Chapter 1 - Getting Started > Running GeneHunter as an Excel Add-In

If you wish to store your data in an Excel spreadsheet and call GeneHunter from Microsoft Excel, GeneHunter requires that a copy of Excel be installed on your computer.

Loading the GeneHunter.XLA

Run the setup program to install GeneHunter onto your hard drive. The install program does not automatically add GeneHunter to the list of Excel Add-Ins. You will have to do this manually.

Excel 2003:

In Excel, open the "Tools" menu from the standard toolbar, and select "Add-Ins". Scroll the list of Add-Ins for GeneHunter. To load the .XLA, simply check the box beside GeneHunter. If GeneHunter is not among the names listed, click on the "Browse" button. Under the drive, where you installed GeneHunter, select and open the C\GENEHUNTER directory. (If you installed the AI Trilogy, the \GeneHunter directory is a subdirectory under C\AI Trilogy.) Double click on GENEHUNT.XLA to load. Make sure that the box that appears to the left of the GeneHunter Add-In is checked. To unload the .XLA, uncheck the box beside the GeneHunter Add-In. When successfully installed, GeneHunter appears under the Tools menu in Excel.

Excel 2007 and 2010:

1. Open up Microsoft Excel.

2. Click on the Office button (top left).

3. Click on the Excel Options button at the bottom of the list.

4. In the left pane, click on Add-Ins.

5. In the right pane, click on the Go button.

6. Click on the Browse button, browse to and select GENEHUNT.XLA from the C:\GENEHUNTER directory. (If you install the entire AI Trilogy, this folder is a subfolder of the C:\AI Trilogy folder.)

7. Make sure that the box that appears to the left of the GeneHunter Add-In is checked. Click OK button.

8. When successfully installed, GeneHunter appears under the Add-Ins tab in Excel.

Excel 2013:

1. Open up Microsoft Excel.

2. Click on the File Menu.

3. Click on the Options button at the bottom of the list.

4. In the left pane, click on Add-Ins.

5. In the right pane, click on the Go button.

6. Click on the Browse button, browse to and select GENEHUNT.XLA from the C:\GENEHUNTER directory. (If you install the entire AI Trilogy, this folder is a subfolder of the C:\AI Trilogy folder.)

7. Make sure that the box that appears to the left of the GeneHunter Add-In is checked. Click OK button. If you previously did not have any Add-ins installed in Excel, an Add-ins tab is added to the main toolbar.

8. When successfully installed, GeneHunter appears under the Add-ins Custom Toolbars in Excel.

9. The next time you start Excel you can access GeneHunter by clicking on the Add-Ins tab and clicking on GeneHunter.

Excel Macro Security Level May Prohibit GeneHunter Add-In Operation

Sometimes, the macro security level in Excel is set too high and prohibits executing macros in workbooks. If this happens, the symptom is that the GeneHunter Add-In may display its window upon start, but then becomes non-responsive to any action. The remedy is to lower the macro security level.

Excel 2003: Go to the Tools -> Macro -> Security dialog.

Excel 2007 and 2010: You first need to unhide the Developer tab by going to the Office button -> Excel Options -> Popular tab and checking the "Show Developer tab in the Ribbon" box. After the Developer tab shows up, click on it and select Macro Security. Try to lower the security setting a notch and see if this restores GeneHunter's normal operation. If not, try to lower the security even more. As an alternative to allowing all macros, look at the top of the worksheet for the Security Warning: Macros have been disabled. Click on the "Enable this content" button which will allow only the GeneHunter Add-In macro. When you close the worksheet you will have to repeat the process to allow macros.

Excel 2013: If the Developer tab is not visible, go to the File Menu, Excel Options, and select Customize Ribbon in the left pane of the displayed window. Check the Developer box to display the tab on the ribbon. Click on the Developer tab and then choose Macro Security to lower the security level until the GeneHunter Add-In macro is displayed on the Add-Ins ribbon.

Loading GeneHunter's Examples into Excel

You must load GeneHunter as an Excel Add-In before you can use the examples. After loading GENEHUNT.XLA, go to the File menu on your standard toolbar and select "Open". Under your C drive, select the \GENEHUNTER directory and double click to open. Double click on GHSAMPLE.XLS to load GeneHunter's examples. If you installed the AI Trilogy, the \GENEHUNTER directory is located in the C:\AI Trilogy directory.

Use Single Worksheets to Speed Processing

The speed of GeneHunter operation in Excel is slower for increasing numbers of formulas in the workbook. If the user’s workbook consists of multiple independent worksheets, each of which has a large number of formulas, then it is advisable to move or copy the worksheet of interest with GeneHunter’s problem into a separate workbook and make this worksheet the only one in that workbook.

The problem occurs because Microsoft Excel checks the whole workbook to see what needs to be recalculated. GeneHunter causes frequent recalculations, so processing is slower if your GeneHunter worksheet is located in a workbook with many other worksheets.

Stopping Evolution

If you are running GeneHunter in Excel and wish to stop evolution, there are two ways to do this: strike the Control (Ctrl) key AND the Break key or strike the Escape (Esc) key. It is usually more effective to strike the Ctl and Break keys.