Читать книгу Excel 2019 Power Programming with VBA - Michael Alexander, Dick Kusleika - Страница 35

For the purposes of this book, a spreadsheet application is a spreadsheet file (or group of related files) that is designed so that someone other than the developer can perform specific tasks without extensive training. According to this definition, most of the spreadsheet files that you've developed probably don't qualify as spreadsheet applications. You may have dozens or hundreds of spreadsheet files on your hard drive, but it's a safe bet that most of them aren't designed for others to use.

A good spreadsheet application does the following:

 Enables the end user to perform a task that he or she probably would not be able to do otherwise.

 Provides the appropriate solution to the problem. (A spreadsheet environment isn't always the optimal approach.)

 Accomplishes what it is supposed to do. This prerequisite may be obvious, but it's not at all uncommon for applications to fail this test.

 Produces accurate results and is free of bugs.

 Uses appropriate and efficient methods and algorithms to accomplish its job.

 Traps errors before the user is forced to deal with them.

 Does not allow the user to delete or modify important components accidentally (or intentionally).

 Has a clear and consistent user interface so that the user always knows how to proceed.

 Has well-documented formulas, macros, and user interface elements that allow for subsequent changes, if necessary.

 Is designed so that it can be modified in simple ways without making major changes. A basic fact is that a user's needs change over time.

 Has an easily accessible help system that provides useful information on at least the major procedures.

 Is designed to be portable and to run on any system that has the proper software (in this case, a copy of a supported version of Excel).

It should come as no surprise that it is possible to create spreadsheet applications for many different usage levels, ranging from a simple fill-in-the-blank template to an extremely complex application that uses a custom interface and may not even look like a spreadsheet.