Main Article ~ Online Business Tip ~ Excel Tip ~ Training Tip
Welcome to the Software Africa Newsletter: Subscribed to by the Select, read by the Elite, acted on by the Exceptional.
Is Winter over? Probably not, but I just killed the first fly of spring in our kitchen. I'm pleased to have spared it the cold snap that is sure to come. I'm kind that way.
Are you sitting down? This could come as a shock. Due to the strengthening of the Rand against the US Dollar, we have price decreases on overseas software. Autodesk product prices are down by 5.00%.
If you haven't come across the term, "digital twin", read the next article.
In the Business Tip, have you been caught by any of these email scams?
In this month's Excel Tip we have a more versatile alternative to the well-worn VLOOKUP function.
Excel Macros and Excel for Engineers are ready for you as self-paced online courses.
We wind up with weird and wacky would-be-wisdom from Computius.
A "digital twin" is a digital representation of a planned or actual real-world physical product, system, or process. It serves as the effectively indistinguishable digital counterpart of it for practical purposes. These include simulation, integration, testing, monitoring, and maintenance. Ref: Wikipedia.
With a complete collection of all data in one place, a digital twin evolves with the flow of real-time input from sensors and more. A digital twin harnesses data and provides teams with improved ROI. It helps with everything from supply chain management to facilities maintenance.
Autodesk is a leader in Building Information Modelling (BIM) software for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. They have invested in digital twin concepts for years. Autodesk InfraWorks enables digital twins to simulate the effect of flooding and traffic flow. Autodesk Tandem extends the value of all the data created during design and construction. It provides a better project handoff, increased insights, and ready-to-go operations.
Manufacturers can use Autodesk Forge to power their digital twin. It combines real-time data from multiple sources with a 3D interactive model. This can generate greater insights into your project. Which can lead to performance improvements at all phases of the project lifecycle..
We've said it before but it bears repeating: There are lots of email scams, and they are getting more authentic-looking! Just this week we got:
These are just the ones that Spam Experts didn't trap. Some are well written, without the usual give-aways of grammatical and spelling errors. They often contain genuine logos linked from the real company website.
Always hover over the links they offer If you don't recognise the domain, it's probably a scam. They may spoof what looks like a genuine email address, but the real sender will be different.
BEST (Built Environment Skills and Training (Pty) Ltd.) uses Rick to run these two courses regularly over two days. You get 2 CPA points from ECSA. And lunch from Uber Eats. Visit BEST here. Please tell them that Software Africa sent you.
Not for engineers alone, the Excel for Engineers course is online as a self-paced course. The same manual and examples as the live version. The same trainer. Done at your own pace at times that suit you. Take half an hour a day and complete it in a month. Spend an hour a day and finish it in two weeks. Or dedicate two days –a weekend, perhaps?– and crack the whole course.
Take our self-paced online course in your own time and venue. All the value at a quarter of the price of the live course. Backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.
You know about VLOOKUP, the best-known of the family of LOOKUP functions in Excel. But there are times when VLOOKUP doesn't address your needs. For one thing, it cannot return data that is to the left of the lookup column.
VLOOKUP can be dangerous if you insert or delete columns between the lookup column and the results column: The formula's column number for the results does not update automatically. You will then get results from the wrong column.
You may have cases where the lookup data and the results list are on different sheets, or even in different files! Or one list may be horizontal and the other, vertical.
For such lookups, the INDEX and MATCH functions used together may be the solution. Together, they are more robust and versatile than VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and LOOKUP.
MATCH returns the position of the matched item in a one-dimensional list. It can do an exact or approximate match. MATCH(lookup_value, lookup_array, 0) does an exact match.
INDEX returns the value at given row and column numbers in a range. The
syntax is INDEX
(array, row_num, column_num). The row_num and/or column_num can be the result of a
MATCH. Example:
In the example above from row 18, column A contains the results of the formula as documented in column B.
In cell A18, =MATCH("Gizmo", A4:A13, 0) looks down the range A4:A13 for an exact match. It finds "Gizmo" in the fifth position, and returns the value 5.
In cell A19, =MATCH(2022, B3:E3, 0) looks across the range B3:E3 for an exact match. It finds the year 2022 in the fourth position, and returns the value 4.
In cell A20, =INDEX(B4:E13, A18, A19) then uses the previous two results to return the value 1463. It is at the 5th row and 4th column of the range B4:E13.
In cell A21 we show how the whole process can work in one cell, using =INDEX(B4:E13, MATCH("Gizmo", A4:A13, 0), MATCH(2022, B3:E3, 0))
Nesting the MATCH functions inside the INDEX makes the formula more compact. But the intermediate calculations make the process easier to understand. It is also easier to debug!
Note that the lookup ranges that MATCH uses do not have to be next to –or indeed anywhere near– the range from which INDEX gets the final value.
More on the syntax of MATCH next time!
Macros let you do repetitive work in a flash, instead of repeating the same boring stuff by hand. Save hours not working late, and spend more time with your family ...or the cat. Do you have a good knowledge of Excel, and now want to program your own time-saving applications? Then this course is for you!
Do it in your own time, at your own venue and pace, cost-effectively. The Software Africa Quick 'n Easy Turbo-Start Excel Macros course is waiting for you online. Take it now!
Computer and car salesmen differ in that the latter know when they are lying..
All the Best from
Communication in Action cc trading as Software Africa
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