using ArrayResizer and ExcelAsyncUtil produces unstable output

Hi all,

I am new to this package. So far everything is good except for the behavior of my formula is a bit unstable when I am dragging the formula across multiple cells. Below is my code:

    `[ExcelFunction(Description = "Get historical fundamental data")]
    public static object FD(
        [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = "Ticker")] string ticker,
        [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = "Field")] string field,
        [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = "Start Date")] string start_date = "",
        [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = "End Date")] string end_date = "",
        [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = "Period")] string period = "",
        [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = "DTS")] string dts = "")
    {
        ExcelReference caller = (ExcelReference)XlCall.Excel(XlCall.xlfCaller);
        string NA = "";

        object asyncResult = ExcelAsyncUtil.Run("FD", new string[] 
                {ticker, field, start_date, end_date, period, dts}, () =>
        {
           
            // a bunch of code to preprocessing to generate the SQL query string

            MySqlConnection conn = GetConnection();
            MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(SqlQuery, conn);

            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Ticker", ticker);

            conn.Open();
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
            DataTable table = new DataTable();
            MySqlDataAdapter adapter = new MySqlDataAdapter(cmd);
            adapter.Fill(table);
            conn.Close();

            var rows = table.Rows;
            int rowCount = rows.Count;
            int colCount = table.Columns.Count;
            var result = new object[rowCount, colCount];

            if (result.GetLength(0) == 0)
                return "#No Data";

            for (int i = 0; i < rowCount; i++)
            {
                var row = rows[i];
                int j = 0;
                if (row[0].GetType().Equals(typeof(System.DateTime)))
                {
                    result[i, j] = Convert.ToDateTime(row[j]).ToShortDateString();
                    j = 1;
                }
                for (; j < colCount; j++)
                    result[i, j] = (row[j] == DBNull.Value) ? NA : row[j];
            }

            ArrayResizer.Resize(result, caller);
            return result;
        });

        if (asyncResult.Equals(ExcelError.ExcelErrorNA)) return "#Requesting Data";
        return asyncResult;
    }`

The when I drag my formula across row 2 in my sheet, I got the following output

for some columns only (strangely, most columns work fine, only a few got problem), you could see it either returns the “-” NA string I defined or only the first row of the returned array.

To test and make sure it is not the issue of SQL execution, I modified the above code to by inserting the

return result.GetLength(0)

before the last nested two for loops. I want to see the number of rows in my “result” array . You could see the UDF now works fine after this change, returning the correct number of rows returned from SQL execution.

My ArrayResizer method is taken directly from https://github.com/Excel-DNA/ExcelDna/blob/master/Distribution/Samples/ArrayResizer.dna Without modification.

For those few columns I circled in blue, if I enter the formula by hand in a new workbook individually using the exact same UDF input argument, they will output the array correctly like most of the other arrays. The problem only appear when I do formula dragging across multiple cells.

Not sure if I have done anything wrongly. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[fricative]

hi hell-racer,

following the possible workaround suggested, I updated my code a little bit to the following which write directly to excel instead of returning an resized array.

` [ExcelFunction(Description = “Get historical time serie”)] public static object FDH( [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = “Ticker”)] string ticker, [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = “Field”)] string field, [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = “Start Date”)] string start_date = “”, [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = “End Date”)] string end_date = “”, [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = “Period”)] string period = “”, [ExcelArgument(AllowReference = true, Name = “DTS”)] string dts = “”) { ExcelReference caller = (ExcelReference)XlCall.Excel(XlCall.xlfCaller); int TopLeftRow = caller.RowFirst + 1; int TopLeftCol = caller.ColumnFirst + 1; string NA = “-”;

           // preprocessing code here

            MySqlConnection conn = GetConnection();
            MySqlCommand cmd = new MySqlCommand(SqlQuery, conn);

            cmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@Ticker", ticker);

            conn.Open();
            cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
            System.Data.DataTable table = new System.Data.DataTable();
            MySqlDataAdapter adapter = new MySqlDataAdapter(cmd);
            adapter.Fill(table);
            conn.Close();

            var rows = table.Rows;
            int rowCount = rows.Count;
            int colCount = table.Columns.Count;
            var result = new object[rowCount, colCount];

            if (result.GetLength(0) == 0)
                return "#No Data";

            for (int i = 0; i < rowCount; i++)
            {
                var row = rows[i];
                int j = 0;
                if (row[0].GetType().Equals(typeof(System.DateTime)))
                {
                    result[i, j] = Convert.ToDateTime(row[j]).ToShortDateString();
                    j = 1;
                }
                for (; j < colCount; j++)
                    result[i, j] = (row[j] == DBNull.Value) ? NA : row[j];
            }
            ExcelAsyncUtil.QueueAsMacro(() =>
            {
                Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application app = (Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Application) ExcelDnaUtil.Application;
                Worksheet ws = app.ActiveSheet;

                // write the first row of the array into excel
                if (colCount > 1)
                    for (int j = 1; j < colCount; j++)
                        ws.Cells[TopLeftRow, TopLeftCol + j].Value = result[0, j];

                // write second row and onward of the array into excel
                for(int i = 1; i < rowCount; i++)
                    for(int j = 0; j < colCount; j++)
                        ws.Cells[TopLeftRow + i, TopLeftCol + j].Value = result[i,j];
            });
            return result[0, 0];
        });

        if (asyncResult.Equals(ExcelError.ExcelErrorNA)) return "#Requesting Data";
        return asyncResult;
    }`

The result is I successfully get rid of array formula and array resizer (hence realizing the same effect of Bloomberg BDH formula, which is good). However, seems when I drag the formula across cells, the same problem still occurred like the screenshot I originally pasted. Maybe the issue is to do with ExcelAsyncUtil not able to process too many macro in parallel?

[govert]

Closing this - feel free to re-open if there’s anything else we need to look at.