Excel Client Guide
Last updated: 27 May 2025
ControlWORQ Excel Client User Guide¶
System Requirements - Excel Client¶
This topic covers ControlWORQ Excel client system requirements; ControlWORQ Web Client system requirements are covered in another section.
Hardware Requirements¶
The ControlWORQ for Planning Analytics add-in for Microsoft Excel reads and writes data to Planning Analytics via the ControlWORQ Server, not Planning Analytics Perspectives. Although Planning Analytics Perspectives is not required to use ControlWORQ, most users will want to use Planning Analytics Perspectives with the ControlWORQ Excel client.
Since the application runs within Microsoft Excel, there are no additional hardware requirements beyond what would be needed to run Excel and Planning Analytics Perspectives normally, for example:
Processor
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processor
Memory
2 gigabyte (GB) or more of installed RAM. This is in line with IBM Cognos Planning Analytics recommendations. More memory may be needed if you plan to work with very large Excel reports within Excel or are running a large number of other Windows applications at the same time that you are running ControlWORQ and Planning Analytics Perspectives.
Disk Space
Disk space requirements are minimal. 100MB of free disk space is recommended when installing and using the ControlWORQ Excel client.
Monitor/Screen Resolution
The ControlWORQ Excel client is best run at a minimum resolution of 1024x768 or higher.
Software Requirements¶
Operating System
- Desktop Operating Systems
- Microsoft Windows 7 (all editions, 32 or 64-bit)
- Microsoft Windows 8 and 8.1 (all editions, 32 or 64-bit)
- Microsoft Windows 10 (all editions, 32 or 64-bit)
- Server Operating Systems (all editions)
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2
- Microsoft Windows Server 2016
⚠️ Note: We strongly recommend applying all critical Microsoft updates and installing any available service packs before installing ControlWORQ.
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Excel, a component of Microsoft Office, is required for ControlWORQ. This is because ControlWORQ requires integration with the Planning Analytics Perspectives client.
The following versions of Microsoft Excel are supported by ControlWORQ (both 32-bit and 64-bit, where available):
- Microsoft Excel 2010 with service pack 2 or higher
- Microsoft Excel 2013 with service pack 1 or higher
- Microsoft Excel 2016
Microsoft Office/Excel 2003 and earlier versions of Excel are not supported with ControlWORQ. In addition, the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) feature must be installed with Microsoft Office/Excel.
IBM Cognos Planning Analytics Software
ControlWORQ does not share connections to a Planning Analytics Server made via the Planning Analytics Perspectives Excel client. Instead, it communicates directly with the ControlWORQ Server, and any communication with Planning Analytics needed to post journal entries is between the ControlWORQ Server and your Planning Analytics Server.
As noted above, the Planning Analytics Perspectives add-in in is also recommended to use the ControlWORQ Excel add-in most efficiently. To see the list of IBM Cognos Planning Analytics Perspectives versions that are supported by IBM, please refer to the support lifecycle information provided by IBM: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/support/lifecycle/
Installing ControlWORQ Excel Client¶
This topic will guide you through the process of installing the ControlWORQ for Planning Analytics Excel add-in.
Before you Begin¶
Please be sure to review System Requirements and the following installation subtopics:
- Installation Checklist: This subtopic covers some of the prerequisites that you'll need before installing the ControlWORQ Excel add-in.
- Upgrading from a Prior Release: This subtopic should be reviewed, along with the Release Notes, before upgrading from a prior release of ControlWORQ.
Installation Step-by-Step¶
Execute the ControlWORQ client installation by double-clicking on the downloaded ControlWORQ Client installation package (e.g., ControlWORQClientInstaller_1.2.3.4.exe). This will launch an installation wizard which will guide you through the remaining installation steps:
- .NET Framework Prerequisites
- Main ControlWORQ Installation
.NET Framework 4.0 Prerequisites¶
If ControlWORQ detects that you do not already have the .NET Framework 4.0 prerequisites installed, it will attempt to download and install it for you. If you already have them installed, you may proceed to the next section.
⚠️ Note: This prerequisite, if not already installed, requires local administrative permissions on the local computer.
If .NET Framework 4.0 prerequisites need to be installed, you will be prompted with one of the following messages:
If you click the Install button, you may be presented with the prompt to run with administrative privileges:
After clicking Yes, you will see the installer downloading and then installing the .NET Framework on the local computer. This may take several minutes or more depending on your computer's available resources and download speeds:
Once the installation of the .NET Framework prerequisites succeeds, the installation routine will continue normally.
Main ControlWORQ Installation¶
After launching setup, you will notice the installation wizard loading and extracting its required files to the local computer:
Once this has completed, you will see the Welcome screen. Click Next to proceed:
At the license agreement page, click Next once you've agreed to the licensing terms:
ControlWORQ next prompts for the installation location, since it will be installed for all users. You do not need to change this from the default setting:
There are no additional installation options that need to be selected. Click Install to proceed with the installation:
After clicking install, you will see the installation proceed; this can take several minutes to complete:
Once the install is completed you will see the following Finished screen indicating that the installation has completed successfully:
At this point, the ControlWORQ add-in should load automatically when you open Microsoft Excel.
Post-Installation Steps¶
After installing the ControlWORQ Excel client, all required files, as documented in Technical Installation Details, are copied to the local machine and the two ControlWORQ add-ins, one COM Excel add-in and a XLL Excel add-in are registered and set to auto-load for the user who ran the installation.
For all other users on the same machine who did not run the ControlWORQ Excel Client installation program, additional steps may be required if they plan to use the ControlWORQ add-in in Excel:
Remove Old XLL Add-In Reference (if Present)¶
If users see the following error message when launching Excel:
They will need to uncheck/remove that add-in from the list of add-ins in Excel, by navigating to the "Excel Add-Ins" manager in Microsoft Excel. Click to deselect the missing/invalid ControlWORQ XLL add-in reference and click "Yes" to have Excel remove it from the list:
⚠️ IMPORTANT: You must completely shut down and restart Excel at this point in order for this change to take effect.
Manually Add XLL Add-In Reference¶
If the library of ControlWORQ Excel Functions does not appear in Excel, you will need to manually add a reference to the XLL add-in. To add it, begin by opening up the Excel Add-Ins manager. Then, click "Browse..." to locate the file, which is found here (in the 32-bit Program Files folder):
All 64-bit Operating Systems
%PROGRAMFILES(X86)%\QueBIT\FrameWORQ\ControlWORQ\AddIn\XLL\adxloader.QueBIT.ControlWORQ.AddIn.XLL.dll
ℹ️ NOTE: You will need to change the default file filter to "All Files (.)" when browsing for the add-in.
Once you have located and selected the add-in it will then load automatically, going forward.