Zap Live for Excel

Zap Live is an Excel add-in that integrates Excel with Zap Analytics, enabling direct access to reports within Excel worksheets. This section covers installation, connection setup, and core functionality of the add-in.

note

Zap Live is currently only supported on Zap Cloud.

Loading a report in Excel

There are two ways to load a Data Hub report in Excel:

• Download a report from Data Hub as a Zap Live workbook.
• Load the report from within Excel.

Data Hub reports can be loaded directly from within Excel using the Zap Live add-in.

Downloading a Zap Live workbook

1. From the Resource Options menu of an analysis report, select Zap Live in Excel.

   

2. Save the workbook to your computer.

3. Open the downloaded workbook in Excel. The Zap Live add-in will be installed if it isn't already.

   note

   The sheet will appear empty until the report has finished loading.

4. Sign in to Data Hub if prompted (see Connecting to Data Hub from Excel).

5. The report will be loaded automatically.

Loading a report from within Excel

1. If you haven't already, install the Zap Live add-in and connect to Data Hub.

2. Open the Resource drop down in the Zap Live task pane.

   

3. From here, you can choose any analysis report you have access to.

4. Click Load to bring it into Excel. The table data will be displayed within the current sheet.

Adding another report to Excel

Once you've loaded a Data Hub report in Excel, you can add more reports by selecting Add a new query... from the query dropdown at the top of the Zap Live task pane. You can switch between multiple queries by selecting them in the query dropdown.

important

You can only have one Zap Live query per sheet.

Working with Zap Live queries

Zap Live consists of a task pane for loading reports and slicing data, and a ribbon for manipulating tables. This section explains how to access interface elements and perform common operations.

Refreshing data

The data displayed in Zap Live tables can be updated through the Refresh ribbon button. After pressing, the following refresh types are available:

• Refresh all to refresh all queries in the workbook.
• Refresh table to refresh only the currently selected table within the sheet.

The selected query will show a loading message while it is being refreshed.

Expand/collapse

Zap Live tables support hierarchical data display with expandable and collapsible rows, allowing users to control the level of detail shown.

Users can expand or collapse hierarchical data directly within Excel by clicking the arrow icon displayed in header cells.

Additionally, Zap Live enhances this functionality through dedicated ribbon controls. The Expand Member and Collapse Member options apply to a single member, while the Expand Level and Collapse Level options affect all members at the current depth in the hierarchy.

Accessing the task pane

The task pane can be opened at any time by clicking Show Queries from the Queries section of the ribbon. It shows the current report's name in the query dropdown, and the report's slicers (if it has any)

Slicing

Slicers provide interactive filtering capabilities for Zap Live tables. When a report loads into Excel, associated slicers from the Zap Analytics report become accessible in the Zap Live task pane.

Navigate to the Slicers section within the task pane to view all available options for the current report. Select specific values from the available options to slice the data. The table data updates automatically to reflect these selections.

Customizing tables

The automatic nature of Zap Live tables prevents safely adding custom rows or applying custom cell formatting directly to the table. When these tables are updated during normal operations (such as expanding/collapsing hierarchies, refreshing data, or applying slicers), any manual customizations to the table will likely be overridden when the table is refreshed. Zap Live provides the Automatic table toggle to disable these structural and formatting table updates, while continuing to update the data of tables when refreshing queries.

important

Enabling Automatic table will immediately re-load the entire table to the sheet it was originally loaded in. The table will be loaded from cell A1 and overwrite any cells in its required range.

Copying tables

An alternative solution to customizing tables is to create a copy of the automatic data table that you can format and edit as required:

1. Select a cell of the automatic table you wish to copy and click Select in the Table section of the Zap Data Hub ribbon.
2. Copy this table (press ctrl + c or Right click > Copy).
3. Paste this table onto another sheet (press ctrl + v or Right click > Paste).

The cells that have been pasted will contain member and measure formulas that query Zap Analytics directly, instead of cell references to the first sheet. This means you can now rearrange the original table without affecting the new one. You can now update the formatting of the copied cells or add new rows with Excel formulas to extend the report. Because this table is not interactive (you can no longer expand or collapse the rows), these cell references will be maintained when refreshing your data. Values will still be updated when refreshing or slicing the original table, but no rows will be added or removed.

important

Never use cell references to the original interactive table on the first sheet, as expanding or collapsing will break your formulas. A cell must be visible on the original table for data to appear in it in the copied table.

Zap functions

Zap Live tables are implemented using Zap.Cell, Zap.Member and Zap.Calculation functions in the cell formulas instead of raw values. This is primarily to ensure that references to these cells are correct after the table is refreshed.

If these functions are causing slow performance, tables can be loaded using raw values by toggling Cell functions in the task pane. If the query is not using an Automatic table, this setting will be disabled.

note

Cell functions are automatically disabled when loading large tables (1000s of cells). This can be manually reverted by toggling the setting.

Ending your session

To sign out of Zap Live, click Sign Out on the ribbon to disconnect from Zap Data Hub.

Appendix

Installing the add-in

Zap Live is available directly from the Excel Add-in store. Follow the steps below to install:

1. Open Excel.

2. Navigate to the Home tab of the ribbon.

3. Click Add-ins.

   

4. In the Add-ins dialog, search for "Zap Live".

5. Click Add to install the add-in.

   

6. Wait for the Zap Live task pane to appear on the right side of the screen.

More documentation for adding and removing add-ins in Excel can be found here.

Connecting to Data Hub from Excel

Once you have installed the add-in, you will need to sign in to Data Hub:

1. In the Zap Live task pane, locate the Data Hub URL field.
2. Enter the URL of your Zap Data Hub site, e.g. https://my-company.zapbi.com/.
3. Click Sign in.
4. Sign in with your Zap Data Hub username and password.

note

Use the same credentials you normally use to access Zap Data Hub.

Restrictions

Zap Live tables inherit structure and styling from their source Zap Analytics report, maintaining visual consistency between platforms while adapting to Excel's environment. Due to fundamental differences between these products, certain limitations exist regarding what visual elements can transfer to the Excel interface. The add-in preserves the following formatting attributes:

• Font color
• Background color
• Bold
• Italic
• Underline
• Number formatting

note

Conditional formatting configured in Zap Analytics is currently not supported in Excel.