A LEN() lets me monitor the length of the Tweet so that I don’t go over 140 characters in total.

Where I run into a workflow issue is with the URL itself.  I don’t want to use the full URL as it will take precious characters from my 140 – so I use a URL shortening service such as Goo.gl. But that means I need to copy, paste into Goo.gl and copy paste back into Excel.  There must be an easier way.

Google lets us access the Goo.gl service via its API.  Log into your Google account and visit: https://code.google.com/apis/console  – towards the bottom, you can choose to enable the URL Shortener API.  With 1,000,000 requests per day, I am sure I’ll never over do it.

Once enabled you need to get your API Key.  This is unique to you, so don’t share it.

In Excel, VBA – Insert a new Module

Now cut and paste this code, to make a new function GetGooglURL

Const API_KEY As String = "YOUR API KEY HERE"
Const BASEURL As String = "https://www.googleapis.com/urlshortener/v1/url"
 
Function GetGooglURL(url As String) As String
 
  Dim xml As Object  ' MSXML2.XMLHTTP60
  Set xml = CreateObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP.6.0") 
 
  If xml Is Nothing Then Exit Function
 
  With xml
    .Open "POST", BASEURL & "?key=" & API_KEY, False
    .setRequestHeader "Content-Type", "application/json"
    .Send Replace("{""longUrl"": ""http://www.google.com/""}", "http://www.google.com/", url)
  End With
 
  If InStr(xml.responseText, "error") = 0 Then  ' no error occurred
    ' parse out short URL from JSON response
    GetGooglURL = Trim$(Split(xml.responseText, """")(7))
  End If
 
End Function

Using this is simplicity itself.  In cell B2 is the long URL you want to shorten.

C2=GetGooglURL(B2) – sends the long URL to Google for shortening and displays in A2 the short version.

Splendiferous Excel and Web Api to the rescue again.

Excel 2013 can consume that data using the built in WEBSERVICE and FILTERXML  functions.

WEBSERVICE reaches out to “big data” land and pulls into Excel an XML data feed.

FILTERXML extracts specific pieces of information from that feed.

For example:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com provides details on MPs and a searchable database of who does what.  Using their API you can extract that information yourself.

Register for an API Key here (An API key is a unique reference that lets you access the data.  This is free, and it allows the site owner to track who is consuming what from their site.  It also allows them to rescind your key, should you abuse the service).

Once you have your OWN API key, form a URL as follows, and replace with your own API Key:

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/api/getMP?key=APIKEYGOESHERE&output=xml&postcode=np109jn

This returns informantion on the MP for NP109JN:

This is the XML outout – it looks daunting, but its not:

<twfy> is the top level holder inside which all the data is contatined:

<member_id>40424</member_id>  is a data element c containing the member_id for this record.

<first_name>Paul</first_name> is another data element containing the first_name record

As you can see each data element is surrounded by <label> </label> , which locates the data.

At the end, we have twfy> which pairs up with the opening <twfy>.

Just like HTML, you can think of the <label> </label> pair as turning the label on and off – so they need to be paired.

Becuase the data is so structured, Excel 2013 can simply import it:

A1=WEBSERVICE(“http://www.theyworkforyou.com/api/getMP?key=YOUAPIKEY&output=xml&postcode=np109jn”)

will pull the XML from the URL into cell A1 (you need your API key again)

To get the individual data you need to find the labels:

Notice towards the end of the XML screenshot above the pair <full_name>Paul Flynn<full_name>.  To navigate through the XML tree we use:

//twfy/full_name.

To get Excel to extract this, we use:  A2=FILTERXML(A1,”//twfy/full_name”)  – which displays in A2, Paul Flynn.

Similarly, to extract any of the data, we just replace //twfy/full_name with the data element we want.

So, splendiferous Excel can consume XML with ease using WEBSERICE and FILTERXML.

Google Map API has:

http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/xml?address=CA11BP+,+&sensor=false, which returns XML for the postcode CA1 1BP.  In that XML response we can find the latitude and longitude:

One of the splendiferous new features of Excel 2013 is its ability to reach out to web data services and to import XML straight into your worksheet:

A1=WEBSERVICE(“http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/xml?address=CA11BP+,+&sensor=false”), will reach out to the Google Maps API and import into Excel the same XML tree as previously displayed.

Now we need to prune the tree to find the data element we need:

B1=FILTERXML(A1,”//result/geometry/location/lat”), takes the result in A1 and prunes the tree at /result/geometry/location/lat.

The final /lat is the data element containing, in this case 54.8948900

In the same way, C1=FILTERXML(A1,”//result/geometry/location/lng”), will return the longitude of -2.9311223.

We used:

WEBSERVICE(URL) to pull in an XML response from your input URL

FILTERXML(xml.xpath), where xml is the cell containing the result of Webservice and xpath is the tree location of the data.

Totally splendiferous Excel 2013 features.

I need to estimate the distance between two locations, so I  turn to Google Maps and enter the postcodes – simple, accurate enough, and relatively quick.

But there is another way – splendiferous Excel to the answer.

Download GoogleMap Postcode distance calculator

Consider these two postcodes:

 In GoogleMaps this looks like this:

Fine – the distance between these postcodes is 71.1 miles.

What if I want this information into a spreadsheet?

GoogleMaps API allows you to query Google and extract exactly this information.  ALT-F11 and into a new Module copy and paste this code:

Function G_DISTANCE(Origin As String, Destination As String) As Double
' Requires a reference to Microsoft XML, v6.0
' Draws on  http://oco-carbon.com/?p=553 
 
Dim myRequest As XMLHTTP60
Dim myDomDoc As DOMDocument60
Dim distanceNode As IXMLDOMNode
    G_DISTANCE = 0
    ' Check and clean inputs
    On Error GoTo exitRoute
    Origin = Replace(Origin, " ", "%20")
    Destination = Replace(Destination, " ", "%20")
    ' Read the XML data from the Google Maps API
    Set myRequest = New XMLHTTP60
    myRequest.Open "GET", "http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/directions/xml?origin=" _
        & Origin & "&destination=" & Destination & "&sensor=false", False
    myRequest.send
    ' Make the XML readable usign XPath
    Set myDomDoc = New DOMDocument60
    myDomDoc.LoadXML myRequest.responseText
    ' Get the distance node value
    Set distanceNode = myDomDoc.SelectSingleNode("//leg/distance/value")
    If Not distanceNode Is Nothing Then G_DISTANCE = (distanceNode.Text / 1000) * 0.621371192
    'the 0.621371192 converts from kilometers to miles
exitRoute:
    ' Tidy up
    Set distanceNode = Nothing
    Set myDomDoc = Nothing
    Set myRequest = Nothing
End Function

Before you run the code, you will need to include a reference to Microsoft XML, v6.0 in the VBA editor.  (Tools > References > Microsoft XML, v6.0 )

The code creates a new Excel function G_DISTANCE(Origin,Destination).

In Excel C2=G_DISTANCE(A2,B2)  returns 71.1 — the distance between these postcodes.

Now I have a quick and easy way to calculate the distance between postcodes – and the data is available straight into Excel as a formula.  Splendiferous.

Download GoogleMap Postcode distance calculator

Correction:  When this post went up, I commented on a bitcoin miner being installed.  I was incorrect and should have explored the site more.  When on the site, a bitcoin miner runs in the background, donating some of your CPU cycles to mining bitcoins.    Many apologies for implying that this might have been nefarious.

Original code from:  http://oco-carbon.com/2012/03/06/google-excel-distance-function/  modified to display miles instead of Km.

One thing that these functions do is automatically recalculate - every time Excel calculates ANY cell, ALL the RAND functions update, with another random number.  Literally entering content into a cell will cause all the RAND(s) to change.  OK – this does what it says – creates random numbers, but that means that if you use them in a worksheet and SAVE that sheet – the version of the file that you re-open will have different numbers, as the RAND(s) will recalculate.

You can simulate this by pressing F9 – this forces Excel to recalculate.  Every cell that depends on a RAND will change.

What if we want to use random numbers, but for the values to be “fixed” once the data has been generated?

Download Fixed Random Numbers Worksheet

2 Ways to “fix” random numbers 

1) Set up the worksheet using the RANDS, then copy and paste everything back into the same place, but using the Paste-Special Values option.   This works, but it fundamentally changes the spreadsheet as it removes the calculations and stores just numbers.

2) Create a custom function.

Create a new function as per the instructions above.

Now in your worksheet enter B2=MyRand()  – Excel will insert a random number in B2, but it wont recalculate when you press F9 or enter more data.

Compare this to the working of A2=Rand(), which constantly updates.

A splendiferous way to insert random numbers without them updating / changing all the time.

Download Fixed Random Numbers Worksheet

Anyway, I am currently tutoring a young lady by the name of Sam (I asked her if I could release this post and she thought it was “sick” – which I think is good) – who asked me if I could make her some videos that she could watch to help her revise for GCSE Science.

Initially I was not sure where to go with this – as:

1. Whilst I’ve made YouTube content before, most of it was to support my classes
2. Recording my voice and preparing a lesson for recording seemed like more effort than I was willing to expend (even for Sam – sorry ;-( )
3. Maybe I should just record my tutorials and let Sam listen / watch on her own time?  (Whilst appealing, this meant that only Sam could watch them as she did not want to be in them online).

However, I said I’d see what I could do.

So, I turned to XtraNormal – a text to video Web2.0 website (with downloadable Windows app linked to your account).

So, without further ado – Mr Gilchrist and Sam “do” the “Structure of the Atom”.

Edit – one more

And more

When I were a lad….. we used to live in a Welsh village by the name of Raglan.  My father used to insist that Raglan had the most expensive petrol for miles around – so we used to go on “outings” to the dizzy heights of Cwmbran to procure fuel and other essentials (plus Cwmbran had free parking – so driving 15 miles to get free parking makes sense doesn’t it).

Anyway, a web site by the name of http://www.petrolprices.com reports the price of petrol (either lowest, highest or average) in any town/city or postcode area in the UK.

You visit the site and enter a postcode / town and off you go.

But – wouldn’t it be great if we could pull this data straight into Excel for charting / analysis. 

Excel 2013 has the new function of Webservice which does exactly that.

Back to  http://www.petrolprices.com

Before we understand how Excel Webservice works, let’s look at how  http://www.petrolprices.com produces its data.  Instead of visiting the home page of PetrolPrices, cut and paste this url:  

http://www.petrolprices.com/feeds/averages.xml?search_type=town&search_value=abergavenny

Which is passing two search values (search_type=town  and search_value=abbergavenny) to their database.  The following page is displayed:

Not very pretty – but you can decode what is being displayed, and can see that there is a structure to the data.  

PetrolPrices

—–>  Fuel type Unleaded

————–> Highest

————–> Average

————–> Lowest

—–>  Fuel type Diesel

—–>  Fuel type Super Unleaded

—–>  Link

Download Petrol Price Worksheet

Getting this data en masse into Excel is easy. Into a cell A1  type:

=WEBSERVICE(“http://www.petrolprices.com/feeds/averages.xml?search_type=town&search_value=abergavenny”)

Now A1 is full of the entire results of the search, in one cell – by itself not very useful

But, Exel can extract the information you want, by referring to the hierarchy of that data (as described above).

In cell A2 enter:

=FILTERXML(A1,”//PetrolPrices/Fuel[1]/Lowest”)   >> which will display an answer of 136.9 (it might be different for you – as this is live data)

=FILTERXML()  takes the data as imported and finds/extracts what you want.

//PetrolPrices/Fuel[1]/Lowest  –> navigates the hierarchy from PetrolPrices, to Fuel[1] (which in our case is Unleaded.  Fuel[2] would be diesel and so on) to Lowest, which contains the data for the Lowest price.

Similarly:  =FILTERXML(A1,”//PetrolPrices/Fuel[3]/Highest”) , would return the highest price for super unleaded petrol.

So now, if I store the location in a cell and add that to the WEBSERICE call:  

=WEBSERVICE(“http://www.petrolprices.com/feeds/averages.xml?search_type=town&search_value=”&B1)  (where &B1 adds the value of B1 to the URL)  I can create a spreadsheet where students can type in ANY town in the UK and get the price of petrol.

So….

Whatcha know – my old man was right — Raglan does have the most expensive petrol for miles around – Cwmbran and the NP10 9JN post code (Morrisions) have the lowest priced fuel for miles around.

How could you use this service in class?

Download Petrol Price Worksheet

Like all teachers, I typed in my own school, those around me  and that to which I send my offspring.  Great stuff.

But buried underneath the site is a wealth of data just waiting to be explored – as ALL primary and secondary schools in Wales are represented in the database, you just need to plug into the JSON code.

Average KS4 Points vs Number on Role

Are bigger schools better than small ones?  Do the better schools attract more pupils, and hence the role goes up – do standards rise / fall?

What is clear from this plot is that, well, it’s not clear.  The highest performing School (based on KS4 points) is also one of the smallest.  BUT the 3 smallest schools also have the lowest Average Points.

Average KS4 Points vs Pupil Teacher Ratio

Do schools with more teachers per pupil do better?  Anecdotal thoughts would be “yes” – the more teachers the better.

This chart refutes this perceived wisdom – with schools with a PTR of 12 being amongst the highest performing, and those with a PTR of 19 being amongst the lowest.

Now, I appreciate it’s all more confusing, confounding and generally mixed up than these two charts show – and clearly any conclusions based on them alone would be totally spurious – but look at this one:

Average KS4 Points vs Free School Meals

As a fairly robust measure of poverty, schools record the Free School Meals that their pupils claim.  Look at the FSM rate for all Wales and the impact that higher FSM has on the Average KS4 Points.

It’s good to know that our (Wales) National Priorities are Literacy, Numeracy and reducing the impact of poverty – and having spent a couple of hours with these data sets it’s been reinforced just how important poverty is in influencing the attainment of our young people.

Now, that leaves the question about what interventions do we put into place –  hanging in the air doesn’t it.

(This was not a post on how I did the analysis — for those who are interested, I used a series of JSON calls to display the data for each school.  Once you know a schools LEA number, you can import the JSON data directly into Excel)

Excel has a great VBA command “Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick” which allows you to trigger events when the user double clicks into a cell.

Download ChangeOnClick Workbook

Paste this code into the worksheet tab of the VBA Developer (not ThisWorkbook).

Option Explicit
 
Const MYRANGE As String = "B2:J30"
 
Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)
    If Target.Cells.Count > 1 Then Exit Sub
    If Intersect(Target, Me.Range(MYRANGE)) Is Nothing Then Exit Sub
    Cancel = True
    Select Case Target.Value
    Case ""
        Target.Value = "P"
    Case "P"
        Target.Value = "M"
    Case "M"
        Target.Value = "D"
    Case "D"
        Target.Value = ""
    End Select
 
End Sub

Now when you double click in cells in the range B2:J30, the contents cycle through P, M, D and ” ” (blank).

You can easily alter the RANGE that this macro applies to, and the text that cycles round can also be amended / added to.

A splendiferous way to limit user input.

Download ChangeOnClick Workbook

Text to Speech Conversion

Long gone are the days of a dalek like rendition of “H E L L O     D A V E”  - PC’s can now communicate in a relatively human like manner.  And certainly Windows XP upwards has had fairly usable text-speech conversion.

But…. Excel manages to hide this function well.  You need to create a custom menu on the ribbon and add the tools to it.

I’m using Excel 2013 – but the procedure is similar for any Excel 2004+.

1. Right Click on the ribbon and choose customise
2. Change the Choose commands from to select All Commands
3. Scroll down to S, and find the Speak Cells option
4. Add this option to the ribbon.

(You will need to create a New Group first, using the button on the right hand side.  I added mine to the HOME Tab, so that it was easily accessible)

Download Text to Speech Workbook

Once the group is created and the Speak Cells option has been added, you could also add By Columns, By Rows, Stop Speaking and On Enter.

By default, Excel will speak the contents of the active cell, when the Speak Cell button is pressed.  Select By Rows and Excel will speak an entire selection, going across the rows first (conversely By Columns will speak an entire selection, but going down the column first).

Stop Speaking – inturrupts the voice

On Enter toggles Excel speaking everything that you type, once you press Enter.

Uses

1. Use to validate data as you enter it
2. Use to read out a list of data for students to manipulate
3. Use (with By Rows) to get Excel to create a sentence.  A1=Calculate B1 = 52 C1 = take away D1 32  – highlight the row and off you go:

Highlight from Calculate to the end of ……. (include the …. as these provide additional thinking time – ie silence)

Download Text to Speech Workbook