Excel Requirements and SetupRequirements and Setup
Requirements
Before you begin, please note the following:
- The Add-in is currently only tested for use with Excel for Office 365.
- You must have a valid API key which can be obtained from the Icepack client portal. For more guidance on obtaining a key, see the help here
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Step 1. Right-click and save the manifest file from here.
Step 2. Upload the manifest file via the Office Add-ins interface.
Step 3. Create a Settings worksheet and enter your API key.
Installing the Icepack Add-in
To install an Excel Add-in you need to upload a manifest file which describes how the add-in behaves.
Step 1. Save the icepack-manifest.xml file located here by right clicking on the link and choosing ‘Save link as…’ or similar depending on your browser.
Step 2. Great, now that you have the icepack-manifest.xml file, you need to upload it via the Excel interface as follows:
- Select the insert tab in Excel and then Office Add-ins on the ribbon bar.
- Select ‘Manage My Add-ins’ on the top right of the Office Add-ins form and choose ‘Upload My Add-in’.
- Browse to the icepack-manifest.xml file’s location and upload it.
Once the manifest file uploads, the following command buttons should be visible at the end of the ribbon bar as shown below.
Setup
Before you can run a solve for any of the models you need to set up which Icepack key the Add-in will use when connecting to the services. Note that a key is not required to open the template examples, only to solve them.
Step 3. Almost there…create a Settings worksheet and enter your API key
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Clicking on either of the two command buttons, Vehicle Routing or Network Optimization, will open a taskpane on the right side of the current workbook.
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The taskpane will open on the settings tab indicated by a gear icon.
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Click on ‘Create a settings worksheet’.
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On the Settings tab, insert the key you wish to use into the cell next to API Key:, overwriting the content “Insert your key into this cell”. A valid key is a 108 character sequence which can be created on the Icepack client portal and should not be shared with others.
Once you have inserted a key into the Settings worksheet you will be able to solve models that are available on the taskpane.