The Board ribbon is the primary access point to Board Add-in functionalities within an Excel workbook. When the Board Office Add-in connection is established, a dedicated Board M365 tab is displayed in the Excel Ribbon. The top ribbon area provides workbook- and group-specific features that are always visible and easily accessible. These features include core groups such a:
The Board M365 Excel Add-in tab in the ribbon menu
Once the Board M365 Excel Add-in is installed, a new entry is displayed in both the main Excel tab and ribbon menus, providing a starting point for working with Board data in Excel. See the button highlighted in the image below.
.png)
Clicking the Board Add-in command on this menu reveals the M365 Excel Add-in ribbon shown below. The vast majority of Board options are available through the ribbon easy to access.
Ribbon groups
The Board ribbon provides access to the functional commands available in the BoardM365 Excel Add-in. This section focuses on the individual groups and commands exposed in an Excel workbook, exposing their purpose and behavior in detail.
The Board ribbon in an Excel workbook provides the following groups to access Board features:
Connection
Disconnect. Use this command to disconnect from a Board Platform. Only one Platform connection can be active in a single workbook at a time.
To configure connections, follow the instructions in the Connection and Login section.
Table Options
This group opens the task pane for Table management. From this panel, you have the following table options:
Add Table. Create new Tables on the active worksheet, either by using an existing Dataset or by configuring a new Layout. Tables are the main way to reliably retrieve data from a Board Data Model into Excel.
Table Setup. This option opens a submenu where you can choose to edit existing Table configurations, pivot data, and filter or sort. Use the dropdown menu to select the following options:
Go To Table Configuration. Edit the Table configuration
Pivot Data. Select Available Fields or drag and drop fields into “Values”, “Rows”, or “Columns” to pivot data.
Format Table. This option opens the right side task pane to the Format menu. Here you can format a Table.
Copy Table. Copies the selected a Table.
Paste Table. Pastes a Table.
Delete Table. Deletes a Table.
Table Interactions
.png)
Expand. Expand selected row or column group.
Collapse. Collapse selected row or column group.
Expand & Collapse.
Expand all. Expand all Rows and Columns to show all grouped data.
Collapse all. Collapse all Rows and Columns to hide all grouped data.
Expand entire field. Expand one specific field.
Collapse entire field. Collapse one specific field.
Data Selection
Selection. This tab opens or closes the "Sheet Selection" task pane. Use it to select a Data Model from the connected Platform and define the selection criteria that filter the data retrieved into the workbook. It is recommended to make a selection before creating a table. For more information, see the Board Excel Add-in Selection article.
Selection Overview. Click to view the current Selections active on the current sheet in the Board for Microsoft 365 right side panel.
Selection overview only shows the first 6 members of an Entity Selection. If more selections exist, a blue chip appears stating how many more member selections for that Entity exist.
Refresh data
Refresh Sheet. Use this command to refresh the active worksheet and update local data from the connected Board Platform.
Refresh happens in two parts: 1. Query the Board Engine 2. Print the new data in the Workbook.
Limitations
1. In the first part of the refresh, the limitation is equal of that of a Flex Grid: 2.5 million rows and 160 columns per Table
2. The second part has a limitation of 5 million cells for each sheet and 10 million for each workbook
If any of the limitations are reached, an error message will appear prompting the user to reduce the data.Refresh Workbook. Use this command to refresh all worksheets in the workbook and update their data from the relevant Board Data Models.
The entire Workbook, Sheets, and Tables will be grouped together and refreshed in one go with similar limitations: 2.5 million rows and 160 columns per Table and 10 million cells in the entire Workbook.
Default behavior
If Table sizes expand after refresh and overlaps with other cell content or Tables, the refresh process stops and a Table overlap error message appears. Read more about Tables Overlapping.
After login, an initial refresh is prompted via a popup message if the "Refresh Workbook upon connection" option is enabled.
If the initial refresh is not executed, the cells content displays as saved in the Excel.
Upon the first interaction with a Table, a refresh for that If the same data appears in another Table, that Table will also be updated specific Table triggers.
For more information, see Refresh a Table.
Settings
Add-in Settings. Access the general configuration options for the Board M365 Excel Add-ins. For complete information, see Add-in settings.
Workbook Settings. Configure options that apply to the entire Excel workbook while it is connected to Board. These settings affect all worksheets within the workbook. For full details, see Workbook Settings.