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Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

techcommunity.microsoft.com

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Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#111

Post by ripley12 »

int_19h wrote: post #107
ripley12 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that’s why I added a qualifier. I can’t see that being much use outside of testing/debugging functions, since it would usually be simpler to just write that without the LAMBDA call.

They can also be referenced via the cells. You could argue that cells are themselves named, but those names are really indices into a 2D array, you can have relative references or do offset-based math if needed, and there's indirection (i.e. you can use an arbitrary value as an index to read/write another value). Given all this, an index of a cell containing a lambda is really a lot like a function reference, and can…

Huh, are you sure? I don’t think you can (currently) define a lambda in a cell without also calling it in that cell (which means the cell now evaluates to the function’s return value, not a function). The LAMBDA docs:

“If you create a LAMBDA function in a cell without also calling it from within the cell, Excel returns a #CALC! error.”

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/lambda-function-b...

Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#113

Post by shp0ngle »

lhoff wrote: post #112

When will the WASM runtime will be available.

Excel query language is now turing complete, so I think WASM runtime can now be emulated in Excel.

I think Excel can now run QEMU, come to think of it.

(without macros. With macros, Excel can run anything.)

Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#114

Post by avandvrnot »

jtsuken wrote: post #59

Microsoft: Hey, we have this new feature. It's called Macros. You can execute any code you like and use it as functions in your spreadsheets. Users: Great! Let's start using it everywhere! Users: Hey! Our spreadsheets have become very slow and hackers break into our systems by executing arbitrary code in our spreadsheets Microsoft: OK! From now on you will have to save workbooks that can execute arbitrary code in a d…

This would be pretty great if available on Azure Stack on prem.

Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#116

Post by avandvrnot »

robertlagrant wrote: post #86
bombcar wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it making spreadsheets easier to convert into code, too. Many “business programs” begin as a spreadsheet.

Next up: Excel functions running as Azure Functions in the cloud.

I assumed that was what this is!

Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#117

Post by fomine3 »

Closi wrote: post #71
samfisher83 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what they said: new capability that will revolutionize how you build formulas in Excel Which isn't really true. I can call macros using the =function(x) capability like forever.

The differences seem to be: * You can write it in one language (excel formula language) * The language is simpler and known by almost all users, while Javascript and VBA are only used by a tiny proportion of users. * The language is more secure (i.e. you can't execute arbitrary code, access files, call DLLs etc) * Because of the above, users don't need any security permissions / get warnings when running it. * Becaus…

Yes it's good but "revolutionize" is misleading.

Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#118

Post by pearjuice »

nullsense wrote: post #101
jtsuken wrote: post #59

Microsoft: Hey, we have this new feature. It's called Macros. You can execute any code you like and use it as functions in your spreadsheets. Users: Great! Let's start using it everywhere! Users: Hey! Our spreadsheets have become very slow and hackers break into our systems by executing arbitrary code in our spreadsheets Microsoft: OK! From now on you will have to save workbooks that can execute arbitrary code in a d…

I like how Lambda means very different things between AWS and Microsoft. "Let's just create a Lambda for this" Ok... But which one?

I don't want to be cynical, but they could have done this with reason. They could have also called it functions or methods. But chose to disrupt search results for a competitor.

Re: Lambda: Turn Excel formulas into custom functions

#120

Post by Closi »

fomine3 wrote: post #117
Closi wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The differences seem to be: * You can write it in one language (excel formula language) * The language is simpler and known by almost all users, while Javascript and VBA are only used by a tiny proportion of users. * The language is more secure (i.e. you can't execute arbitrary code, access files, call DLLs etc) * Because of the above, users don't need any security permissions / get warnings when running it. * Becaus…

Yes it's good but "revolutionize" is misleading.

I don’t think it’s misleading, I mean everyone’s definition of “revolutionary” is different, but let’s put it into perspective: this is adding functions and recursion to one of the worlds most popular data analysis languages.

I think most people on this site know how powerful the concepts of functions and recursion can be!

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