ifu Hamburg GmbH e!Sankey 4 – Hints for the Live Link to Microsoft Excel
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1. Introduction
Using the e!Sankey Live Link to Microsoft Excel you can keep your Sankey diagram
up to date automatically, instead of changing values manually, e.g. for monthly reports.
Thus the Live Link not only reduces the workload, but also helps you to avoid
transcription errors.
The Live Link feature is explained in the e!Sankey user manual in chapter 11. This
document provides additional hints how you can set up your Excel sheets and use
functions in Excel to improve the usage of the Live Link.
2. Named Cells for Live Links
To protect your set Live Links against subsequent changes (e.g. newly inserted lines
or rows) we recommend define names for the cells that you intend to link to. Instead of
a reference to an absolute address (e.g. B2), the link then refers to the name of the cell
(e.g. material A). Please note that it is essential to name the cells before you set the
Live Links to e!Sankey.
Within Microsoft Excel there are two ways for naming cells: Either name a cell right
after selecting it in the name box at the top left (see below, left screenshot). Or you can
open the name manager through the context menu of a cell ("Define Name…") or via
the tab “Formulas” (see below, right screenshot).
The cell names must be unique, i.e. the same name can not be used for more than one
cell. They must not contain any spaces and are case-insensitive. By default, the name
manager will suggest the text located in the cell to the left (if it contains a text).
Hint: In newer Excel versions you can use the command "Create from Selection" to
assign a series of names.
For more details on names see https://support.office.com/en-us/article/define-and-use-
names-in-formulas-4d0f13ac-53b7-422e-afd2-abd7ff379c64