Forum Discussion
Linking Workbooks
I use more than one workbook to pull data from the single source; just not 200!
And it is possible to insert new columns and have FILTER accommodate that. It gets tricky, and how best to adapt would be a function of how frequently those changes are made. So why don't you describe a bit more completely here the bigger picture.
- Maybe start with explaining why there need to be 200 "subordinate" workbooks? The fact that there are 200 workbooks each dependent on that single source of data, yet independent of each other, is certainly a major complication. Why can't they be, perhaps, 200 separate worksheets within a single dependent workbook? [that, actually, is more descriptive of my situation: I have separate worksheets in the workbook that derives its data from the source workbook by means of FILTER]
- And then add to that explanations of the frequency with which new columns get added; does the count of rows change too? How frequently, etc.
- What's the nature of the data? Text? Numbers? Currency? Test results....
That's helpful. BUT, given that description, I wonder why it still is the case that you're adding columns to the master database. How many more nutrient profile attributes can there be after you've done the amount of work involved in getting to 1,600 recipes?! I can understand how it grew in the early stages, but surely by now the range of possible attributes for nutrient profiles of ingredients is pretty well established. Isn't it?
And if something new DOES get added, it would apply to a small subset of the recipes anyway, so could be incorporated in one or two of the subordinate workbooks.
Frankly, the other thing that occurs to me is that this whole process might be better approached as an Access database, or some comparable database manager. Excel is wonderful for what it does; your application is (I suspect) on the periphery of Excel's ideal applications. That it has worked thus far is wonderful.
The other possibility: do you use Power Query? I work solely in the Mac environment, which does not have access to Power Query--it's only in the Windows world. My understanding is that PowerQuery (in the hands of a master, at any rate) gives Excel a better collection of the powers of a relational database. If you're in Windows, if you keep your office software up-to-date, let us know. Some of the other regular contributors here may have some PowerQuery solutions for you,
- I've always chosen excel over access because I'm good at excel, and excel has such breadth of flexibility. Poor excuses, I know. But I will look into your suggestions. Again, thank you for your attention.
Do you actually produce the recipes (i.e., the output) themselves in Excel? Given that a written recipe (aside from the list of ingredients) is mostly what I'd consider more suited to a word processor, I'm just curious....Again, I can see how Excel could be used, although it's almost a matter of "abuse" of Excel, and given Word's pretty impressive abilities at formatting.