Creating a Dynamic Data Export (DDE) Report

Creating a Dynamic Data Export (DDE) Report

Dynamic Data Export (DDE) is a powerful tool that allows you to control the export of report data to Microsoft Excel. For each type of report, the DDE dialog displays a grid similar to that report type and allows you to specify which report cells are exported to Excel and where the cells are located in Excel.

You must have already created a report (it must appear in the report database) before exporting it. If you run the DDE tool in Teach-On Mode, only those reports made in Teach-On Mode are available; likewise, the DDE tool in Teach-Off Mode only has access to those reports created in Teach-Off Mode.
You must also have Microsoft Excel installed on your machine to use the Dynamic Data Export utility.
Create the target spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel.
CMM-Manager expects to find a worksheet within the target spreadsheet with the same name as the spreadsheet file; otherwise, CMM-Manager will create it. 

Select Report Tab> DDE Group> Export Data To MS Excel in the Ribbon Bar.

The DDE dialog:


Depending on the selected Report Type, many different features may be found (for example, Cylindricity reports apply only to cylinders, Flatness reports are solely for planes, Feature Tolerance reports are available for any feature).

Select the type of report you wish to export from the Report Type drop-down.


The Report Data group of the DDE dialog displays a representation of the selected report type. The Feature Tolerance of a circle is shown below.

The Feature Type drop-down acts as a filter, limiting the features that appear in the Report Item drop-down to the selected feature type only. Selecting “All” lists every feature with the selected report type in the Report Item drop-down.

Select the type of feature you wish to export from the Feature Type drop-down list.


CMM-Manager updates the contents of the Report Item list to contain only those features for which a report of the selected type exists. For example, if Form Deviation is chosen as the Report Type, only those features that have had a Form Deviation Report appear in the Report Item drop-down.

Select the report to export from the Report Item drop-down.

You can click the Apply All check box to select every feature in the Report Item drop-down for export. CMM-Manager automatically increments the row numbers accordingly during the export.
If your DDE operation is being taught into a part program that will run in Batch Mode, set a data offset option in the  Incremental Option section:

  1. Overwrite - overwrite the same target cells in each run.
  2. By Row - if the target cell contains data, move down one row at a time until the next empty cell is found.
  3. By Column - if the target cell contains data, move right one column at a time until the next empty cell is found.


Use The Report Data group of the DDE dialog to select where report data will be in the Excel worksheet.  Type the destination row and column numbers, separated by a comma, into each yellow cell in the DDE layout template in the Report Data section. These are the addresses of the cells in the Excel worksheet.


Click Reset if you make a mistake and need to reset all cells.

Click Auto Assign to assign the starting cell location of the report in the Excel spreadsheet and automatically populate the rest of the cells according to that location.
The destination cell locations are automatically populated according to the starting location.


In addition to Auto Assign and manual entry, the user can quickly populate the cells from active selections in an open Excel document.

  1. Paste from selected range in Excel - Clicking Paste or Paste Transpose will collect addresses from a range specified in an active Excel document and populate the addresses in the Report Data section using the selected cell as the upper-left cell for the selected Excel range.
  2. Paste - will hold the same configuration as shown in the selected range in Excel:
  3. Paste Transpose - will populate the addresses with transposed rows and columns:

Address adjustments can be made to individual highlighted cells using the Shift Address buttons.

  1. Left Arrow Shift - The left arrow will decrement the column number one cell - [2, 2] would become [2, 1].
  2. Right Arrow Shift - The right arrow will increment the column number one cell - [2, 2] would become [2, 3].
  3. Up Arrow Shift - The up arrow will decrement the row number one cell - [2, 2] would become [1, 2].
  4. Down Arrow Shift - The down arrow will increment the row number one cell - [2, 2] would become [3, 2].


Address adjustments can be made to all cells in Report Data and multiple DDE operations by checking the Apply to selected operations checkbox.  

  1. With the current DDE operation open, check the Apply to selected operations checkbox and then use the arrows to change the addresses of all cells in the report data.
  2. Optionally, Ctrl+Click or Shift+Click to highlight multiple DDE operations in the program list to apply the address shift to all selected DDE operations.
The shift applies to all addresses in all of the selected DDE operations.
To use  the Output ---*|++++ tolerance indicator in the OutTol data column, click the checkbox.

The Customer Data group:


Click Add to define customer-specific information that will be exported to the target spreadsheet.

The Customer Data dialog:


Name: Enter a name for the Customer Data field in the Name text box.

Type: Select the type of customer data field you want to create from the Type drop-down menu: (see options below)

Value:

  1. String:  Enter text in the Value text box.
  2. Time:  The Value text box becomes read-only and loads the current time.
  3. Operator:  The Value text box becomes read-only and loads the operator’s name. 
  4. Incremental Number:  Enter an integer for the Incremental Number in the Value text box. 
  5. Report Header Data:  The Name field becomes a selectable list from the report header data.  The selected content from the report header appears as a read-only value in the Value text box. 
  6. Variable:  Enter a variable name from a previous VB Script in the Name text box.

Excel Position : Enter a cell location in the Excel Position box in the format “row, column.” Alternatively, select Paste to copy the cell address from the active selection in the open Excel document. 
You do not have to include brackets. 

Click Modify or double click on the customer data to make changes to the selected customer data.

Click Delete to delete the selected customer data

Click Delete all to delete all customer data

Click Reset to remove the Customer Data positions in the Excel worksheet.

Excel Spreadsheet Settings:


File Name: Enter the name of the Excel spreadsheet (.xls) file that will receive the report data or click the “...” button to browse for the file.

If you enter the name of a non-existent Excel spreadsheet, CMM-Manager will create the file.

If you are in Teach-On Mode, a checkbox labeled View by MS Excel after program execution is accessible. Check the box if you want Excel to open the target spreadsheet immediately at the end of the program.

Output to worksheet: This is the index of the Excel worksheet that will receive the DDE data. 

Click Preview to see what the exported data will look like in Excel. This command creates an Excel worksheet called Preview.xls in the CMM-Manager reports folder.

Each time you do a preview, CMM-Manager overwrites the contents of Preview.xls
Perpendicularity example :
“Four Perpendicularity Report outputs exported to a single row in Excel, then each time the program is run a new row of data is written.”




    • Related Articles

    • Save Report Automatically for use with Discus

      Once you've taught a program and create Report(s) it is possible to configure CMM-Manager program to automatically save report document in a format compatible with Discus CMM each time the program is run. Set Report Properties as follows: View the ...

    • Save Report Automatically for use with Prolink QC-CALC Realtime

      Once you've taught a program and create Report(s) it is possible to configure CMM-Manager program to automatically save report document in a format compatible with QC-CALC each time the program is run. Set Report Properties as follows: View the ...

    • Editing the Report Header - Customer Data

      User-specified content can be added to the report header via the Customer Data button in the Report Properties window. A list of customer header entries will be displayed on the screen. To add a new item, click the Add button. Enter the name and ...

    • Save Report Automatically with each Program Run

      Once you've taught a program and create Report(s) it is possible to configure CMM-Manager program to automatically save report document each time the program is run. You can save report in the following formats: HTML Microsoft Excel Body-in-White ...

    • Output Temperature Sensor to Report

      It is possible to read temperature from sensors on CMM that's equipped with Thermal Compensation. The GetTemperatureReading() function can be used to store the current temp reading to a variable: VB Function int GetTemperatureReading( double &dTemp, ...