Microsoft Excel

Author: Eric Vasbinder 

Support Status:  Supported

Integration Method:  ODBC

DEPLOYMENT MODELS

Viewpoint One / VRL Cloud

Hosted:  NO

Additional Charge:  NO

Connection Methods:  

• TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) (PREFERRED)

• IPSEC VPN

NOTE:  With VP1/VRL Cloud, are physically hosted on customer-controlled hardware (e.g. customer laptops, terminal servers, etc.)

Viewpoint Enterprise Cloud (VEC / RDP Published Apps)

Hosted:  YES

Additional Charge: YES - 1 third party application maintenance fee for Bluebeam (N/A for Office and Acrobat)

Connection Method:  Same Network / Viewpoint Terminal Server

DESCRIPTION 

How Excel Spreadsheets Connect to the Vista Database

As per some other client-side productivity apps, Microsoft Excel can integrate to Vista directly, using an ODBC connection called a Data Source Name (DSN).  DSNs are connections set up either at the individual XLS file level or across an entire user's workstation as a "System DSN" or "User DSN".  The DSN uses the DNS name of the TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) or IP address of the Vista server, in combination with the database name of the Vista records database (usually "viewpoint") to communicate with Vista's data, pulling that data into an XLS file for data analysis.  

In the RDP-based deployment methods of Viewpoint Vista cloud hosting (e.g. RDP VEC or Viewpoint for Cloud (VFC)), Viewpoint DOES host Microsoft Excel.  As such, the customer will need to coordinate with Viewpoint to host these apps with us.  There is a $49/month charge to host a client side app other than SSMS, Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, GSS, or any Viewpoint solution.

In the newer Viewpoint One (VP1) / VRL Cloud model, customers host these applications on their local hardware.

IMPORTANT - HOW TO UPDATE DSNs

You may use either create a new cloud DSN in the XLS file itself or leverage an already existing DSN that you set up at your local workstation.  Please see the following links for steps on how to accomplish this task:

• Option 1:  Creating a New Data Source Name (DSN) in Microsoft Excel 

• Option 2:  Creating a New Data Source Name (DSN) in Windows to Connect to Cloud Vista 

CRITICAL NOTE:  Embedding Microsoft Excel files (XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLTM) as reports within Vista's RP Report Titles form is technically NOT supported in the cloud, whether RDP or VRL.  You may attempt this, but issues have been reported in the past.

 Please use PowerBI or Crystal reporting to enable built-in reports in the cloud.  In addition, you may use XLS reports into Vista when being hosted on your local OneDrive, Box, Dropbox, G-Drives, or a local network file share, or even at the individual client workstation level (e.g. a user's "Desktop" folder).   Do NOT forget to be on the same network as your TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) or IPSEC VPN tunnel to the Vista database when attempting to refresh data into a connected XLS.

tl;dr:  Customers using Vista within one of Viewpoint's RDP-based clouds (i.e. VFC and RDP VEC) DO need to host Excel with us.  There is a charge for hosting these apps, save for SSMS and SSRS Report Builder.  VP1/VRL Cloud customers host it themselves.  Do not forget to update your DSNs in each XLS file or on the local workstation as appropriate.  Placing Excel files within RP Report locations is not recommended as they can have issues when hosted within that location and are thus not officially supported.  For VRL cloud based customers, you will need to use either the TLS Database Endpoint (TLS VPN) (PREFERRED) or the IPSEC VPN.