The Excel client of Analytica is a native Excel plug-in and provides the full set of analytics capabilities as expected by Excel (and non-Excel experts):
- Report creation
- UDF-based reports
- Schema browser (type tree)
- Calculated property management
- Database connectivity
Brief Overview
The following Figure provides an impression of the various parts of the Excel client. They are discussed in detail in the following.
Analytica Tab and Ribbon
In the above Figure, the Analytica tab is selected. The Analytica functionality becomes available through the Ribbon that is shown when the tab is selected.
Different ribbon groups organize the functionality. For example, the database connectivity ribbon group provides the functionality to connect to databases. The ribbon group “Show” provides user interface elements, like the type tree and calculated properties.
Worksheet Areas
The worksheet shows three areas:
- Data Area. The data area displays data being reported on. Graphs using the native Excel graphing library have been added.
- Calculated Properties. The calculated properties task pane is a list of all the virtual fields and collections that have been added by the user.
- Type Tree. The type tree shows the contents of the database, in this case, the collection “twitter”. This allows the analyst to understand the structure of the documents in the collection.
Analytics Development Life Cycle
The analytics life cycle consists of several steps. This is a basic life cycle that in companies might have many more detailed forms.
- Connect to database
- Use the type tree to understand the structure
- Define calculated properties for data that need to be reported on by are not part of the base database content
- Retrieve the data onto worksheets
- Use graphics in order to visualize the data
The Analytica Excel plug-in supports this and more detailed life cycles. In more complex scenarios, the client can connect to several databases. Data can be reported on in different worksheets and in varying complexity.
Learn how to use Analytica’s Excel plug-in with this tutorial