Basic introduction to RExcel : 1 day, 3 February 2010. The course will be mainly given in English with additional explanations in French.
Description :
RExcel is a major breakthrough in software solutions for statistical analysis based on Microsoft Excel. Familiarity with it is a must for any practicing statistician and potentially a great help for millions of Excel users.
RExcel is an Excel Add-in based on the StatconnDCOM server technology available for Excel 2003 and 2007 under Windows and allows Excel to communicate with the statistical language R. Uses include:
- adding statistical and mathematical power to Excel (using R functions for statistical analysis which are not available in Excel).
- improving accuracy and computational safety of Excel (replacing unsafe or unpractical methods in Excel by safer alternatives in R)
- creating user friendly Excel interfaces to advanced statistical methods in R
- animating calculations in R via Excel animation tools
- building custom statistics applications in Excel
Working with the RExcel interface can be done in two ways: via point and click interfaces on the worksheet level and via VBA code. In addition, the communication with R can be included in the automatic recalculation loop of Excel.
Training Objectives:
After the course, participants will be able to
- point out weaknesses of Excel which can be avoided by using the R language
- download and install the full distribution RandFriends available at rcom.univie.ac.at (this distribution contains R, RExcel, and the StatconnDCOM server).
- install RExcel via an existing installation of R
- run the demonstration worksheets provided with the installation
- use worksheet functions in Excel to access functions in R
- use VBA macros in Excel to transfer data from Excel to R and to retrieve results of running R code on these data
- find documentation about Excel, RExcel, and R which will help
Course Contents:
- Introduction to the internals of Excel and to its inherent strengths and weaknesses.
- Introduction to the internals of R and its inherent strengths and weaknesses.
- Demonstration of basic uses of the RExcel add-in for Excel
- Installation of RExcel on a windows computer (demonstration).
- via the RandFriends installer available at rcom.univie.ac.at
- via an existing R installation
- Description of the architecture of the R/StatconnDCOMserver/RExcel system
- Hands-on exercises of uses of RExcel via the menu and via worksheet functions.
lunch
- Introduction to VBA macros for Excel
- Accessing the RExcel interface via VBA
- Writing and testing R code for use as VBA procedures and code
- Managing the communication between Excel and R (automatic recalculation, recalculation on request only)
- Hands-on exercises on writing VBA code using RExcel
- Odds and ends for using RExcel (options, startup files, Rcommander, licensing)
- Overview of resources for learning about Excel, R, the StatconnDCOM server and RExcel
- Overview of related software (R/OpenOffice, SWORD, R2wd, xl2wd)
Trainer: Christian Ritter, Institut de Statistique-UCL and Ritter and Danielson Consulting
Coordinateur: Alain Guillet
Public: Membres de l'UCL, de l'Académie Louvain et participants externes
Prerequisites:
- Familiarity with Excel
- Basic knowledge of R would be good but is not essential.
Date and time: from 9:00 to 17:00
- 3 February 2010
- February 2011 (dates à fixer)
Location: Room SOCR a030, level 0, Michotte building, place du Cardinal Mercier 10, L-L-N
Enrollment :
Members of the Académie Louvain:
Although the course is free of charge for members of the Académie Louvain the number of places is limited. We therefore request interested members of the Académie Louvain to sign up by sending an email to the cellule SMCS at the latest one week before the start of the course. This email must include the following information:
- title of the course
- your contact information: Name, First Name, unit, email address.
- the contact information for your masters or doctoral thesis advisor, or of the coordinator of your unit.
External participants:
The course fee is 250EUR. Please enroll by sending an email to the cellule SMCS at least one week before the course. This email must include:
- the course title
- your contact information (name, organization, email address)
- your invoicing information (organization, VAT number if applicable)
Please note that in case of cancellation less than two days before the beginning of the course, the entire course fee will be charged.
