arose out of a need to review some of my own rather complicated spreadsheets. The worksheets contained a variety of functional parts and I wanted a way of viewing how they worked together. The table below shows how these concepts have been developed over time. Date Primary Development Version Publication Date March 2020 The essential map and primary colour coding. It was always intended that the mapping function would be combined with lists of the main generic formulae used in the spreadsheet.  None   June 2020 The first version of the Mapping software was published and included within it some of the List functions from previous ACBA software developments. None 23 June 2020   March 2021 Introduced the shortcut tool bar. 0.000 Not published April 2021 The layout of the map, its legends, ...

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 bee...

  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 ...

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 ...