The Storage Economic Parser I have built has the primary purpose of helping ingest over 10 years’ worth of data into a centralized resource. I work for one of the leading computer storage companies in the world. As a Storage Economist my job is gather data from across the globe and help build resources for lead generation and data analysis.
The system I have built is a specialized user-form with specific search and data aggregation functionality. It is tailored to aide in gathering key metrics from storage economic data sheets. Because the data I receive from around the globe comes in many different formats, I needed a system that not only focused on parsing through large Excel workbooks but also allowed me to easily grab data from other applications.
Each label on the user form represents a specific field of interest. The UI contains an input box and corresponding label for every piece of information I need during the ingestion process, thus making this tool a complete solution for parts of my current workflow.
Users acquire input in one of two ways. The first method utilizes the prepopulated search terms available from the center dropdown menu. By first selecting a search term then clicking the corresponding “Find” button, the active workbook is searched and then the query result returns to the form and populates the appropriate text box. The second method may be more useful for ingesting data from other applications. Once the user has found the appropriate information, he or she copies the data to the system clipboard and returns to the user form in Excel. The user may then double-click on the appropriate label and the respective text box will be populated with what was copied to the system clipboard.
The bottom portion of the user form UI makes use of a “TabStrip.” This area handles otherwise redundant information categorized by year. The tabstrip functions as one would expect, holding data in their appropriate text boxes with respect to a specific tab. When tabs are switched, textboxes are cleared and repopulated appropriately.
This system now holds a key place in my workflow, because it neither makes up the start nor the finish of that workflow I needed to make a special effort to ensure the results of this system integrated precisely with the next steps of my data ingestion process. As users click on the “DONE!” button all fields are stored in memory and then used to populate (in a specific order) a newly created workbook.
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