Building a user interface to an Excel model

Question

I built an excel model used to analyze real estate transactions. I would like to create a user interface to overlay the model so that the file can be distributed to clients to evaluate potential investments

The interface will serve two primary functions: 1)Enhance the user experience by creating an easy to follow input page. The entered data will then flow through to the model from which reports will be generated for the user to view. 2)Protect the intellectual property of the model by restricting the user from the underlying model. The user will not be able to view or edit the formulas in the excel file.

I believe this can be done using MS Acess/Visual Basics but I was hoping to find a program that is more professional looking. Can anyone suggest a program/programming language in which this type of user interface could be created?

Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer 1

You don't have to use Access, VBA (Visual Basic For Applications) is built right into Excel. There are good books available and lots of web resources. Your main problem seems to be the UI is not professional - I'd disagree, out of the box it will look like an application developed 5-10 years ago, but it will still work and look ok.

If you want a really slick interface, I'd suggest you look at WPF and integrating that into Excel. However there is a big learning curve to get that going, I'd get a basic UI going, show/sell that to your customers, and then ask them what they want.

Answer 2

I think my first question would be how savvy are you with development? You really didn't elude to that in your post.

If your using Excel 2007, there are ways to hide menu commands in Excel and remove a lot of the current interface and replace it with your own. It looks like Excel and functions like Excel, however, the ribbon interface looks vastly different. The other side is just to add a Tab or Menu and have your commands there. It sounds like you want use Excel as your UI, but replace the commands with your functions.

If you want to HIDE your IP, and you decide VBA is the way to go, then your code is stored inside the Excel Spreadsheet and is accessible to anyone who knows how to open the VBA editor.

If you decide to do it in .NET, then your functionality exists in an assembly outside Excel, and the .NET runtime loads it when you open the Spreadsheet. No amount of poking around inside Excel will help them find your "code".

There are lots of code samples to help you with both. I would recommend VB.NET if you decide to do .NET. From a pure syntax point, VB.NET handles lots of the office programming "quirks" well and can help you speed development. Here is the office development site, that you can go and get information before making a decision.

Also, according to this article you need to buy Visual Studio Professional 2008 or 2005 to get the graphical designers and such. If this isn't feasible or affordable, VBA might not be a bad idea to start with.

Answer 3

In regards to my development savvy, I am novice. I am familiar with the basics of VB but doing the actual development for the type of UI I have in mind is beyond ability. I plan to hire a developer to create the UI but before I can do that I need to decide the language it will be built in.

MrTelly, Chris, I appreciate your advice.

I am currently in the search for a skilled developer willing to collaborate to determine the best language to build the UI and then execute the development. If you have any recommendations or would like to discuss the project yourself I can be contacted at [email protected] .