XL?

[ErichR]

I take it that VW2009 still does not import XL...?

[ErichR]

Apparently not.

Why not?

[Ray Libby]

Because.

[Miguel Barrera]

Because why would you need to import xl files?

[ErichR]

1. Suppose I have an XL spreadsheet from an autocad file I want to get into VW?

2. Suppose I have an XL file replete with numbers resulting from formulas I want to get into VW (and I want the same functionality when I import it)?

3. Suppose I want the functionality and ease of use (time-efficient) capability of XL?

4. Why did Autodesk make ACAD XL compatible?

[Dave P]

I agree that being able to use Excel functionality in VW would be ideal, unfortunately that is a wish list item. You can however import Excel data into a blank work sheet in VW. The Excel file must first be saved as a tab delimited .txt file. It can then be imported into an active VW work sheet. Note that any formulas would be lost and only the resultant data would be posted.

[Miguel Barrera]

ACAD was made compatible with XL because it did not have a built-in spreadsheet like VW. Excel as well as any other file in Windows can be imported into an application as an embedded object which is basically just an image of the file. All you have to do in an application is implement this as well as active x technology and you have compatibility with any other program that can respond to this kind of event.

This is great if you only work in Windows but if your application is cross platform then you cannot implement the same functionality on the Mac. Although a similar technology existed on the Mac, it did not have as much support and very few developers adopted it. In order to import the excel file integrally into a VW worksheet, NNA would have to implement all the functions available in excel and that may be a lot more than what most users will ever use.

Since a text file can only import results and not the formulas, have you tried importing the excel file in the other available formats (*.dif and *.slk)?

[panta rhei]

Does Excel really have inquiry & database functions relevant to VW? Since when has Microsoft implemented all the functions available in VectorWorks?

Not in my Excel (2008 for Mac).

[ErichR]

"Does Excel really have inquiry & database functions relevant to VW? Since when has Microsoft implemented all the functions available in VectorWorks?"

But pantha rhei, that's exactly the point. VWA developers have chosen not to make those functions relevant for XL.

[panta rhei]

Erich,

I fail to see how Excel's functions could be made relevant to VW. What Excel-functions would eg. calculate lengths, perimeters, areas, volumes or 3D-locations of VW-objects? Pull out parameters of PIOs?

Sorry - and not wanting to start a war - but we are talking about two entirely different worlds here. A simple spreadsheet table (Excel) and a sophisticated, focused database reporting engine (VW's worksheets).

Not that I woud not like VW to have two-way ODBC-connectivity to a real relational database system, but that's another story.

Edited November 29, 2008 by panta rhei

[ErichR]

You've given yourself away, panta.

XL is a far more sophisticated spreadsheet/database than VW's worksheet.

If you don't get this, then you really are a Greenhorn.

However, XL is unfortunately not integrated with VWA. Therefore, XL appears to lack sophistication, and it does (only within VW's context).

To be more kind, we can admit that we're comparing apples and oranges - XL appears to to you to lack sophistication, but this is because VWA developers have chosen to not integrate XL within VW.

[panta rhei]

Have I? Or have you, ErirchR, the Wizard of MA (a country that does not exist.)

Excel can only deal with explicit (given) values. There are hundreds of functions that can process the numeric values you have entered in the table.

OK. I'm AutoCAD-ignorant, so tell me does Excel, in conjunction with AutoCAD, really enable one to generate reports about the ACAD-drawing? The total length of lines on a layer, drawn with a 0,25 mm red pen? The parameters of an object? List polygons whose area is less than 1 m2?

I still can't find any Excel-functions relevant to CAD. Please, oh ye exulted brownhorn, advise!