Applications Development
SpreadsheetWorld is providing leadership
in both the development of Excel/VBA-based toolboxes and training on how to
develop these toolboxes. The large number Excel users coupled with the ease
in which users can develop their own specialized toolbox makes Excel the
ideal platform for the development of a broad base of tools.
General Information
SpreadsheetWorld is actively developing selected tools which we perceive
would have a broad user base. SpreadsheetWorld is also providing a broad
range of support services to entrepreneurial tool authors to help them in
the development of specialized tools, as well as providing a means of
quickly bringing their tools to the market place. These same capabilities
are also being made available to our clients to support the development of
libraries of Excel/VBA-based proprietary tools within their organizations.
Tools developed by SpreadsheetWorld are made available for immediate
download from the SpreadsheetWorld website and are distributed and
controlled via SpreadsheetWorld’s Toolbox Manager. The application services
provided include:
- Development of specialized VBA and Fortran DLL function libraries to
provide computational speed and compiled code security
- Development of documentation and help files to support function
libraries and toolboxes
- Integration of customer function libraries and toolboxes into the
SpreadsheetWorld Toolbox Manager for distributed use and security
- Conversion of legacy Fortran code into DLL’s for use with Excel/VBA
- Development of graphic user interfaces to enhance project automation
and ease of use
- System parameter management and communication between team members
and multiple software platforms
- Commercialization of in-house validated software and legacy Fortran
applications
Document Guidelines
SpreadsheetWorld is providing leadership in developing guidelines for
documentation procedures in Excel and VBA. The elements of these guidelines
are introduced in each of our training programs. We also offer in-depth
training courses designed to put these guidelines into practice. In
documentation, it is important to document the source for all equations and
information, declare all units for numbers, and specify limits to all
function models. All algorithms should have visual or pseudo flowcharts.
Clear instructions should be provided for use of worksheets and functions.
Online Help Files
One of the methods recommended for documentation is to use electronic
on-line documentation. There are numerous benefits to on-line documentation.
It represents considerable savings in producing hard copy; it provides
electronic searching and hyperlinks; and it can be easily updated and
changed. The downside is that the writer must learn how to make on-line help
files and integrate them into their projects. This is one of the roles of
XLManager, to management the function on-line help files.
Software Commercialization
Many organizations have spent considerable resources to develop engineering
software application for internal use. A large number of these tools could
be made available commercially for use by other organizations. However, the
companies that developed the applications are typically not in the business
of marketing software applications. SpreadsheetWorld can work with those
organizations to develop and market a commercial version of these tools. In
addition to brining these tools to market, SpreadsheetWorld also provides
the interface required so that they can be utilized from the Excel platform.
Many times this involves the creation of either Fortran or C Dynamic Link
Libaries (DLLs) which can then be integrated into Excel as Add-ins and added
to the users Excel Add-in Collection. Other times, it involves the
development of a user wizard using Excel UserForms and ActiveX controls so
that the code is make more user friendly, and robust. If your organization
has engineering application tools and code which you think would be of use
to other organizations, we invite you to contact us. Compensation to your
organization can come in the form of equity in SpreadsheetWorld and/or
royalties on sales.
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