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Orvyn

Spreadsheets

Orvyn in Excel

A cell that shows the number and refreshes itself, step by step, for someone who has never installed anything.

Takes
About 3 minutes
You need
  • Excel on the web, which is free with a Microsoft account, or Excel for Windows or Mac
  • Nothing to pay: the free number needs no key
Costs
Nothing for the free number, which runs a little behind. The signed, newest number takes a pack bought on the feed’s page; every guide ends with how.

First, pick the number you want

Every line further down is then written for it, ready to copy.

Or one of these:

You picked

EUR / USD, ECB reference rate

by Orvyn · changes every day · its page

Its address, which the lines below carry:orvyn/eur-usd-ecb-reference

The free number right now

1.1411

measured · runs 15 minutes behind

Then follow the steps

In about three minutes a cell in Excel shows EUR / USD, ECB reference rate. You give Excel one small file, the manifest, that tells it where the add-in lives; the add-in itself runs from orvyn.me and nothing is installed on your computer.

  1. Save the manifest file

    Right click the link and choose Save link as, or click it and save manifest.xml somewhere you can find again. manifest.xml

  2. Load it into Excel

    Excel on the web: open a workbook, then Home › Add-ins › More Add-ins › My Add-ins › Upload My Add-in, choose the file, Upload.

    Excel for Windows: put the file in a folder, share that folder (right click it › Properties › Sharing › Share), then in Excel go to File › Options › Trust Center › Trust Center Settings › Trusted Add-in Catalogs, add the shared folder’s path, tick Show in Menu, restart Excel, then Insert › My Add-ins › Shared Folder.

    Excel for Mac: copy the file into ~/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents/wef/ (make the wef folder if it is missing) and restart Excel.

    You should see: An Orvyn button appears on the Home tab.

  3. Type the formula in a cell

    Copy it, paste it into any cell and press Enter.

    any cell
    =ORVYN.PREVIEW("orvyn/eur-usd-ecb-reference")

    You should see: The cell shows 1.1411. It is the free number, which runs 15 minutes behind, and it refreshes with the workbook at most once every day.

No add-ins allowed on your computer?

Power Query reads the same number with nothing added to Excel. Data › Get Data › From Other Sources › Blank Query, then Advanced Editor, paste, Done, Close & Load. Refresh it with Data › Refresh All, no more often than every day.

Advanced Editor
let
  Source = Json.Document(Web.Contents("https://orvyn.me/gw/v1/feeds/orvyn/eur-usd-ecb-reference/preview")),
  Value = Number.From(Source[preview][value]) / Number.Power(10, Source[decimals])
in
  Value

Want the signed number instead?

What you set up above shows the free number. It runs 15 minutes behind and is not signed, which is fine for a dashboard. The signed number is the newest one, and it comes with a proof anyone can check on the check page or on chain. It costs a little: you buy a pack of reads once, with your wallet, then a key spends from that pack. Three steps, in this order.

  1. 1

    Buy a pack on the feed’s page. The smallest is enough to start; a pack is a number of reads, and the page says what each costs.

  2. 2

    Make a key with the wallet that bought the pack. Sign in here and it is made for you, or make one under Dashboard, API keys, with the read scope only. A read key can spend the reads you bought and nothing more, and you revoke it there.

  3. 3

    Put the key in Excel. Press the Orvyn button on the Home tab, paste the key in the pane and save. From then on =ORVYN.VALUE("orvyn/eur-usd-ecb-reference") gives the signed number, =ORVYN.TEXT("orvyn/eur-usd-ecb-reference") gives it with its unit, and =ORVYN.PROOF("orvyn/eur-usd-ecb-reference") gives a link that proves it. The key stays on this device and is never written into a cell.

No tool holds a wallet or pays by itself. However often a sheet recalculates or a workflow runs, a feed is read from your pack at most once every day, because that is how often it changes.

If something looks wrong

You seeIt means
#NAME?Excel does not know the formula: the add-in is not loaded in this workbook. Do step 2 again, and check the Home tab for the Orvyn button.
#VALUE! with "No calls left for …"Your key holds no pack for this feed. Buy one on the feed’s page.
#VALUE! with "The key was refused"The key is wrong or was revoked. Make a new one and save it in the pane again.
#VALUE! with "No feed at …"The address in the formula has a typo. Pick the feed above and copy the formula again.
#N/AThe feed has not published yet. Hover the cell’s corner to read the message.
#BUSY!Excel is still fetching. It clears by itself in a moment.

Still stuck? Say so on X with the words on your screen, and we will answer.

Take it out again

Home › Add-ins › More Add-ins › My Add-ins, the three dots on Orvyn, Remove. On a Mac, delete the file from the wef folder. Then delete the formulas.