Office Add-ins partner Sheetgo integrates Excel's extensibility features

Jonathan Gomes Head of Product at Sheetgo | LinkedIn Balneário de Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil

Sheetgo is a no-code automation tool made with Excel add-ins that enables users to build their own business process management systems — all from a spreadsheet. It allows users to:

Connect online Excel and CSV files, and automate data transfer between them
Create custom workflows to combine, distribute and send filtered data to multiple files
Automate data management and reporting
Share data while controlling access and privacy
Collaborate productively in the cloud and encourage SharePoint adoption among the team

Why we build on the Office Add-ins platform

Sheetgo’s web-based application allows Microsoft users to connect Excel spreadsheets stored in OneDrive and SharePoint to build custom, automated workflows. We wanted to make these functions even more accessible by bringing them directly to where people work: inside a spreadsheet. The Office Add-ins platform helped us to integrate Sheetgo into Excel, enabling Microsoft users to connect and automate without leaving the spreadsheet they are working in.

While the Sheetgo web app offers a comprehensive platform for managing entire workflows, the add-in puts no-code automation right at the fingertips of every Excel user, allowing them to add or update connections without affecting productivity or interrupting the natural flow of their work.

Sheetgo Excel add-in anatomy

The Sheetgo add-in is formed of two components:

The application that interacts with the add-in framework
The Sheetgo web application

The first component, the application that interacts with the add-in task pane, authenticates the user using a Sheetgo SSO session via the dialog box and then identifies the spreadsheet. It subsequently loads the Sheetgo web app inside it, as seen in the following sample:

OfficeAddinService.js 

// Create an oauth2 flow for the SSO authentication 

const authFlow = buildAuthFlow() 
 

// Init the dialog box and authenticates the session user 

OfficeService 

   .openDialogBox(authFlow) 

   .then((sessionUser) => { 

       // Extract the file path from the browser URL 

       const filePath = OfficeService.getFilePath() 

       // Get the current file props (id, name, etc) using the Graph API 

       const file = GraphAPI.fetchFileId(filePath) 

       // Loads the Sheetgo application 

       loadSheetgoApplication(sessionUser, file)   

       // ... 

   }) 

   .catch((e) => { 

       console.log('Houston we have a problem :(', e) 

        // Handle the auth error 

       // ... 

   })

The second component is the Sheetgo web app, which adapts to the add-in context and screen. When loaded by the add-in, the web app adjusts its format to fit the add-in screen and generates a customized experience for the Excel user.

In the Sheetgo web app, the user can create multiple spreadsheet workflows and get a bird’s-eye view of the entire spreadsheet system and all connections. Although a single spreadsheet file may belong to multiple complex workflows, the add-in will only display the connections to and from the file the user is currently working in.

Inside the add-in, the user sees the web app interface and benefits from the web-app’s entire backend. When the user connects two spreadsheets using the Sheetgo add-in, the Sheetgo web app backend communicates with the Microsoft Graph API to process data transportation from one file to another.

The Sheetgo web app uses the Microsoft Graph API for authentication, to list or create files and folders, and to read and edit Excel files in OneDrive for Business or SharePoint sites and groups.

Enabling Excel users to automate their work

Sheetgo gives individuals and teams the ability to create their own automated data management workflows — all from a spreadsheet. By connecting files, users can automate the process of gathering, distributing and sharing data for greater productivity, enhanced security, and better business intelligence.

Our customers use Sheetgo to create their own custom solutions for: