Below are instructions for using this open-sourced but unsupported Octopart Excel Add-In. This has, however, been superseded by the Nexar Supply Excel Add-in which still offers the same functionality in terms of access pricing and availability data for your BOM from directly within Microsoft Excel. Sign up at the Nexar.com website.
The Octopart Excel Add-In enables you to access pricing and availability data from right within Microsoft Excel. You can pull part information for your BOM all at once without leaving your spreadsheet.
- Download the Octopart Add-in binary for your system.
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In Excel, choose 'File -> Options -> Add-ins', then press 'Go...' to manage the 'Excel Add-ins'.
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Browse for the OctopartAddIn, make sure it's selected, and press 'OK'.
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To use the worksheet functions, simply type '=OCTOPART' and the list of functions will appear. Refer to Using Functions for documentation on how to use the functions.
A new ribbon will be added to your toolbar to make use of the new functionality.
The following functions are available through the Add-in. You can also access the guide to each argument by clicking the Function Wizard after you've selected any function. Keep in mind that across most functions, the mpn_or_sku field is required; all other fields are optional.
The first function that you'll need to use to activate the Add-in is:
=OCTOPART_SET_APIKEY("_apikey_")
'apikey' refers to your unique api key as provided by Octopart. When you've entered it (e.g., =OCTOPART_SET_APIKEY("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000") the result will read: Octopart Add-In is ready. Your api key is used to track your usage of the Add-in.
From here on, the world is your oyster:
=OCTOPART_DETAIL_URL(...)
=OCTOPART_DATASHEET_URL(...)
=OCTOPART_AVERAGE_PRICE(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_PRICE(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_STOCK(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_URL(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_MOQ(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_PACKAGING(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_LEAD_TIME(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_ORDER_MUTIPLE(...)
=OCTOPART_DISTRIBUTOR_SKU(...)
=OCTOPART_GET_INFO(...)
=OCTOPART_SET_OPTIONS(...)
For results that come in a URL format (e.g., for =octopart_detail_url or =octopart_distributor_url, click the "Format Hyperlinks" button to activate the links:
Download and install Visual Studio
Visual Studio -> Open Project/Solution -> ./OctopartExcelAddIn.sln Build all Projects in Release mode to generate dependencies for Excel-DNA script.
Debugging is easy! Simply setup Visual Studio to 'Start External Program' and point it to your installation of Excel. Pass in the XLL as the sole command line argument.
To build a compiled help file (.chm) the Microsoft HTML Help Workshop (HHW) must be installed.
ExcelDnaDoc expects HHW to be installed at C:\Program Files (x86)\HTML Help Workshop. If it is installed at another location change packages/ExcelDnaDoc/tools/ExcelDnaDoc.exe.config to reference the proper directory before compiling your project.
Run .\OctopartXll\BuildHelp.bat to compile the help file from the source.