The Third Dimension

Adding a third dimension to a system of spreadsheets is more useful than might be obvious. This is especially the case where established applications in Excel are adapted to ExcelCube. A new approach can make a big difference when using ExcelCube.

More Power Than You Know

Designing an application using Excel usually involves two dimensions. The problem is typically not spread over multiple spreadsheets or workbooks easily. Files might be linked together, but more commonly the block of rows that are specific to a reporting entity are duplicated and added downward. Another approach is to add spreadsheets across within each workbook into a totaling spreadsheet. Totaling spreadsheets within a workbook saves manipulating more files, but if the files can be added together without any special effort it makes more sense to add a larger number of whole files together. To the extent an application can be broken down to the lowest level of data input, it can be made more useful and flexible than previously considered.

Elegant and Scalable

The strength of ExcelCube lies in its simplicity.

All of the Excel workbooks that make up an ExcelCube application, the workbooks into which data have been entered and those that hold different levels of consolidated results, are normal Excel files that can be opened in Excel at any time.

They are not linked together from within or are part of a database of spreadsheets. The individual workbooks hold no connection designating them as a part of a larger system. The architecture that points to where data and results are to be added up is external to all of the files.

The only difference in the workbooks is what data are represented.

This protocol offers a couple of distinct advantages, flexibility and scalability.

Which files get added up into which consolidated levels are outlined in a consolidation tree can be changed by using the mouse.

And because the files are independent from one another and share a common format, consolidated files from one application can be further consolidated using another, higher level application. In this way a large application can be broken down into areas of responsibility, sources of input, or reporting requirements.