Filtering Needs to Work in Co-Authoring
Say that several people are editing the same workbook. If Tom filters to show only his records, then the other people will only see Tom's records. We need to be able to have each person apply a different filter and see only their records.
Note that it is fine to require that the workbook can not have SUBTOTAL or AGGREGATE functions in order for independent filtering to work. If you allow these functions, then everyone will have different calculation results which would be problematic.
It is more important to us to be able to have each person apply a local filter than to have the rare AGGREGATE function work correctly.
Thanks!
Bill Jelen
shared this idea
Hello, we are working on this request for Excel Online – https://excel.uservoice.com/forums/274580-excel-online/suggestions/8192445-allow-for-personal-user-views-filters, more updates are coming later for Win32.
57 comments
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CodeKnight
commented
@ the person who said this "Google and Microsoft came to the same conclusion. its easier to put the software in the cloud to manipulate the data in the cloud than pull the data down and sync constantly with multiple users simultaniously."
Currently this is exactly the way co-authoring is working in MS Office.
Once the file is synced in OneDrive desktop or Teams, the file is in the cloud. But at the same time you can open up a local copy in "Desktop" mode that allows you to edit using the full power of the desktop software, the file autosaves with the server and syncs changes to the data in realtime with other users. It begins to fall over when the file is so massive / slow that saves take a longer time to sync, but still highly functional.
I don't think a patent will protect anyone against a similar / same set of functionality that is implemented in a unique / ground up format. Why should someone be protected from competition when the execution is superior / process is different. It's like trying to patent a hamburger. No you patent the ingredients, process and construction of the hamburger.
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CodeKnight
commented
Airtable, Infinity and Stackby execute on the promise of co-authoring in an excellent fashion.
Multiple different views all pointing to the same set of data. Collaborators can work on any of these views simultaneously and update the view settings without affecting other views.
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Anonymous
commented
That is exactly what I was trying to say. Shared data must be placed in a shareable location not on a desktop. Once the data is in the cloud (or your own business network servers) you have to either move the software to the cloud to maniputlate the data or you have to move the data to the desktop for desktop software to manipulate it.google and Microsoft came to the same conclusion. its easier to put the software in the cloud to manipulate the data in the cloud than pull the data down and sync constantly with multiple users simultaniously. Larger data sets would make this prohibitive. So I agree, MS does need to bridge a functionality gap between the current online software and the current desktop software but I expect it will have to be in the cloud version and that is likely going to be somewhat limited due to competing patents on cloudware that is trying to accomplish the same functionality. I am also not a patent attorney but suspect making a trivial change to code while copying the majority is not how IP patent protections work. IP Patents would be useless if that was the case. I think we (all commentators) agree about the need. My main point is that its probably not ignorance, disinterest, or incompetence on the part of Microsoft that has caused this functionality gap.
I believe its a patent stalemate to blame. Thus our comments here are futile other than to provide a little good humor and social support as we all recognize that we are not alone in our frustrations. -
Anonymous
commented
To "Anonymous" who mentioned data stored on local laptops - " The problem for desktop users that many commenters fail to recognize in their comments is that desktop data is by definition housed locally...."
You are incorrect in your assumption. In order for any of the "shared" functionality to work properly with the Office apps, the data needs to be stored in SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business. We aren't talking about saving files on local PCs or laptops, or even legacy file shares. We want to use the co-authoring capabilities with files stored on SharePoint Online and OneDrive with the full Microsoft Office desktop application - not the web version that has fewer features and some compatibility challenges.
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Anonymous
commented
I am not a code writer nor do I work for MS but I want to offer some thoughts to those whose comments have provided years of laughs as I have recieved updates on this string. G sheets has many weeknesses (like macro storage outside of the sheet so it can be applied to independent sheets) but this filter view functionality is one thing they have nailed. The problem for desktop users that many commenters fail to recognize in their comments is that desktop data is by definition housed locally. Sharing this requires granting others access to view or edit it where it is. Everyone likes the idea of collaboration but few recognize that the web is THE way to do this at scale. You can imagine why it may cause problems (bottlenecks) if a team of 15 people all needed to access the data on your laptop and you are at a marginal wireless connection at the coffee shop. Everyone on the team would be limited to the wireless connection speed at the coffee shop and the bandwidth limits. Hosting data in the cloud eliminates this bottleneck. However pulling a personal view of central data may require blending the shared data with local device and software settings (imagine how many screen sizes/resolutions may be involved in viewing the data and how that affects how it is displayed.) When you consider the interplay between online data sets and local views it makes the magic of G sheets more impressive and the trouble MS is having more understandable. Solving central data permanence rules and individual ability to view or manipulate the data is a complicated problem. My question is, is there an alternate way to do it that is different from what Google has done in G-sheets? I presume that a patent is protecting their method and MS is not going to get to use that method until they buy a license or find an alternate means of achieving the local workstation and central data interoperability problem. Again I don't code but I do know that IT companies are bought in order to get code that would otherwise need to be licensed and which a company may not want to license to anyone else. (Apple bought a company to obtain what is now called iCloud. They didnt build it from scratch themselves.) I don't see MS buying G-suite from Alphabet so we may be suffering in Gsuite from MS patents preventing them from improving their product and in Office from Google patents preventing MS from improving their product.
The lack of comments from MS on this topic gives one pause. It has been years now. Microsoft has an online cloud storage product. If there were an efficient way to do this, that were not protected by Google patent, Microsoft certainly could have delivered a solution by now. I think the same thing every time I use g-sheets and lament the lack of functionality and the oddball work flows for things like printing. I suspect we have our own intellectual property laws to thank for both the innovation that has begotten 2 competing systems, and the trouble with each as they both are unlikely to play nice with one another so that they can both offer a better product. Bottom line, I'm not holding my breath. My solution is to use both. G sheets for collaboration and MS Excell for computation. It will probably take developing the web version to achieve both collaboration and computational power since developing "collaboration" on the "desktop" version seems to be an oxymoron. -
Roy
commented
Consider that usually functionality for the mobile side is mostly about A user being able to wonderously have access to what were heretofore resources only available tethered to a desk or 10 lb laptop. Sometimes — sometimes — LOTS of users, but usually always "users."
The desktop version however, is usually about a whole different word/phrase: "production environment."
The value of working at the "adult table" first and letting it bleed slowly over to the "children's table" should be obvious. The scale by which users gain benefit relative to the mobile version is certainly nowhere near 1:1.
Along the way it is fine for some things to "bleed over" first as low-hanging fruit is picked. We just don't need that to be chosen as some kind of "Yay, we're covered with glory and are done!" point. And with MS, one has to fear that every time a lesser need is satisfied before a greater one is.
Nothing personal mobile folk, your needs are real and it's good to see them met, it's just that history shows WE folk now have a huge concern to go with the complaint where we only used to have the complaint.
"Yay, we're covered with glory and are done!" Sorry vast group of marginal users. Old fuddy-duddy, can't-be-hip users. Too bad, so sad.
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Anonymous
commented
Filtering in the online version shows awareness of the problem, but the desktop version is where it needs to be implemented!
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[Deleted User]
commented
Another vote for this function in the desktop version. I don't want to go back to shared workbooks, I want to move forward!
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Graeme
commented
Amazing this is in the web interface but not in the app. The reason we are using co-authoring is because of the complex nature of the work we are doing. Filtering is a key capability of large files and the web view is too slow with missing features. Seems like a big miss not having options for being able to filter views independently.
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Anonymous
commented
This needs to be implemented in the desktop version. Who cares about the online...
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Peter Collins
commented
There's no point to having this filter / sort functionality if you can't edit what your filtering on without imparing what others are doing. Alternatively, if there was any way for something like Powerquery to feed back into the table being queried, that would be nice.
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Isaiah Berg
commented
Please, please, please make co-authoring in the desktop application live up to its promise! Greatly appreciated!
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CodeKnight
commented
Airtable has solved this in a good way. Multiple editable views created by users, all connected to database backend. Unfortunately MS Excel doesn't really work like this. As the data you see is the data you are editing. Maybe MS Excel could solve this through the creation of connected tables, that update in real time between each other, that way you can filter one table without affecting the other.
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Anonymous
commented
As many others have stated, this ability is needed for the desktop version. The ability for only the online version is not worth mentioning to users.
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SWalter
commented
This is needed more for the desktop version in our Org than in Excel online, we work almost exclusively in the desktop because of the lack of features in the online version, most notably the ability to run macros. I really can't believe they built it just for the online version and not the desktop, creating an even bigger divide between the abilities of each version.
But yet, the desktop and online versions are supposed to function together?? No way to justify this to our users, I am not even telling them about the this being added to the online version. -
Pipo De Jesus
commented
Why is this taking too long to implement? For corporate users like us, this feature is a must.
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Steve
commented
@Nico: for the online version, we just got the announcement from ignite that it will be coming. watch Jeff Teper's session video here: https://myignite.techcommunity.microsoft.com/sessions/81522
it comes soemwhere in the middle as "sheet view" under the "Intelligence and collaboration enhancements to Office" topic. -
Nico
commented
Please add this filtering by person on cloud sheets for the desktop version.
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Michael
commented
No good just to have it for the online version as the size of the documents for excel online is very small..
Please add this feature to desktop as well.
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Anonymous
commented
We have disabled Autosave with Office 365 ProPlus at our organization due to this issue. One of the major selling points of real time co-authoring cannot be used in the current state. You cannot have everyone's view change immediately when one person sorts or filters.