DISCO just made reviewing Microsoft Excel files even easier by introducing an improved document viewer with a built-in spreadsheet view. In addition to getting a near native rendering of your Excel document, you can now open them in DISCO Review’s spreadsheet viewer, which provides the look and feel of working in the spreadsheet.
Some of the features you can take advantage of with our spreadsheet viewer include:
- Resizing columns and rows
- Moving from tab to tab within the spreadsheet
- Selecting individual cells to see text and formulas
- Ability to wrap text within cells for better visibility
- Hiding charts/images to reveal any data that may have been covered
- Searching for cell contents and cell formulas in spreadsheets
- Ability to see any search term or term highlights within the spreadsheet
The spreadsheet viewer is available within our improved document viewer. In previous versions of DISCO Review, you opened the document viewer and had the option to view one of the following:
- The original near native image (seen below)
- Any DISCO Review production image
- The text of the document.
In DISCO Review’s improved document viewer you have the option to click the Spreadsheet tab.
DISCO Review’s spreadsheet view renders Microsoft Excel files in a spreadsheet-like environment. Data within the view will be laid out in a traditional lettered column and numbered row format.
Navigating spreadsheets
Navigating the spreadsheet view is much like working in a native spreadsheet program. Use the scroll bars to move horizontally and vertically across the screen. Focus on areas of key information by resizing columns and rows.
Quickly and easily move between tabs within the same spreadsheet by selecting the tab names at the top left of the viewer.
Visibility options
Once you open the Spreadsheet tab, you will notice two new buttons that appear on the right just above the document. These buttons allow you to see behind floating charts and images and to wrap text within cells for full visibility.
First, you can remove charts and images that appear within a spreadsheet to see if there is any key data in the underlying cells. Below is an example of a spreadsheet that contains a floating chart called “Enron - Pool Point”, which is covering up underlying data.
To remove the chart and see the data, click the Hide floating charts/images button.
This will remove the chart from view, allowing to you examine the underlying cells for additional content which might otherwise be missed.
At times, you will have cells in which the text is not fully visible because it extends past the limits of the cell. In the image below, rows 9 and 10 each contain text that is not fully visible. DISCO Review’s spreadsheet view allows you to wrap such text within the cell, bringing everything into view.
To wrap text within the cells of your spreadsheet, click the Turn on auto text wrapping button.
Now the text within Rows 9 and 10 is wrapped and fully visible.
Formulas in spreadsheets
In addition to being able to better view text within cells, you can select a cell and DISCO Review will display any underlying formulas. In the image below, cell F7 (displaying 0.8735%) is selected and the underlying formula is displayed in the upper-left section of the document viewer, just below the spreadsheet tab name.
Searching, search hits, and term highlights in spreadsheets
As with DISCO Review’s previous document viewer, the new spreadsheet view allows you to see term highlights and search hits within the viewer. For example, add the word "Total" to the Global terms list to be highlighted in green.
Now when you review a spreadsheet using DISCO Review’s spreadsheet view you will see each instance of the word "Total" highlighted in green throughout the spreadsheet.
Furthermore, you can view search hits within the spreadsheet. For example, run a search for "mar".
When you open a spreadsheet that hit on your search term, DISCO Review will supply you with the number of search hits and highlight the hits within the spreadsheet view. Notice that, in the image below, the search term “mar” has a total of 82 hits and is found both within the text of the cells and within the formulas of the cells.
In addition to being able to run searches from the search bar, you can run searches within the spreadsheet you are reviewing by either using the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+F or command+F or the magnifying glass icon.
For example, enter the word "Rate" in the Find field and press Enter/return. DISCO Review will then locate and highlight each instance of that search term within the spreadsheet.
Whether you're searching using the search bar or the shortcuts, DISCO Review will:
- Search cell contents and cell formulas
- Provide you with the number of search hits
- Highlight your search terms within the spreadsheet view
- Allow you to use the arrows to move from search hit to search hit
Finally, DISCO Review will identify search terms within floating charts and images. Remember the spreadsheet with the "Enron - Pool Point" chart? If you run a search for the phrase "pool point," DISCO Review will return three search hits within that spreadsheet. Notice the first search hit is the phrase "pool point" within a cell, as seen in the image below.
When you navigate to the second hit, DISCO Review will identify the chart containing that phrase and highlight the chart with a blue line.
The improved document viewer is available on all new databases created on or after January 17, 2018.