April 28, 2008

Zoho Adds Macros and Pivot Tables to Online Spreadsheets

Erick Schonfeld

17 comments »

Zoho keeps pushing the limits of what online productivity apps can do, It was the first to use Google Gears to create an offline version of Zoho Writer last year, for instance. And now it is adding macros and pivot tables to its online spreadsheet, Zoho Sheet. (Once again, it is way ahead of Google, which indicated last December it would not add those advanced features any time this year).

The addition of macros and pivot tables should go far in making Zoho’s online spreadsheet a more realistic alternative for power business users. Macros are customized code, written in Visual Basic, that adds features and functionality to a spreadsheet (like highlighting an item above a certain dollar-limit in an expense report, for instance). Pivot tables are complex tables inside a spreadsheet that makes it easier to analyze data. Anyone can create a macro for Zoho Sheets and contribute it to this wiki that Zoho set up. (So users can potentially get the benefit of everyone else’s macros). And since it is understands Visual Basic (and converts it on the backend to Java before executing the code), existing macros for Excel will also work inside Zoho Sheet. Out of the gate, Zoho only supports about half of all spreadsheet functions in its macros, and does not yet support exporting of macros, but in time it will.

Here is a video explaining the new features:

zoho-macros-screen.png

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Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

  1. Spreadsheet Macros and Pivot Tables: Google Says No. EditGrid Says No. Zoho Just Does It.| Zoli’s Blog
  2. TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Zoho、オンライン表計算にマクロとピボットテーブルを追加
  3. The News before The News » VB macros on Zoho sheet
  4. Zoho Adds Macros and Pivot Tables to Online Spreadsheets | Code4DotNet

Comments

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  1. techmine

    Yahoo, please acquire Zoho.

  2. Vinay

    Very productive features added to its sheet application! Go Zoho! :-) !!

    @#1 .. lol! I hope Google takes a call before Yahoo! thinks about it.. :) !! Is MS listening ? :D ?

  3. LOL WUT

    Hrmmmmmmmmmm

    wait, Zoho products still suck.

  4. Fabian

    Macro support might be the killer feature for Zoho! Great! Together with iMacros as cross-application browser macro and scripting too, you can do (automate) complete workflows.

  5. Fabian

    too = tool ;)

  6. Adam

    This product just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

    I’m amazed they’ve managed to keep this level of feature growth. It must be an insanely complex piece of Javascript running that page.

  7. Sunil

    Another good from Zoho, ahead of Google :)

    http://feedshub.blogspot.com/2.....-zoho.html

  8. Kevin Kris

    Zoho is good but they need to put more dollars on Quality control to improve quality. And they need to work on multi-user scenarios. Their chat sucks.

    Overall i give 7/10 for zoho.

    Google docs is stable now.

  9. Kevin Kris

    Between, YAHOO SHOULD buy zoho at any cost.

  10. Scott

    The Zoho pivot functionality is currently quite a bit lacking (for instance, you can’t show more than one data item at a time, e.g. show cost and sales together).

    Google actually has recently gotten a couple pivot/analytic solutions, obviously I prefer the one I’ve started:
    http://www.shouteureka.com

    quick demo here:
    demo video

  11. Miles (SEM iCluck)

    Very cool functionalities - Why isn’t Google adding to this considering most of the code used to create Zoho was integrated using Google Gears? The only way Google Docs and Spreads. will gain traction over Microsoft’s service will be through the use of simpler interfaces as well as power usage tools such as advanced functions, macros and pivot tables like Zoho. Why isn’t Google ramping up speed?

    Good job Zoho =oD

  12. Macr

    More important…is it faster than excel? if not, i don’t care.

  13. Online Suduku

    macros to online spreadsheets ? wow.. that really makes it possible for companies like Accelrys and other people who write macros to enter online world !!

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