Excel and Analytica

Many people use Analytica to build quantitative models as a replacement for Microsoft Excel. Others use Analytica in combination with Excel.

If you have have a spreadsheet that is too cumbersome, opaque, or inflexible, you may wish to translate it into Analytica. This is a great way to learn Analytica for a new user. It is also a powerful way to verify the validity of a spreadsheet by comparing the results of the Analytica model with the spreadsheet. This process often surfaces errors that were hidden in the spreadsheet.

If you plan to convert a spreadsheet into Analytica, you should consult Excel to Analytica Translation, a step-by-step guide for the process. You may also use Excel to Analytica Mappings, which gives Analytica functions or expressions that are equivalent for most Excel functions.

You may also use Excel spreadsheet to provide input data or to save computed results from your Analytica model, using Analytica functions to Read from and write to Excel spreadsheets.

These functions also work with the Analytica Cloud Player. For details see Spreadsheets in ACP. When opening a spreadsheet from ACP, it can prompt the user to upload a spreadsheet to ACP. Similarly, when closing a spreadsheet, it can prompt the user to download a spreadsheet with the results.

Another way to link cells or ranges in Excel with Analytica variables is to use Using OLE linking.

You may also access Excel from Analytica using COM Integration (Microsoft Component Object Model), a widely used method for communicating between Windows applications. Analytica's COM functions let you access just about all features of Excel and other Microsoft Windows applications. For examples, see COM and Excel examples.

See also

• Excel to Analytica Translation
• Excel to Analytica Mappings
• Read from and write to Excel spreadsheets
• Spreadsheets in ACP
• Using OLE linking
• COM Integration and COM and Excel examples