Hello Community,
I challenge you to make 21st century improvements in Office apps dealing with external references and hyperlinks.
As you may guess, there is a wide community of analysts out there depending heavily on Office apps models that are interlinked via external reference and hyperlinks. What you may not necessarily realize is, starting with MS Office 2016, links performance declined so much that many analysts returned to copy-paste mode of work in order to stabilize their models' performance and (surprise-surprise !!!) save time and trouble dealing with external links.
Here is the challenge!
1. There is NO NEED to open the same reference-source file more than ONCE(!) to update or change a set of links. You can do it once and update all links to this source using simple constructs such as a 'Loop' statements.
Can you do that? - I challenge you to prove it 🙂
2. The hyperlinks issue is - the hyperlink will not change when the linked file and link-source file are saved in or moved to a new location. And, it doesn't matter how the save/move is executed.
I challenge you to implement a recognition of the location and automate the hyperlink-reference update - I bet, there is a solution available to use in the 3rd decade of 21st century. Or, if not (?), I challenge you to come up with one.
3. Cloud is great! Yet, many MS Office files are still stored on LAN shared drives. Guess what, MS Office app DOES NOT NEED TO RECONNECT EVERY TIME A CHANGE IS DONE. All that is needed is a check of connection done on a system level whether it is to LAN-drive or to a Cloud.
I challenge you to change the protocol and see if there is any improvement in software efficiency. My bet - you will be amazed how much time simple change will save.
4. Finally! A bit of a news for you - the space and time ARE NOT INFINTE! Yeah, unfortunately, that is how it is.
My challenge for you - DEAL WITH IT! MAKE SURE YOUR PRODUCT IS AS SLIM AND AS FAST AS TECHNOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE!
My Best Wishes to All of You.
GOOD LUCK.