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Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

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Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#191

Post by layer8 »

slotrans wrote: post #188
layer8 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but if you want unaltered text content in an Excel cell, prefix it with a single quote ('). This “escapes” the value so that it isn’t interpreted as any other data type.

I'm generally pasting the results of a SQL query so this is, while possible, massively annoying to do

In that case, you could prepare a sheet in advance by setting the format of all cells to text. Shortcut sequence Ctrl+A Ctrl+1 Tab T T Return. You can record this as a macro (Developer tab) or save the result as a template.

Yes, the default format behavior can be annoying, but if it's a frequent problem there are ways to make one's life easier.

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#192

Post by maphew »

jackamadeo wrote: post #45
kdeldycke wrote: post #26

The concept of Python-based spreadsheets was explored by Resolver One[1], a defunct proprietary desktop app that was discontinued ~10 years ago[2]. It seems a web version of the app has been published in open-source[3] but that too has been EOL. [1] https://web.archive.org/web/20120211201410/http://www.resolv... [2] https://www.resolversystems.com [3] https://github.com/pythonanywhere/dirigible-spreadsheet

(cofounder of Neptyne here) Thanks for mentioning this! I came across Resolve One recently in another HN thread. Were you a user yourself? What did you think of it?

I have the install files for Resolver One cached somewhere. If there's interest I'll dig them out and post publicly.

I was very sorry to see the project go insolvent. I didn't become an active user due to accident of time not discovering it until the final months.

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#193

Post by maphew »

dosinga wrote: post #153
bitcoinmoney wrote: post #130

Looking for something like this exactly. Is it possible to install on site? No way my company would want prop data on a cloud.

Sorry, not right now. Obviously something we plan to do eventually ...

...just adding my voice for an on-premise option

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#194

Post by maphew »

CurtHagenlocher wrote: post #18

Reminds me a little of the long-defunct "ResolverOne" for which the only reference I could find was https://www.python.org/about/success/resolver/

Discussed a bit at comment by kdeldycke - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34819682

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#196

Post by andrew_jef »

Oras wrote: post #3

I can't understand how this will improve the work. I see the value of having python instead of sheets formulas for python developers, but developers would work on totally different toolsets (like Jupyter notebook, as you mentioned), or something like StreamIt or https://gradio.app/ This would be useless for spreadsheet users (those who use sheet formulas) as they have to learn python. I'm not in the target audience,…

The formula in python will be useful for my use case. I can simply import a package like investpy or openbb then print the output directly into a cell. This will be great, i think.

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#198

Post by waterproof »

cameron_b wrote: post #139

Very Excited. I'm likely very close to the ideal user. I don't program for work but make CSV-consuming tools from Python here and there to work on giant exports of data when they get outside of Excel's built-in magic. Most recently the exact task was to consume a Zoom user export, filter with RegEx, and transform the table for upload to Zoom as a CSV again, but with different fields. This would translate very well to…

This sounds like a great use case for a few lines of petl: https://petl.readthedocs.io/en/stable/

Petl makes it very ergonomic to write ETL scripts like what you’re describing. Take a look at the regex.search method and the fieldmap method.

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#199

Post by mackrevinack »

bitcoinmoney wrote: post #130

Looking for something like this exactly. Is it possible to install on site? No way my company would want prop data on a cloud.

grist is similar enough i think, its a hybrid spreadsheet/database that lets you use python for formulas, and has an option to self host

Re: Launch HN: Neptyne (YC W23) – A programmable spreadsheet that runs Python

#200

Post by rawoke083600 »

Congrats ! Looks really cool !

I always had this rule of thumb, "the better a programmer is at spreadsheets, the worse programmer he is" :D Mostly cause I suck so much at spreadsheets. I always think to myself, dammit I'm a career programmer how come I can't do a double-column lookup across two sheets with my eyes closed :(

Anywhoo congrats again, now can we make it work with something nice like Clojure or Lisp :P ?

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