Excel Downloads - Utilites and Games...

Here you can find some really useful Excel utilities, and (when the boss isn't looking) a bunch of fun games. All of these programs are open source (no passwords) and will run happily on any version of Excel from 97 to 2003. Because you can see all the code, and the code is commented throughout, they also serve as a great training aid for developing your own projects. The list will continue to grow, so pop back from time to time and see what's new.

The utilities were written to deal with real world business problems and have proved their worth time and time again. If you require a solution for your business then please contact us to find out what we can do for you.

Legal Notice These Excel examples are made available on an 'as-is' basis. All warranties, representations or guarantees of any kind (whether express, implied or statutory) including, without limitation, warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, or fitness for a particular purpose, are specifically disclaimed. IN NO EVENT SHALL GLYNN CONSULTING LTD BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY. Having said all that (because we have to) we have never encountered any problems.

Macro Virus Protection In Excel, you can adjust the macro security level using Tools Options and then clicking on the Security tab. To allow macros to run, the security level must be set no higher than medium. Even when set to medium, Excel will prompt you to enable or disable macros. Changing these settings is up to you (see legal notice above). In practice, a setting of medium is usually safe for most purposes. You could always return to a higher setting after using these programs.

Utilities

DateSelector - Many programmes feature a pop up calendar to help select a date, but Excel makes you type them in. Not any more! With this utility you get a new menu option that allows you to flick through the months and years to select your date without ever touching the keyboard. It also includes a choice of formatting options for your date. View Screenshot Download zip file Download Add-In zip file

MailShot - This is a highly flexible yet very simple way of sending personalised letters to a list of customers. It will print any given range of customers from your list, and also print address onto envelopes. The default page size is set to 'A4' for letters and 'DL' for envelopes but can be simply changed to any other size. View Screenshot Download zip file

RenameFiles - Amazingly Windows Explorer has no facility to rename multiple files. Even good old DOS only gives is wildcard filename changes. This Excel utility allows you to list all files in a chosen directory and make global changes to the names and/or extensions. You can use find and replace, or use formulas to manipulate text (the utility provides you with some ready made formulas you can use). As this will rename large batches of files, be careful!!! Use common sense - like working on copies of files. View Screenshot Download zip file

ListMaker - This can save you hours of laborious copying and pasting. If you have many spreadsheets set up the same way (like one spreadsheet per department), you can create a consolidated report by listing which cells you want to extract, clicking the 'Create a list of files' button and then 'Produce Report'. View Screenshot Download zip file

AlignTables - When you are trying to compare 2 similar tables and find the differences, this utility brings the tables in line with each other. It's amazing how often this type of problem crops up and this can save a lot of manual effort or messing around with lookup formulas. View Screenshot Download zip file

PhasingFunction - This is an example of a custom function that can greatly speed up forecasting. Simply change the value, start period, or duration and see all of your figures change. Phasing can be spread linearly or over any profile you can create. This can be incorporated into automated forecast systems. The pack contains both a spreadsheet example and an add-in. View Screenshot Download Example zip file Download Add-In zip file

ModifyWorkbooksUtility - If you have a large number of spreadsheets set up the same way and you need to change them all, then this will change them all for you. Just record a macro (or write one) that changes one spreadsheet, stop recording, paste in the code, list the files and you're done. View Screenshot Download zip file

WorksheetAnalyser - If you have a workbook with a large number of sheets with the same layout, then this utility can create a report extracting data from each sheet as a new line. View Screenshot Download zip file

Games

BrainTrainer - Excel lends itself very well to mini-games. Here is a collection of mini-games, that provide different mental challenges. The idea is to complete the games as quickly as you can with as few mistakes as possible. With practice you can get higher and higher scores and even if your brain is beyond improvement, at least it is fun to play. I can score 8,000+, let me know what you can do. View Screenshot Download zip file

The Numbers Game - This is a version of the game from the TV quiz show 'Countdown'. I found an Excel version of this game developed by somebody else, but the time limits made it quite frustrating and the user interface was a little difficult to use. I decided to write a user friendly version which was fun to play. Please let me know if I have succeeded. View Screenshot Download zip file

Sudoku - I couldn't resist getting in on the act, so here is a Sudoku game generator and solver. The solver does a good job with so called 'simple' games (which are the sort of games it generates), but if you manually enter a difficult game, it probably won't get very far. View Screenshot Download zip file

Battleships - The traditional game of luck with a bit of strategy thrown in. Play against the computer opponent and try to sink the computers fleet before it sinks yours. View Screenshot Download zip file

CellSweeper - This is a version of the windows Minesweeper game. The controls are slightly different but are very intuitive, especially the 'double-click' to clear large areas in one go. View Screenshot Download zip file

Random Insult Generator - This was created to see what fun could be had from Excel could do without any macro programming at all. Using standard Excel formulas and a fully customisable list this spreadsheet can generate over 2 million insults without using a single swear word. You can keep adding to the list to create even more combinations, but please, keep it clean! View Screenshot Download zip file

Robin's Square - This is a completely original puzzle game with 2 difficulty settings, 'easy' (which is hard!) and 'hard' which is diabolical! There is a built in solver to prove that it can be done, but it's quite a challenge. View Screenshot Download zip file

Slot Machine - This slot machine includes holds, nudges and a high/low gamble. It's also quite generous unlike the real thing! View Screenshot Download zip file