P-Ex DataMining
Data where you need it - in Excel
It all started as a small Excel macro, designed to upload master data to DreamSuite, back in 1996. For well over 20 years we have been developing our P-Ex DataMining product. From 2002, it grew to a fully installable 'Interface' program with over 100 'Modules' from which users could pick and mix. One of the favourites was the Aged Debt report and Customer Statements module. The modules reported on our data, and allowed Admins to upload new master data.
In the last few years, this product has been moved from VBA to VSTO, and now uses our shared .Net codebase. It is now downloadable, and self-updating. The user now sees the menus and menu options the Admin decides they can use. There are now a lot of administrative and data import functions as well.
Reports
There are six menus containing standard reports which get data from P-2/P-Ex. Most of these were developed as some individual user's pride and joy, but they have been standardised to an extent and are now available to all users, subject to security.
- Operational reports
- Analysis reports
- Item reports
- Stock reports
- Replenishment reports
- Listings (of master data)
A further menu may appear if we have written any reports or utilities specifically for your company.
If your system is finance linked there are three more menus which connect to Dream or PS Financials, again subject to security.
- Finance reports
- Finance listings (of master data)
- Finance utilities
Utilities
There are three menus of utilities:
- System: mainly for us to use
- Admin: tools for your system administrator
- Utilities: tools to upload and update master data
Security
Security is set from the Admin menu. If a user’s group can see a menu then that user can see all the items on that menu. Otherwise, the user can see the reports/utilities which they have specific access to.
Practical Information
P-Ex DataMining lives on the Excel ribbon. It is written in .Net in Visual Studio 2022, and delivered using ClickOnce technology from Microsoft. It keeps itself up to date once installed. We tend to release a new build every few weeks.