Year: 2024

Automating Google Sheets Downloads to Excel: A Simple PHP Script

In the digital age, managing data efficiently is crucial. Google Sheets, a widely used tool for collaborative data management, sometimes needs to be converted into different formats for further processing. One common requirement is to download a publicly shared Google Sheet as an XLSX file, which can then be used in Excel for advanced data analysis. Here’s a handy PHP script that automates this process.

Why Automate Google Sheets Downloads?

Downloading Google Sheets manually can be tedious, especially if the data is updated frequently. Automating the download process ensures that you always have the latest data in your desired format without repetitive manual effort. Additionally, the XLSX format is compatible with Excel’s powerful features like Power Query, making it easier to transform and analyze data. Read more to learn more »

Multiple Retirement Fund Managers

It is not necessary that a company maintains more than one fund manager for its retirements fund. But nothing prohibits them from keeping more than one either.

Maintaining two fund managers for retirement funds can have both advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

  1. Diversification of expertise: Having two fund managers can provide diversification in terms of investment styles, strategies, and expertise. Each manager may bring unique skills and perspectives to the table, potentially leading to better risk management and overall performance.
  2. Risk management: By spreading your retirement funds across two different fund managers, you reduce the risk of being too heavily reliant on the decisions of a single manager. If one manager underperforms or makes poor investment choices, the impact on your portfolio may be less severe.

Disadvantages:

  1. Increased complexity: Managing retirement funds with two separate fund managers can add complexity to your investment strategy. It may require more time and effort to coordinate and monitor the performance of both managers effectively.
  2. Potential for conflicting strategies: Fund managers may have different investment philosophies or objectives that could potentially lead to conflicting strategies within your portfolio. This could result in inconsistencies in your overall investment approach and hinder your ability to achieve your retirement goals.
  3. Higher costs: Employing two fund managers may lead to higher management fees and expenses, ultimately reducing the returns on your investment. This additional cost could eat into your overall retirement savings over time.

Ultimately, the decision to maintain two fund managers for retirement funds should be based on your specific financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment preferences. It’s essential to carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages to determine if this approach aligns with your retirement planning objectives.

VBA code to refresh an Excel table generated by a power query

Disclaimer: I’m not good at Excel VBA. That’s why I take advantage of ChatGPT to generate the code for me.

The requirements

Here are my requirements:

  1. When I hit the button, refresh the table called AgingTable in the Aging sheet
  2. The AgingTable  is connected to a Power Query called the same name: AgingTable
  3. Since the AgingTable query is a big table and runs several transformation, it may take a while for the query to finish
  4. However, before proceeding to the next script in the VBA I want it to wait for the query to complete

Continue reading VBA code to refresh an Excel table generated by a power query

I’m looking for a Syncthing alternative

I liked Syncthing because it is capable of storing encrypted files at rest while running an instance in a VPS. However, my recent experience with it has been less than optimal.

For example, in my VPS I’m always stuck at the login screen while trying to access the GUI to manage my synced folders:

Syncthing stuck in login screen

Meanwhile, in local server, it says the folder is out of sync:

Folder indicates it is Out of Sync

Although if you examine closely the files, they are indeed synced. Clicking on the Out of Sync Items further are 366 pages of nothing!

Out of Sync 366 pages of nothing

If you know of an alternative that’s more reliable than Syncthing, please do let me know in the comments below.

Generate list of all available characters in Power Query

When you generate a list like for example {1 .. 10}, you’ll get:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Or for {"A" .. "Z"} you’ll get:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

What if you want to generate all the available characters in your US English keyboard?

I’m not sure if this is already an exhaustive list, but when I try {"!".. "}"} I’m getting:

! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | }