Implementation Guide

This guide is an introduction to SheetKraft and Excel for new users. Users who have no prior experience of Excel or SheetKraft should read this in the order presented. Experienced Excel users can skip over topics that they already know.

Introduction

SheetKraft is an automation framework that makes it easy to automate repetitive rule - based activities that involve large amounts of data. SheetKraft can work with data from many different sources and formats including Excel files, comma-separated or other delimited files, emails, and relational databases. The setup of the rules is done in an Excel environment with real or sample data where it is easy to see and validate the results of each intermediate step in the activity. SheetKraft can also output the results of the activity in many different formats including generating text or Excel files, sending emails, and pushing data into a database.

Once the rules in an activity are setup and tested, the inputs and outputs of the activity are defined and the activity is published. A published activity becomes available to end-users via a web interface. Access rights are configured to control which user can see and run which activity. End users only need a web browser and their own credentials to run the activities. When an end user logs in to the SheetKraft website, a dashboard of available activities (based on access rights) is shown. The user can then select the activity to be run. A web form is presented where the user enters the activity inputs and starts the activity. All the pre-configured steps that form the logic of the activity are then automatically performed on a server and the outputs are presented to the user on the browser.

Typically, a process is broken down into many different activities, such that each activity performs a well-defined series of steps defined by logical rules. Multiple activities that are typically run one after the other can be combined into a compound activity that can be run in a single click. Activities can also be scheduled to run automatically at pre-set times.

When business requirements change, the previously setup rules are available for editing in the same Excel environment where they were setup. They can be modified and re-published as required.

SheetKraft keeps track of every activity run along with its inputs and outputs and this information is available to users for reference or audit purposes. Previously generated outputs can also be downloaded easily without having to re-run anything.