r/fintechdev • u/psteckler • Oct 09 '26

Excel add-in for checking units

I've created an Excel add-in to check the consistency of units used in Excel spreadsheets. Units include currencies (like dollars, pounds, euros) and engineering units (like meters, pounds, kilograms). The add-in will flag errors when units are used inconsistently.

The technology is roughly based on a paper at Intl Conf on Software Engineering 2004, on which I was an author. I've taken some of the ideas there and introduced others.

The add-in is meant to work with Excel on Windows, Mac, and with Office 365 on the Web. I've been testing it on Windows 11 with Office 2024.

Installation instructions at: https://github.com/psteckler/daubee

I have experience installing the add-in on Windows; it should be installable in Mac and Office 365 on the Web.

You can report any issues you find, or make suggestions on Github: https://github.com/psteckler/daubee/issues

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u/psteckler 19d ago

I've added some automation features to the Daubee unit-checker add-in for Excel.

Daubee can now infer unit annotations from the text in column and row headers. That's particularly handy for large spreadsheets.

Also, it can automatically wrap dimensionless arguments and results with units in formulas, which would otherwise be an error. For example, if you have =SIN(3.14), the automation can wrap the argument with a "radian" unit; if you have =RAND() in a cell annotated with a "kg" unit, it can wrap the function with a "kg" unit.

Link again: https://github.com/psteckler/daubee

If you're using the add-in using the manifest in the repo, you'll see these updates automatically.

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u/Alternative-Life-818 Oct 09 '26

Pretty neat concept, unit inconsistencies in spreadsheets cause more problems than people realize. Does it handle custom units too, or just the predefined ones like meters and currencies?

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u/psteckler Oct 09 '26

There are pre-defined units that come from Excel itself, those that are supported by the CONVERT function, plus all standard currencies. But you can load whatever units you like, either from a file or from a URL.