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Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

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Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#131

Post by magicalhippo »

ElectricalUnion wrote: post #117
magicalhippo wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Formulas is a big one for me. As a programmer I often use Excel to generate insert/update SQL statements for example. So I'd need formulas with not just numerical but also string manipulation functions. Also filtering is essential. So nice to be able to see all the values in the filter dropdown, easy to quickly spot weird values.

> Also filtering is essential. So nice to be able to see all the values in the filter dropdown, easy to quickly spot weird values. This is not "filtering", this is faceted search. I am also a big fan of faceted search, and I found the occasional writing of Simon Willison’s on the topic very informative. https://simonwillison.net/2018/Oct/4/datasette-ideas/#Facet_...

I was sloppy and meant "filtering as implemented in Excel".

But yeah great feature, and thanks for the reference.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#132

Post by magicalhippo »

dotancohen wrote: post #125
magicalhippo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Formulae are supported, but the cell (not column) must be set as the Formulae datatype As long as it's not tedious to set a few thousand that sounds great. > What are the other most common formulae that you use? I mostly use SUM, COUNT and IF (if-then), along with functions to check if a string value is a valid number. Also string formatting of numbers and dates (for concatenating with text). I've also used lookups…

> As long as it's not tedious to set a few thousand that sounds great. How are you setting them? Grab and drag? I can support that. > SUM, COUNT and IF (if-then) Perfect, thank you. Right now I've started a Git repo with a roadmap but I've not uploaded any code yet as I'm still deciding on the architecture: https://github.com/dotancohen/structuresheet

> How are you setting them?

I'm old school, so ctrl+c, shift+end (maybe tweak selection area with cursors if Excel is being dumb) and ctrl+v.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#133

Post by pelasaco »

hpcjoe wrote: post #80
pelasaco wrote: post #71

Looks more like the scientists are choosing the wrong tool to do their job. Sure you can use excel, to get a sense of the data, but for god sake, there are better tools for that - or even contribute to an existing open source one to do what you need. I'm quite sure scientists could get some grants to hire actual software engineers to come up with a better solution, based on the open source options existing there.

> I'm quite sure scientists could get some grants to hire actual software engineers to come up with a better solution Uh ... no. Grants rarely ever support SWE outside of a core application. No granting agency would support writing a new open source tool that effectively replicates what is available in market today. You are right in that genomic scientists chose poorly here. Excel isn't the right tool for the job, bu…

The error is to assume that we have a tool available to do it, aka Excel. If they assume that there is no tool available, then a tool have to be found/developed.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#134

Post by dotancohen »

magicalhippo wrote: post #132
dotancohen wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As long as it's not tedious to set a few thousand that sounds great. How are you setting them? Grab and drag? I can support that. > SUM, COUNT and IF (if-then) Perfect, thank you. Right now I've started a Git repo with a roadmap but I've not uploaded any code yet as I'm still deciding on the architecture: https://github.com/dotancohen/structuresheet

> How are you setting them? I'm old school, so ctrl+c, shift+end (maybe tweak selection area with cursors if Excel is being dumb) and ctrl+v.

Terrific, thanks.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#135

Post by rini17 »

humanistbot wrote: post #116
rini17 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good, since when? Last used it 10ish years ago.

I love how you gave advice in your parent post as if you knew what Excel's current features are, then admitted you haven't used it in 10 years.

I meant to describe what I do and why, sorry if I offended you by unsolicited wrong advice. And as others say, nothing changed during that time - the import function is/was always there but it's still hidden somewhere.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#136

Post by magicalhippo »

dotancohen wrote: post #134
magicalhippo wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How are you setting them? I'm old school, so ctrl+c, shift+end (maybe tweak selection area with cursors if Excel is being dumb) and ctrl+v.

Terrific, thanks.

While I'm at it... One thing I find annoying in Excel is that it's rather tedious to reference an absolute cell ($B$2) vs a relative cell (C3), especially when I need to reference a handful of each.

The way I work, it would have been better to mark a cell itself as being a "constant" or "input parameter", so that when I reference the cell it is treated as an absolute reference when pasting.

That is, if I reference cell B2 in a formula and paste that formula in a different cell, it is B2 itself that determines if it's a relative or absolute reference, not the way I typed it in the formula.

It's not a huge deal, but it would be one of those nice things that makes life more enjoyable.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#137

Post by joenathanone »

rini17 wrote: post #135
humanistbot wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love how you gave advice in your parent post as if you knew what Excel's current features are, then admitted you haven't used it in 10 years.

I meant to describe what I do and why, sorry if I offended you by unsolicited wrong advice. And as others say, nothing changed during that time - the import function is/was always there but it's still hidden somewhere.

>but it's still hidden somewhere.

It's the second button on the data tab, you are still spreading misinformation.

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#138

Post by dotancohen »

magicalhippo wrote: post #136
dotancohen wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Terrific, thanks.

While I'm at it... One thing I find annoying in Excel is that it's rather tedious to reference an absolute cell ($B$2) vs a relative cell (C3), especially when I need to reference a handful of each. The way I work, it would have been better to mark a cell itself as being a "constant" or "input parameter", so that when I reference the cell it is treated as an absolute reference when pasting. That is, if I reference ce…

Would it not be tedious to mark each cell as constant or input parameter? Perhaps it would be preferable to just ask the fine user when copying a cell with a formula?

Re: Human genes renamed to stop Microsoft Excel from misreading them as dates (2020)

#139

Post by magicalhippo »

dotancohen wrote: post #138
magicalhippo wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I'm at it... One thing I find annoying in Excel is that it's rather tedious to reference an absolute cell ($B$2) vs a relative cell (C3), especially when I need to reference a handful of each. The way I work, it would have been better to mark a cell itself as being a "constant" or "input parameter", so that when I reference the cell it is treated as an absolute reference when pasting. That is, if I reference ce…

Would it not be tedious to mark each cell as constant or input parameter? Perhaps it would be preferable to just ask the fine user when copying a cell with a formula?

I almost always have In comparison, I often have formulas with over 20 cell references and/or multiple formulas referencing the "constants", so getting asked for each would indeed be tedious.
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