Core concepts

Calc has a small set of concepts. Once these click, the whole add-in makes sense, because every button is just acting on one of them.

Project#

A project is the site or investigation you are working on. You pick a project first, and everything after that - templates, data, filters - is scoped to it. A project also carries metadata such as client, contractor and status, which Calc can stamp onto a template as constants.

Configuration#

A project belongs to a configuration: a profile that defines the tables, fields, units and lists available to its templates. You rarely interact with it directly - it is chosen for you when you pick a project, and shown on the ribbon as Configuration. Administrators manage configurations in the GIMLabs web app.

Template#

A template is a reusable Excel workbook blueprint. It defines which data to pull and how to lay it out. The same template can be opened two ways:

Table#

A table is a named block of data in a template - for example Location Details or Sample Information. Each table maps to a data table in the configuration, has a start cell where its data begins, and carries its own columns, filters, sorting and grouping. When you Collect, each table fills in from the project data.

Field (column)#

A field is a single column within a table - Depth, Sample reference, SPT N value, and so on. In Design mode you choose which of a table's fields to include; the included fields become the columns of collected data. Fields can carry a unit and can act as location references for filtering.

Filter#

A filter controls which rows are collected. There are three kinds:

Filter	Behaviour
Fixed	Always applied, silently (e.g. only this project's data).
Prefilled	Has a default you can change each time you Collect.
Prompted	Asks you for a value at Collect time.

Filters can match on text, a list value, a unit, or a location. See Filters at collection.

Constant#

A constant is a project value - Project Name, Client, Contractor, Status, dates - placed onto a template cell. When you Collect, the cell fills in automatically from the project. See Constants.

Chart#

A chart is a normal Excel chart you place on the template, then map to data: each series gets an X and Y column. When you Collect, Calc binds the chart to the collected data so it draws itself. See Charts.

Modes and permissions#

Which buttons you see depends on three things:

• Mode - Use mode shows Collect; Design mode shows the build and save tools.
• Role - creating, editing and deleting templates each need permission.
• Plan - on the Go tier, template authoring (the Build, Macros, Sheets and Save tools) is unavailable, so Calc is collect-only.

If a button is missing, it is almost always one of these three - not a fault.