The Analytics Edge Add-in for Excel is designed to make it easier and a lot faster to create, edit, and refresh a custom Excel report. Like Excel, you can quickly get good value out of it, but the more you learn, the more value you can obtain.This guide will help you to get started with typical reporting tasks. If you need to solve a complicated analysis problem right away, send a note to support@analyticsedge.com and we’ll get you going fast. This website also contains examples of reports you can use as well as helpful articles explaining how to use the product to solve various reporting challenges.
Orientation: The Analytics Edge Ribbon Bar
The Analytics Edge ribbon bar is the command center for the Core Add-in. From here you can refresh your report, manage Quick Queries, build Macros, and access the optional Connectors. You can also check or update your Licenses, and Schedule workbook refreshes.
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Quick Query: containing the all-powerful Refresh All button that will refresh all Queries and Macros, this group also has controls to edit your Quick Queries.
Macro/Interactive Functions: this block holds all the functions you can use in your Macros. It also lets you open or hide the Task Pane where the Macros are managed.
Mode: Switch from Quick Query to Interactive or Analytics Edge Macro mode.
License: where you manage the licenses and add/remove connectors.
Connectors: all installed connectors (premium and free) will appear in this area. The connectors are installed and uninstalled from the License wizard.
Notices: from time-to-time, important messages will be posted here informing you of product changes or required updates.
Interactive Mode, Quick Queries, and Analytics Edge Macros
When in Interactive mode, you can run connector queries and interactive functions, but they will not be saved. This is useful for one-of queries or transformations.
Quick Queries are automatically saved and can be edited and refreshed as required. The results of a connector query will be placed into the worksheet at the cell you had selected. They can be edited by selecting the cell and clicking the Edit Query button. With a Premium add-in license, you also get the opportunity to pivot, arrange, sort, and filter the data using a Quick Functions wizard.
With Analytics Edge Macros, you can easily perform more complex analysis, like combining queries, cleaning up the data and performing calculations. Unlike Excel macros, the Analytics Edge Macros are built using simple function wizards and use standard Excel (XLSX) files — no programming required! The Macros are managed and edited in the Task Pane.
Task Pane
The Task Pane allows you to easily manage and edit the Analytics Edge Macros in your workbook. Individual functions in your macros can be modified, reordered, and deleted — all with simple clicks of the mouse. Reference: Using the Task Pane
When building a Macro, the add-in works like a macro recorder, with every function or connector operation recorded automatically in the Task Pane. As you execute connector queries and macro functions, they are added to the list in the Task Pane. You can step through the macro, edit individual functions, and even insert or reorder functions as desired. The Task Pane makes it quick and easy.
ᴁ Step Results Worksheet
The Analytics Edge Core Add-in processes your query in memory until you are ready to write the results to a worksheet. As you build or edit a quick query or macro, the results up to that point are displayed in a temporary worksheet, called “ᴁ Step Results“, coloured with a green background to be easily recognized. When working with large amounts of data, the temporary worksheet only shows a sample of the actual data to keep things speedy. Reference: Active table in memory.
This worksheet disappears when you finish your Quick Query or Macro. You typically end with a Write To Worksheet command. The temporary worksheet will automatically be removed.