EMAGENIT
Microsoft Excel Software Design |
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The Problem
NASA JPL approached EMAGENIT with the following engineering problem:
Develop a conceptual design environment in Microsoft Excel for
Windows and Excel for Macintosh that would allow various NASA JPL
programs written in C to communicate with each other. These programs
acting in unison along with the EMAGENIT Excel interface were to
allow NASA JPL to rapidly simulate, early in the conceptual design
process, the power usage of future Mars rovers and also layout out
the rover’s mission profile for each day. |
How We Did It
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The
Solution
Using a combination of Microsoft Excel, Visual Basic for
Applications, C, Pearl Script, Unix Script and Apple Script,
EMAGENIT and its associated JPL team were able to develop an integrated design environment in
Microsoft Excel that allows JPL mission planners to rapidly simulate
a conceptual Mars mission for future rovers. As you noticed from the
list just presented, everything used in the program was “off the
shelf” allowing it to be developed and tested rapidly. Most
important, the program was designed to run in both Excel for Mac
and Excel for Windows.
Additional Information
For information about our software design or training services for
the Excel Macintosh environment, contact us at
805.498.7162 or contact us at
excelmac@emagenit.com. |
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Why Did We
Use Microsoft Excel? |
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Microsoft Excel's Versatility
Microsoft Excel in combination with Visual Basic for Applications
has the capability to create dedicated applications that rival
programs written in stand alone languages like C and Visual Basic.
The strength’s of using Excel is that everybody already knows how to
use it, Excel’s environment provides a set of tools that allows
sophisticated interfaces to be developed and tested rapidly, Excel
has the unique capability to communicate with multiple databases and
computer languages at once and the base line program can have extra
functionality added to it by simply using Excel worksheets and
formulas. Most of all, since Excel and its functionalities are
pre-built; project development time and cost are substantially
reduced. The JPL project just mentioned from conception to finished
product took about 4 ½ months. |
Microsoft Excel for
Macintosh Training |
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EMAGENIT provides
Microsoft Excel for Macintosh training and Microsoft
Excel VBA for Macintosh training.
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Our unique
experiences gained in developing Excel software for
clients like NASA JPL who uses the Mac in a good
portion of its staff allows us to guide your company
through Excel Macintosh training and VBA Macintosh
training issues* as well as developing cutting edge
Excel VBA Mac software*.
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Our workshops
listed on our
on-site,
self-study
and public pages apply to
our Excel for Macintosh workshop curriculum
(exclusions are the ActiveX and FORTRAN DLL
workshops).
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Read the following
paragraphs to learn about the unique opportunity and
privilege given to EMAGENIT by NASA JPL to help
contribute to their continuing Mars rover efforts.
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To view the Mars
Rover website
click here.
The graphics displayed below were obtained from NASA
JPL.
*Note that Excel VBA is
no longer available on the most recent 2009 Macintosh
Excel. |
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