The ability create a relational database in Excel with vlookups and hlookups, then capture it all into a macro is amazing.
I've really enjoyed using Excel as a Postgres frontend, with a real Postgres DB instance handling data, and then using the report functionality to dump to Word.
While a pro reporting engine and cutting out MS Office altogether would be a better longterm solution, it is hard to beat for quick & dirty results.
> The ability create a relational database in Excel with vlookups and hlookups,
Do yourself a favour and ditch vlookup and hlookup in favour of the recently introduced xlookup, which even obsoletes index/match !
I try to keep my exploratory joins out of Excel, but I admit that I often don't resist the immediacy of Excel's poor man's joins located right where I need them.
The ability create a relational database in Excel with vlookups and hlookups, then capture it all into a macro is amazing.
I've really enjoyed using Excel as a Postgres frontend, with a real Postgres DB instance handling data, and then using the report functionality to dump to Word.
While a pro reporting engine and cutting out MS Office altogether would be a better longterm solution, it is hard to beat for quick & dirty results.