The Add-in gives you a few extra Excel functions — they all start with ASTRATO. and you type them just like any normal formula.
ASTRATO.TABLE — pull in a whole dataset
=ASTRATO.TABLE("Sales")
The first argument is your dataset’s name. You get a header row plus the data. Just leave the space below and to the right empty so it can spill.
Note: Values come in unformatted from a bare formula. Click the dataset in from the panel, or refresh it there, to get your number and currency formatting.
ASTRATO.LASTUPDATED — when was this last refreshed?
=ASTRATO.LASTUPDATED("Sales")
Handy to drop next to a table so anyone reading the sheet can see how current the numbers are.
ASTRATO.PARAMETER — change how a measure calculates
=ASTRATO.PARAMETER("Factor", 2)
Use this to override a named parameter on an Astrato measure for a single formula. The cell reads Factor: 2, and ASTRATO.TABLE picks it up.
Note: Factor and Sales here are just example names. Swap them for a measure and parameter that actually exist in your semantic layer. Parameters must be defined in Astrato first — you can’t create one from Excel. If you use a name that isn’t there, the formula returns “… not found.”
ASTRATO.VARIABLE — swap a value for one formula
=ASTRATO.VARIABLE("Color", "Blue")
Use this to stand in a different value for a workbook variable, just for that one formula. Your saved variable stays as it is.
Turning a filter off with NA()
This works when a dataset filter is already driven by a variable (see Use variables). Once that’s set up, you can switch the filter off for a single formula. Passing Excel’s NA() tells Astrato to ignore the variable’s value, so the filter switches off for that query:
=ASTRATO.TABLE("Dataset1", ASTRATO.VARIABLE("SalesRegion", NA()))
Tip: Only reach for NA() when you genuinely mean “no value.” Any other Excel error still means something’s wrong and is worth fixing.
Note: Different-language Excel? In English it’s NA(). Some versions use a local name — for example NV() in German.
A few examples to copy
Formula | What it does |
| pull the dataset |
| when it last refreshed |
| with a parameter |
| with a variable |
| pointing at helper cells |
…where D3 holds =ASTRATO.PARAMETER("Factor", 2) and D4 holds =ASTRATO.VARIABLE("Color", "Blue").
