Hello,
I’d like to announce the first public alpha of excel_to_code: It can
convert excel spreadsheets (.xlsx, not .xls) into C or ruby. This allows
the excel spreadsheets to be run programatically, without excel,
anywhere that compiles basic dependency free C code or runs ruby. This
can be handy to allow excel to be used as the calculating engine behind
websites.
Currently it:
- Only implements some formulae
- Probably gets some syntax wrong
- Produces naive code
But on the plus side it is used in production to power this website:
Based on this excel model:
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/11/tackling-climate-change/2050/3696-2050-calculator-with-costs.XLSX
… which contains tables, structured references, indirect formulae,
array formulae, SUMIFS formulae and the like.
To get from alpha to beta, I’d like to:
- increase the number of formulae it can manage
- make it produce less naive code (by implementing Excel’s IF and
VLOOKUP and INDEX functions in a way that doesn’t involve calculating
all possible answers before choosing one).
If anyone feels like helping with this, or just giving it a go then take
a look at:
- The Homepage: http://tamc.github.com/excel_to_code/
- The gem: excel_to_code
- Source: GitHub - tamc/excel_to_code: Roughly translate some Excel spreadsheets to Ruby or C.
It is MIT licensed.
Best wishes
tamc