You can install the MDriven Turnkey Excel Plugin to connect Microsoft Excel to a MDriven Turnkey application, then use the Excel AddOns tab to work with the data and views you are authorized to access.
What the plugin does
The MDriven Turnkey Excel Plugin is an Excel add-in for moving data between Excel and a Turnkey application. It opens the Turnkey application in an embedded browser inside Excel.
The plugin works within the data and user interface designed for the application. You can access only the views and data that your Turnkey user account is authorized to use through the model's access groups.
For example, if your application exposes a Person seeker and result grid to your user account, you can use that view from Excel. The plugin does not give Excel access to model data that the Turnkey application does not expose to that user.
Get the plugin
- Go to the MDriven Downloads page.
- Download the MDriven Turnkey Excel Plugin installation package.
- Install the downloaded package.
- Start, or restart, Excel after installation.
Verify the installation
- Open Microsoft Excel.
- Look for the AddOns tab. The tab can have a localized name; for example, it may appear as an add-in tab in a non-English Excel installation.
- Select the MDriven Turnkey plugin action.
- In the plugin window, paste the URL of your Turnkey application in the box at the top.
- Select Go.
The Turnkey application should open in the plugin's embedded browser. Sign in with your normal Turnkey credentials if the application requires authentication.
If the application opens, the plugin is installed and ready to use.
Use the plugin
The plugin supports three main workflows:
| Task | What you do | Important condition |
|---|---|---|
| Get data into Excel | Open a Turnkey view containing a grid, select a destination cell in Excel, and use the download action. | The plugin downloads the data shown in the first grid in the Turnkey user interface. |
| Find Turnkey data from Excel values | Select cells in Excel and use Seek Selected in Turnkey. | The active Turnkey user interface must be a seeker; each selected cell value is used as a search value. |
| Write Excel values to Turnkey | Select a rectangular Excel range and use Write Selected to Turnkey. | The active Turnkey user interface must be a seeker, with the key in the leftmost result column and target columns configured as writable in the MDriven Designer ViewModel. |
Read Documentation:Excel Plugin Function before preparing a ViewModel for import or update. It describes the required grid order, writable columns, lookup handling, and how Turnkey shows Save or Cancel when the plugin changes data.
Example: prepare a grid for writing from Excel
Suppose an Excel range contains Person values in this order:
| Identity | Name | Company | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| P-100 | Ada Lovelace | Analytical Engines | United Kingdom |
To write this range through the plugin, design the seeker result so that:
- Identity is the leftmost column. The plugin uses it to find an existing object.
- Name, Company, and Country follow in the same order as the Excel columns.
- The columns that Excel must update are not read-only in the ViewModel.
- A ViewModel action named
CreateNewexists if a missing key should create a new object. The action is expected to create an object of the same class as the seeker result and assign the key before the remaining writable values are applied.
For a single link such as Company, represent the column as a ComboBox in the ViewModel when that is the intended way to assign the link. The plugin can use this lookup-oriented design when writing values.
Uninstall the plugin
If you need to remove the plugin, open a Windows command prompt and run the following command:
"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VSTO\10.0\VSTOInstaller.exe" /Uninstall http://www.mdriven.net/PublicDownloads/MDrivenTurnkeyExcelPlugin/TurnkeyExcelAddIn.vsto
Restart Excel after uninstalling. If the plugin still appears, close all Excel windows before starting Excel again.
Troubleshooting
The plugin is not visible in Excel
Confirm that you completed the installation and restarted Excel. The plugin is expected on the AddOns tab rather than on the standard Excel ribbon tabs.
The Turnkey application does not open in the plugin
Copy the complete URL of the running Turnkey application and paste it into the plugin's URL box, then select Go. Verify that you can open the same URL outside Excel and that you can sign in.
Download or write does not affect the expected data
Check the active Turnkey view. Downloads use the first grid in the Turnkey UI. Writing and seeking require a seeker UI; writing also requires the key in the leftmost result column and writable ViewModel columns. See Documentation:Excel Plugin Function for the complete behavior.