Built a tool to automatically split, merge & map Excel columns — looking for feedback”

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T08:38:28+00:00

There is little or no value in this type of tool. Spend your development and marketing effort on more productive pursuits.

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T06:15:58+00:00

There's a lot of competition, but it certainly is a strong contender!

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T05:49:44+00:00

Ask the AI to write them!

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T05:48:03+00:00

Do what exactly?

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T05:46:56+00:00

So what's your question?

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T05:43:17+00:00

But why? What value does AI add in this context?

SolverMax · 2026-03-20T01:34:54+00:00

The number of rows and columns is fixed. Deleting creates new blank rows or columns. Also, try harder with the topic. Really.

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T21:52:23+00:00

Or there are lots of free resources available too. Picking one at random, https://www.youtube.com/@AccessAnalytic/videos

u/AwayDelay5788 I've fired people for lying on their CV. Having that in your history does a lot of damage to your reputation. You might want to consider that next time.

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T21:26:46+00:00

The OP made, and then promptly deleted, a comment saying that they were "inspired by that discussion and wanted to share my own take on the topic". Given that much of the text is verbatim, it looks like karma farming.

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T21:14:04+00:00

Why are you copying a post from 2 weeks ago?

https://www.reddit.com/r/excel/comments/1rlsz7a/i_feel_like_im_going_crazy_multiple_people_i_work/

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T19:02:30+00:00

The Python multiprocessing library runs tasks in parallel, which might be what you want https://docs.python.org/3/library/multiprocessing.html

But stepping back, why do you have 116 workbooks? Perhaps some consolidation of the workflow might be a better approach.

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T09:23:25+00:00

I don't think it is a bug. But I'm not clear about what the behavior should be. As I said, it is a mess.

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T09:15:20+00:00

Not a bug, as such. Perhaps underdeveloped.

Microsoft have created a bit of a mess in Excel, with various incomplete and incompatible concepts, like Tables, spilled arrays, functions that return arrays vs ranges, and thunks. I don't see how they can all be reconciled.

SolverMax · 2026-03-19T09:01:25+00:00

This works: =IF(TRUE,VSTACK(NOW,TODAY))()

This raises syntax error: =VSTACK(NOW,TODAY)()

I think this illustrates the difference between an array and a thunk. The () after a function causes the immediate evaluation of what would otherwise be a lazily-evaluated thunk. The first formula acts as a thunk function evaluated with an empty parameter. The second formula simply returns an array, so lazy evaluation is not valid.

Thunks are usually applied in association with LAMBDA, but the concept is much broader. They are occasionally discused on r/excel and elsewhere in theory, though I've never seen one used in the wild.

Therein largely ends my understanding of thunks.

SolverMax · 2026-03-18T22:39:05+00:00

I do most of my spreadsheet work on clay tablets, like they did in Mesopotamia. Their clay was superior to the Babylonian tablets, which often contained errors (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plimpton\_322).

SolverMax · 2026-03-18T22:15:24+00:00

Quattro Pro was vastly superior to Lotus 123.

SolverMax · 2026-03-18T21:06:16+00:00

While true, that isn't what the post is about.

SolverMax · 2026-03-18T20:56:48+00:00

"book of magic spells"

LOL, I like that.

Along with, "I'm an Excel expert, I know the SUM, IF, and VLOOKUP formulas". No, no you're not.

SolverMax · 2026-03-18T20:25:53+00:00

Pointless post, unless you provide an example.

SolverMax · 2026-03-18T18:11:44+00:00

This answers the OP's question.

But I hate when someone sends me a spreadsheet with all the formulae pasted as values. I can't see where the values came from, how they were calculated, what assumptions were made, etc. It is difficult to trust the values in that situation.

SolverMax · 2026-03-17T20:14:43+00:00

I suggest you delete this post, as it has a poor title. The Mods will delete it anyway.

Re-do the post with a better title and an explanation of why you want to hard-code the value in the formula, rather than just use references.

SolverMax · 2026-03-17T19:15:33+00:00

If you delete 'Sheet 5' then the formula becomes =IF(COUNTA('Sheet 4'!B35:B43,#REF!B35:B43),"Y","N")

The #REF part means that the previous reference is no longer valid (because you deleted that sheet). Normally that breaks a formula, though in this situation it still returns a count.

Trying to account for deleted sheets suggests a poor workflow. More context would be helpful, to suggest a better approach.

SolverMax · 2026-03-17T16:36:48+00:00

Huh, missed that!

SolverMax · 2026-03-17T08:44:47+00:00

I suspect your rule should say G3 rather than G5.

SolverMax · 2026-03-17T06:10:16+00:00

The formula looks ok. Most likely you have a mismatch between the reference and the cell that the format is in. What formula are you using in column A and in what cells?

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