Using Excel 2007 as a thin client...
 

To the point: Excel is a application interface that people are comfortable
with and that (thankfully) isn't going away any time soon. As a result when
dealing with certain custom applications, using the Excel interface is just
the way to go.

Question: Assume I wanted to write a custom application in Excel and deploy
it to 1000 people (since Excel 2007 is already on everyones desktop). In the
past we would have to write VBA modules and bake them into the spreadsheet.
That doesn't scale when attempting to deploy to 1000 users. People would copy
the spreadsheets everywhere and updates would be a nightmare. How do I get
around this issue? How can I leverage Excel to write scalable and
maintainable software?

Any help pointing me to resources explaining how to approach this would be
appreciated.

Using Excel 2007 as a thin client...
 

Put all the code in an add-in.

Tim

"X-MSFT" wrote in message
...
To the point: Excel is a application interface that people are comfortable
with and that (thankfully) isn't going away any time soon. As a result
when
dealing with certain custom applications, using the Excel interface is
just
the way to go.

Question: Assume I wanted to write a custom application in Excel and
deploy
it to 1000 people (since Excel 2007 is already on everyones desktop). In
the
past we would have to write VBA modules and bake them into the
spreadsheet.
That doesn't scale when attempting to deploy to 1000 users. People would
copy
the spreadsheets everywhere and updates would be a nightmare. How do I get
around this issue? How can I leverage Excel to write scalable and
maintainable software?

Any help pointing me to resources explaining how to approach this would be
appreciated.

Using Excel 2007 as a thin client...
 

Could you point me to some reference material? I would imagine the Add-In
needs to be deployed. What would the deployment look like? How is it
maintained?

"Tim" wrote:

Put all the code in an add-in.

Tim

"X-MSFT" wrote in message
...
To the point: Excel is a application interface that people are comfortable
with and that (thankfully) isn't going away any time soon. As a result
when
dealing with certain custom applications, using the Excel interface is
just
the way to go.

Question: Assume I wanted to write a custom application in Excel and
deploy
it to 1000 people (since Excel 2007 is already on everyones desktop). In
the
past we would have to write VBA modules and bake them into the
spreadsheet.
That doesn't scale when attempting to deploy to 1000 users. People would
copy
the spreadsheets everywhere and updates would be a nightmare. How do I get
around this issue? How can I leverage Excel to write scalable and
maintainable software?

Any help pointing me to resources explaining how to approach this would be
appreciated.

Using Excel 2007 as a thin client...
 

I have used Inno Setup (find it via Google) for years to deploy Excel
add-ins. I also use a VB6 routine during the setup process to assign the
proper registry entries, but I believe I could also do this using Inno.

A recent article on Jan Karel Pieterse's web site (http://jkp-ads.com)
describes a method by which an add-in can check for a newer version, and if
necessary, download and upgrade it.

- Jon
-------
Jon Peltier, Microsoft Excel MVP
Tutorials and Custom Solutions
Peltier Technical Services, Inc. - http://PeltierTech.com
_______


"X-MSFT" wrote in message
...
Could you point me to some reference material? I would imagine the Add-In
needs to be deployed. What would the deployment look like? How is it
maintained?

"Tim" wrote:

Put all the code in an add-in.

Tim

"X-MSFT" wrote in message
...
To the point: Excel is a application interface that people are
comfortable
with and that (thankfully) isn't going away any time soon. As a result
when
dealing with certain custom applications, using the Excel interface is
just
the way to go.

Question: Assume I wanted to write a custom application in Excel and
deploy
it to 1000 people (since Excel 2007 is already on everyones desktop).
In
the
past we would have to write VBA modules and bake them into the
spreadsheet.
That doesn't scale when attempting to deploy to 1000 users. People
would
copy
the spreadsheets everywhere and updates would be a nightmare. How do I
get
around this issue? How can I leverage Excel to write scalable and
maintainable software?

Any help pointing me to resources explaining how to approach this would
be
appreciated.

Using Excel 2007 as a thin client...
 

This has been a useful reference for me:
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-E.../dp/0321262506

Tim

"X-MSFT" wrote in message
...
Could you point me to some reference material? I would imagine the Add-In
needs to be deployed. What would the deployment look like? How is it
maintained?

"Tim" wrote:

Put all the code in an add-in.

Tim

"X-MSFT" wrote in message
...
To the point: Excel is a application interface that people are
comfortable
with and that (thankfully) isn't going away any time soon. As a result
when
dealing with certain custom applications, using the Excel interface is
just
the way to go.

Question: Assume I wanted to write a custom application in Excel and
deploy
it to 1000 people (since Excel 2007 is already on everyones desktop).
In
the
past we would have to write VBA modules and bake them into the
spreadsheet.
That doesn't scale when attempting to deploy to 1000 users. People
would
copy
the spreadsheets everywhere and updates would be a nightmare. How do I
get
around this issue? How can I leverage Excel to write scalable and
maintainable software?

Any help pointing me to resources explaining how to approach this would
be
appreciated.

Using Excel 2007 as a thin client...
 

I have had success with using Excel as the business logic and user interface
layers while deploying the data layer in a database somewhere. XL itself
stores no data. It just reads and writes to and from a database. Doing it
this way I just place a read only copy of the spreadsheet in a central
location that everyone who needs access can get to. When they log in it
determines who they are and configures itself for their needs. This approach
works well when the spreadsheet is designed to fascilitate a colaborative
effort such as budgeting. Just my 2 cents.
--
HTH...

Jim Thomlinson


"X-MSFT" wrote:

To the point: Excel is a application interface that people are comfortable
with and that (thankfully) isn't going away any time soon. As a result when
dealing with certain custom applications, using the Excel interface is just
the way to go.

Question: Assume I wanted to write a custom application in Excel and deploy
it to 1000 people (since Excel 2007 is already on everyones desktop). In the
past we would have to write VBA modules and bake them into the spreadsheet.
That doesn't scale when attempting to deploy to 1000 users. People would copy
the spreadsheets everywhere and updates would be a nightmare. How do I get
around this issue? How can I leverage Excel to write scalable and
maintainable software?

Any help pointing me to resources explaining how to approach this would be
appreciated.