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Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

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Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#141
I have not read all the comments since there are too many of them. Here is my wish list(I am an ex- Mgmt consultant) without knowing if its already covered in the comments: 1) Creating a new tab/sheet and choosing if the tab should be a document or spreadsheet type so that I can run my numbers once and reference my table in the document and not worry about cutting and pasting. Really helps reduce word document and report writing. This is a fundamential mind set shift as an excel spreadsheet hardly goes on its own. Its always accompanied by a document and syncing the numbers between the report/tables and the excel is a massive PITA. 2) Importing some functionality of Access (running unique/group by queries, inner join/outer join etc...) in Excel. Helps me run complex data queries while maintaining data integrity. 3) A wiki like online spreadsheet. (dont think Google Docs does this. For e.g. if we are running a valuation for a company and each team mate has different assumptions for each variables, this can help team mates input thier assumptions and track it and see the overall impact on the numbers. Instead of the current model of emailing spreadsheets back and forth or erasing new data over old ones (e.g. like Google Spreadsheets). Btw- I strongly believe just implementing this last point alone and narrowly defining yourself as a model builder (with wiki like enterprise capabilites) would generate strong traction in I-Banks, Buy side firms, sell side research firms, market research companies, mgmt consulting firms, insurance companies etc...

Would love to try out a beta version if available. my email is raonikhilesh "@" gmail

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#142
OLE is a joke, if this is a client-side application add embeddable spreadsheet widgets.

Pivot-tables would be nice as a core function to model data (see quantrix.com)

Make 'light databases' part of the architecture and not counter-design. something like, spreadsheets meets csv with a cli query component or similar.

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#143
1. It should be possible to turn a sheet into a function. So I can then define my own 'inputs' and 'outputs' for that sheet, and 'call' it with whatever parameters I like from another sheet. Sure it can be done in code, but for building large, maintainable models that's not practical.

2. 'Hard' and 'Soft' numbers (i.e., numbers I manually enter vs. numbers that are the result of a formulae) should be automatically coloured accordingly if I want them to be. Manually plugging in a number on top of a formula should not necessarily over-write the formula. It's quite common I want to preserve the logic but 'hack in' a variable. Instead, it's either or (and I have to copy/paste the formula into a comment for the cell, which is a pain and clumsy as hell).

3. Track changes.

4. Non-euclidean topology ... by which I mean, making it possible to vary the number of colums / rows and column / row sizes within a single sheet.

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#145
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can do a lot of stuff that overlaps with queries with just array formulas, and a lot of the rest with pivot tables. For example, getting the sum bill of every person who lives in England looks like this in one workbook I have: {SUM(IF($C1:$C$10000 = "England",$E$1:$E10000,0))} (If I want to see, say, the top 10 outstanding bills in England I have to use a pivot table). Excels biggest problem is that the workbooks…

> SUM(IF($C1:$C$10000 = "England",$E$1:$E10000,0)) Slightly offtopic, but I just wanted to point out that excel syntax looks a lot like lisp, with biggest different being the first item is outside the parens.

Excel: The world's most popular functional programming language.

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#146

Here are some features that would be nice in Excel: 1. Programmability in something other than VBA (Python?). 2. Online spreadsheets like Google. 3. Better search and replace. 4. Ability to reference tables through URLs so they could show up in blogs and in HTML. Something like this: http://ycspreadsheets.com/joe/doc1.ss?s=1&block=a1:c10. This should produce HTML that some javascript can replace in my blog with the t…

"Programmability in something other than VBA (Python?)."

Resolver One is a spreadsheet that has that: http://www.resolversystems.com/products/programmability.php

OpenOffice Calc has some kind of Python programmability too, though I don't know how good it is.

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#147

Here are some features that would be nice in Excel: 1. Programmability in something other than VBA (Python?). 2. Online spreadsheets like Google. 3. Better search and replace. 4. Ability to reference tables through URLs so they could show up in blogs and in HTML. Something like this: http://ycspreadsheets.com/joe/doc1.ss?s=1&block=a1:c10. This should produce HTML that some javascript can replace in my blog with the t…

#1 is really important - VBA is an awful language.

My two cents: add support for arbitrary precision math. Sometimes you need it, and when you do, you really need it.

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#148
post #114

1. Really, really great looking graphs. Excel fails so hard at this it's unbelievable. 2. Easy navigation. The giant spreadsheet model is a very simple metaphor but sometimes I'd like a way to jump to different parts of it more easily. 3. Not be a spreadsheet. The one-big-sheet model might be better represented as a bunch of smaller tables floating in space with formulas interconnecting them. The letter/number conven…

The newer excels have much much much better graphic capabilities

But do they adhere to principles preached by Edward Tufte and other data vis "gods?" (I don't know, I'm asking)

Re: Ask HN: What can't you do in Excel?

#150
For conventional programming I've been working on laying the logic out as a graph automatically. Instead of cryptic formulas in the cells, you would have an easy to understand graph that shows how information is related and computed. In addition the intermediate results for selected input values could be shown next to the nodes and links, to allow inspection of the computation.

This could be adapted for the spreadsheet concept. Actually, it might be more appropriate there.

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