Excel Add-in Views

The Excel Add‑in Views tab lets you configure one or more Excel files to be distributed automatically with a distribution job. This is useful when you want to automate the refresh and delivery of Excel files containing live data to various users.

note

To distribute an Excel Add-in file, the server performing the distribution must have Microsoft Excel installed, as well as the Excel Add-in installed within Excel.

Upload Excel Add-in files to distribute

Upload an Excel Add-in file

1. In the Excel Add-in Views tab, click the upload icon.
2. Select an existing Excel file from the list, or click the upload icon again to browse and select a new Excel file.
3. Once uploaded, select the Excel file to make it available for distribution.
4. Click Confirm.
   The file appears under the latest Addin tab.
5. Set the required properties for the Excel file.

Upload multiple Excel Add-in files

1. Click the + icon at the top right to add new Addin tab.
2. Select the new Addin tab and click the upload icon.
3. Select an existing Excel file from the list, or click the upload icon again to browse and select a new Excel file.
4. Once uploaded, select the Excel file to make it available for distribution.
5. Click Confirm.
6. Set the required properties for the Excel file.

Delete an existing Excel Add-in files from distribution

1. Select the Addin tab you want to delete.
2. Click the - icon at the top right.
   The file is immediately removed from distribution.

Excel Add-in Properties

The following lists the available properties to customize when uploading an Excel Add-in file.

Property	Description
File Name	Displays the name of the selected Excel file to be distributed.
Custom Name	Enable to customize the output file name. You can enter a custom name, add multilingual translations, and use global variables or special variables for dynamic naming. Note: If a file with the specified name already exists, it will be overwritten. Windows file names cannot contain these characters: \ / : | < > * ?. If the custom name includes any of these, the distribution job will fail. Uppercase and lowercase letters (A-Z, a-z), numbers (0-9), and the underscore (_) cannot appear immediately after a global variable name. Global variables and special variables are resolved based on the default environment only: Admin for on-premises and ADMCA for cloud.
Sheets	Choose which sheets from the workbook to include. To select all sheets, enable All Sheets next to the text box.
Format	Select the format to receive the visualization. Available options: PDF Excel(.xlsx) CSV Excel Add-in If a visualization is set to PDF format, it can be turned into a Consolidated Report.
Use Reporting Tree	Available when you select Excel(.xlsx) or Excel Addin. When enabled, the One distribution file per value option is replaced by One sheet per Reporting Tree node. This option removes the Cell Value column and creates a separate sheet in the Excel file for each node in the Reporting Tree that is set as Distributable.
Protection	When Excel or PDF format is selected, you can optionally protect the distribution file by setting a password.
Execution timeout	Set the maximum number of minutes to wait before canceling the execution of the Excel Add-in.
Parameters	Add a value to be used as a filter in the Excel Add-in by specifying the sheet and cell location.

Add and customize a parameter

1. Click on the + icon.
2. Specify the following:
   • Sheet Name: Select the sheet where the cell value will be applied.
   • Cell Address: Enter the cell where the value will be inserted.
   • Cell Value: Enter the value to place in the specified cell. You can use global variables.
     
3. (Optional) Enable One distribution file per value to create a separate file for each unique value.

Example

Suppose your Excel file includes filters for Company (A, B, C) and Fiscal Year (2019, 2020). The scenarios below explain what the distribution output will be when the One distribution file per value option is enabled.

Company	Fiscal Year	Description
Disabled	Disabled	Generates a single file containing all three companies and their fiscal years.
Enabled	Disabled	Generates one file per company. Each file contains both fiscal years for that company (e.g., one file for Company A with 2019 and 2020).
Enabled	Enabled	Generates a separate file for each combination of company and fiscal year (e.g., one file for Company A in 2019, one file for Company A in 2020, and so on for each company and fiscal year).