Skip to content

Spreadsheet Imports Without Excel

PULSE Dashboard now reads spreadsheets directly. Excel does not have to be installed on the workstation to import one, and an import no longer disturbs a copy of Excel the user happens to have open.

That matters most on a server running PULSE Dashboard as a scheduled job, where Excel is often not installed at all, and on any workstation where an import used to close the spreadsheet somebody was working in.

Which imports changed

Six import paths now read the file themselves:

  • Budget Entry — Import from Excel
  • Budget Entry — Create Template
  • The matrix import on the main form
  • Load Matrix on the User Matrix Editor
  • Load Matrix on the Query Matrix Config form
  • The matrix merge import

They accept the same files as before: .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, the Excel template formats, CSV and tab-separated text. The Load Matrix and matrix merge dialogs now offer .xlsx alongside the .xls they already offered.

Export to Excel is unchanged

Writing to Excel still uses the copy of Excel installed on the workstation. The Export to Excel commands and the Export Matrix buttons work exactly as they did.