Xcelsius Enlivens Excel

Spreadsheet add-on brings Flash support to worksheets.

Edward N. Albro, PCWorld.com

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LAS VEGAS-- An Excel add-on that literally adds Flash to the dull black boxes of a spreadsheet is making its debut here at Comdex this week.

Xcelsius adds Flash to bland Excel spreadsheets.

Xcelsius Professional is designed for the dedicated numbers-cruncher who knows great data can get lost in grey worksheets.

The program enables users with no knowledge of programming to create Flash versions of their Microsoft Excel files, says Santiago Becerra Sr., president of Infommersion Infommersion, the company behind Xcelsius. The accessory helps transform the rows and columns of a profit and loss statement into colorful gauges, sliders, or other objects.

Infommersion launched the $195 standard version of the program in July. The new $495 professional edition is being shown here. It requires Windows 2000 or XP and Microsoft Office 2000, XP, or 2003.

Software Specs

Creating an Xcelsius file appeared relatively easy in Becerra's quick demonstration. You choose any of 36 available graphical components, such as graphs, pie charts, and sliders, and drag the object onto your workspace. You can click on the object and associate it with any data field from your spreadsheet.

You can also apply logic to the object, for instance, having the dial become red as the underlying numbers go below zero.

The Flash file imports not only the data in the Excel file, but the formulas as well, which means users can change values in the file and see the other figures react to that change. Want to know how much overseas sales must improve for your company to start showing a profit? Drag the sales slider until the overall profit and loss gauge dials into the black.

After you've tweaked the numbers in Xcelsius, you can export the data back to your original Excel spreadsheet or into a new file.

Other Connections

To view or interact with a file produced by Xcelsius, you don't need the software.

Any computer (including Macs and Linux systems), handheld, or other device with the free Macromedia Flash 6 player can view and interact with Xcelsius files. With a single click, the program will drop a file into a Powerpoint presentation or an Outlook e-mail message.

Much of the technology behind Xcelsius comes from graphics advances made by game developers, Becerra says. Infommersion's chief technical officer is Becerra's son, Santi Becerra Jr., who worked on popular PC games, including Midtown Madness and Midtown Madness 2, as well as Playstation 2 games, including Midnight Club.