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PlaidCloud

The PlaidCloud Ribbon

Installing PlaidXL adds a PlaidCloud tab to the Excel ribbon, with three groups of commands: Data, Drill Functions and Share. Sign in from the task pane before you use them; the expand commands read from the project linked to the workbook there.

Data

Section titled “Data”
Command What it does
Open PlaidXL Opens the PlaidXL task pane.
Refresh All Tables Pulls current data for every table retrieved into the workbook — the same as the button in the task pane. See Refresh All Tables.

Drill Functions

Section titled “Drill Functions”

The expand commands lay out a dimension’s nodes below a node you choose, without writing a formula.

  1. In two cells side by side, type a dimension name and a node in it — for example Region in A1 and EMEA in B1. The order doesn’t matter.
  2. Select both cells.
  3. Click an expand command:
Command Writes below the selection
Expand all levels The node and every node beneath it
Expand to lowest level The node and only the leaves beneath it
Expand one level The node and its children

The nodes are written below your selection, indented by generation and grouped in an Excel outline so you can collapse each level. The expand commands follow the dimension’s main hierarchy. To drill an alternate hierarchy, or to have the layout update when the dimension changes, use the PLAIDXL.DRILL function instead.

If PlaidXL can’t find the dimension or node, check the spelling against PlaidCloud and make sure exactly two cells are selected.

Share

Section titled “Share”
Command What it does
Convert to values (for sharing) Replaces every PlaidXL formula in the workbook with its current value, and remembers the formulas.
Restore PlaidXL formulas Puts back the formulas that Convert to values (for sharing) replaced.

Use Convert to values (for sharing) to send a report to someone who doesn’t have PlaidXL or access to the project — they’d otherwise see errors where the PlaidXL formulas are. Excel asks you to confirm first, and Cancel changes nothing. It converts every formula that calls a PlaidXL function, including one inside another formula such as IFERROR, and leaves your other formulas as they are. See Share a Values-Only Copy.

Section titled “Related”