Support
Depending how new you are to ActiveGraf, you can check out our tutorial videos, or just download our User Guides.
Getting Started
This section provides useful information about how to start using ActiveGraf.
Webinar
Learn how to build ActiveGraf dashboards and presentations.
FAQs
Browse frequently asked questions.
Release Notes
Get information on features and improvements.
Getting Started
Minimal Hardware requirements:
- Microsoft Windows Compatible PC
- 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor or faster
- 8 GB RAM or more
- The ActiveGraf user experience has been specifically tailored to support gestures and direct screen interactions on touch capable devices.
Software requirements:
- Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11
- Microsoft Office for Windows 2016 (version 1805 or newer)
- ActiveGraf requires full on-premise installation of Microsoft Office.
ActiveGraf uses Office Add-in technology (Excel and PowerPoint add-ins)
ActiveGraf Server runs on the local computer
ActiveGraf is an on-premise software application which runs in a single instance personal computer. It constantly and bi-directionally synchronizes changes made to in the predefined server data sets (GrafDatas). Changes to the GrafDatas are reflected in any bound visualizations real time.
ActiveGraf must be installed under the User Profile of a specific Windows User. During installation, the Installer will require user credentials with full administrative rights on the local computer.
Note: If you don’t have administrative rights, please contact your IT department.
Installation locations:
- Server Components: %SYSTEMROOT%/Program files (x86)/ActiveGraf
○ Example: C:Program files (x86)ActiveGraf
- Add-ins and database files: %USERPROFILE%/.ActiveGraf
○ Example C:UsersYour Username.ActiveGraf
Technical Note:
Due to an issue with Microsoft WebView (Edge) engine, in some versions of Office and Windows, content can turn static in PowerPoint presentation mode when slides are revisited out of sequence (this can include ActiveGraf content). Microsoft has corrected their bug, and the fix for this problem is introduced in the Windows 10 21H1 release. For affected configurations we advise to update Windows to 21H1 or play ActiveGraf enabled presentations in editor mode.
For detailed information on enterprise and network environment settings to install ActiveGraf, open this IT checklist.
Before installation, please save and close every running instance of Excel and Power Point!
Webinar
Find everything you need to know to build interactive scenario analysis dashboards.
FAQ - Trial Program
After clicking “Try it for free” from this webpage, select the “Try ActiveGraf 30-days Free” option, and download our software. After Installation, you can start the trial from within the application.
The trial period begins on the day you sign up and download the software, and continues for 30 days. On the 30th day, you will be asked to continue with a one-year subscription license. When the trial period ends you will have to buy an ActiveGraf subscription license to continue using the software.
To uninstall your trial version, close any open Excel and PowerPoint files on your computer, open the Windows Control Panel and click on Programs and Features. Click on ActiveGraf, and select “Uninstall” from the menu.
Visit the “Contact us page on our website, and send us a message to get a price quote.
To get support please contact us.
FAQ – License, technical questions
- Working with and presenting ActiveGraf enabled presentations require a locally installed ActiveGraf license. Users without working license will not be able to benefit from the interactive analysis features.
- You can share your ActiveGraf presentations with people without ActiveGraf license in PDF format. We are working on additional sharing options.
- Click here to learn how to save & share ActiveGraf enabled files & content.
- Open your presentation in PowerPoint or your Excel model.
- Make sure all connected files are open
- Select Package from the ActiveGraf Office Ribbon and specify the location of the export file.
- The resulting .actg file contains all necessary information about your interactive presentation and can be shared with others in the conventional way.
- Click here to learn how to save & share ActiveGraf enabled files & content.
ActiveGraf supports locally cached Cloud Storage solutions such as Box or Drop Box. The current version of ActiveGraf does not support cloud-native solutions such as OneDrive.
If you have the installer file for the newer version, simply launch it, and follow the instructions. No re-licensing is needed; however you might need to re-insert the add-ins to Excel and PowerPoint to re-enable them.
Since your License is bound to your physical machine, we recommend contacting your ActiveGraf Representative for support. Provide your Computer’s name in your inquiry, which can be found under Settings > System > About, in the Device specifications section next to Device name.
Look for the ActiveGraf.Server.exe file in your installation folder and run it. You might need to restart your Excel and PPT applications, after saving them. The default installation path for ActiveGraf is C:\Program Files (x86)\ActiveGraf – if not set otherwise during installation. Another option is to restart your computer, after this the ActiveGraf Server software will automatically start again.
Doing this can cause malfunctions, please use the Package, and Package All features to ensure persisting functionality. See instructions and details in section Using ActiveGraf – Exporting ActiveGraf presentations.
No, a license is bound to one machine, so using one license on multiple computers is not applicable.
FAQ – Usage
- We recommend using the Cloning function, available in the Insert Chart dialogue window. ActiveGraf Charts can be copy-pasted within the same workbook or presentation, however, copying Charts between resources should be avoided, as it can lead to undesirable effects.
- Click here to learn more about creating and inserting ActiveGraf charts.
- No, the current version of ActiveGraf supports continuous datasets only as GrafData sources.
- Click here to learn more about ActiveGraf data sets.
- .actg files are self contained archives of ActiveGraf interactive presentations. Double clicking on a .actg file will launch the ActiveGraf importer which will Extract the client files (.pptx and .xlsx) and will insert the necessary database structures to the local ActiveGraf Server.
- Click here to learn more about opening ActiveGraf presentations.
- Make sure before creating the package that all Excel and PowerPoint files are manually saved! When launching the Package or Package All functions, the last saved version of files will be added to the .actg file.
- Click here to learn more about managing ActiveGraf enabled files.
- When hovering over the data you would like to modify, an info box appears. Clicking on the info box allows you to manually change the value of the field, by writing into it. Clicking the check box confirms this modification. You can also directly input new values in the appropriate Excel cells.
- Click here to learn more about presentation mode.
Each chart in ActiveGraf is a unique instance that cannot share the same name. Cloning a chart that was created in Excel creates a new instance, thus the need of having a different name. You can manually change the name of the chart from the Task Pane, once your chart is selected.
Due to the specific nature of ActiveGraf charts, animations are not currently possible, and are rather dependent on Microsoft Office settings.
- Click the Edit icon in the top right corner of the Chart you want to change. This brings up the Chart Design Window, where you can customize the appearance of your Chart. Click on the Series you would like to modify, and apply the changes from the appearing toolbar.
- Click here to learn more about formatting charts.
- Please first make sure that you are not trying to drag data which are connected to formulae, as they cannot be modified with dragging.
- If the data is not connected to formula, it can happen that one Series overlaps the one you are trying to drag. Open the Chart Design window by clicking the icon in the top right corner and select the Series which is in the way. From the toolbar, you can re-arrange the order of Series with the Send Backwards/Bring Forwards options.
If you are working with large numbers, it can happen that the change intervals are set up in a way, that the change is too small compared to the series value, and therefore not reflected as a change (imagine a 100 000 data point with a 0.001 minor change interval!). Try setting the minor and major intervals under the Task Pane / Chart setting to set the desired intervals.
If this happens, go to the dataset in the Excel file and change the value in the Excel cell first. After that, the chart should work properly as well. If this action does not bring any result, you can try reloading your chart, by clicking on the chart area, and selecting “Reload” from the appearing menu indicated by a “<” icon.
ActiveGraf addon may disappear after a Microsoft update. A quick re-setup will solve the problem. Click Insert >My Add-ins > Shared Folder > Select ActiveGraf and Add. Repeat this process for the Insert Chart as well or check out our Easy Install Guide (here).
Definitions
Office add-ins for interactive Scenario and What if analysis. The ActiveGraf add-ins
The Server component establishes the bi-directional data connection between Data Sources (Excel) and Charts (Excel or PowerPoint).
ActiveGraf proprietary data structure. Used by the ActiveGraf Server and Charts to display bi-directionally synchronized visualizations. Learn more about ActiveGraf data sets by clicking here.
The data connection between ActiveGraf Charts and their data sources.
The main control element of the ActiveGraf Add-in. Most of GrafData and Chart related functions can be initiated from the Task Bar.
Learn more about ActiveGraf User Interface (here).
The main control element of Office Apps. It consists of a set of toolbars placed on several tabs. The ActiveGraf Add-in extends the Ribbon with its own tab.
Release Notes
Features
- Publication from PowerPoint on OneDrive
- Data synchronization from Sharepoint backed OneDrive
- Save as feature on Orchestrator
- Search option in Orchestrator
- Table chart bug fixes
Bugfix
Table chart scrolling feature.
Sharepoint support
User certificate update
User certificate update
New Features
- Adjust table chart data label alignment
- Optimize TaskPane load performance
- Implement notification message for large number of named ranges
- Introduce series and category name reset upon assigned GD change
New Features
- Add table chart gridline change functionality
- Improve data change logic
New Features
- Improve pie chart and table chart data synchronization
- Remove deficient named ranges upon GD range deletion in Excel
- Adjust chart data tooltip handling
New Features
- iOS, MacOS compatibility
- full screen feature
New Features
- bug fix
New Features
- Radio button and check box bug fix
New Features
- Chart design bug fix
New Features
- Major rework of the data change handling
- Use Excel named range as GrafData
- Persist data regarding created GDs, charts, tags, and managed styles
- Introduce Python-based GrafData support
- Introduce drag and drop data change method to charts
- Support ActiveGraf Publication Server functionalities
- Optimize the performance of data change events
- Add animations to chart modifications
- Improve chart experience
New Features
Improved chart editing functionalities
Fine-tuned loading indicator behavior
- Refined error messages
New Features
Major performance upgrades, including significant increase in speed and component communication optimization
Enhanced formatting features including multi-select functionality
Chart improvements including enhanced table chart, drop down and control chart functions, dynamic chart scaling and spacing refinement
Update of .NET framework
- Install refinements and bug fixes
New Features
Improve GrafData calculations
Allow the user to disable the usage of webView2 during the installation process
Improve Add-In installation
Adjust updating process
New Features
Use in memory caching instead of third-party database
Indicate when the ActivaGraf server became unreachable
Avoid ‘Copy’ postfix when a name for a GrafData is used only once per document
Improve GrafData creation, change and update
Introduce range updating for existing GrafData
Adjust proxy checking during start up
Improve chart cloning scenarios
Speed up automatic Excel document opening
Allow the user to force close stucked Office processes when changing the data connections via the wizard- – Make the automatic repair process optional
Inform the user when a OneDrive-stored document is not synced
New Features
- Included a new checkbox in Task Pane under Chart page’s GrafData selector to allow the filtering of GrafDatas from open files only.
- Connected Excel files are now opening along with the opened PowerPoint file. In previous versions connected resources only opened when the first ActiveGraf chart was loaded.
Bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which caused data to not be synchronized in PowerPoint if the connected Excel file was saved with the Save As feature. Now the original Excel file opens if any modification is made to the Charts in PowerPoint.
- Fixed a bug which caused synchronization issues in case a GrafData was extended with new rows or columns.
- Fixed a bug which caused ActiveGraf enriched Excel and PowerPoint documents to prompt the user with an unnecessary Save notification when closing the files – even when no modifications have been made to them.
- Fixed a bug which caused Edit mode to not open if the resource was created on another computer.
- Fixed a bug which resulted in faulty behavior when trying to clone a chart which was located in a PowerPoint file.
Optimization, Enhancement
- Included Microsoft Edge’s WebView2 runtime in the installer. Now this runtime is also installed along with ActiveGraf providing a more stable, and faster performance.
- Optimized the import process to handle files correctly which might have been corrupted during export.
Bugfixes
- Chart related bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which caused charts not to load upon first opening properly when the linked PowerPoint and Excel resources were copied to another location, or received/downloaded from an external source
New Features
- Add in-file database. Now the PowerPoint and Excel resources store their related data in-file. General usage of the application has not been affected by this change. The handling of ActiveGraf enriched resources became more intuitive and user-friendly with this new feature, as they are now more flexible in case of re-locating and re-naming.
- Add Data Connection Wizard. The wizard is responsible of restoring data connection in case it is broken, and can handle the following scenarios:
- The name of the connected Excel files has changed, user is prompted and is able to provide the renamed file to restore data connections
- The connected Excel file is missing, user can add new files to make connections with
- User wishes to replace all/certain data connections to charts, now can do so by adding new files to the Data Connection Wizard to make replacement by hand, or if the naming is the same, automatically
- Able to link:
- locally stored to locally stored file
- OneDrive stored to locally stored file
- Locally stored to OneDrive stored file
- OneDrive stored to OneDrive stored file
- Add Data Connection Wizard to the Office Ribbon
- Add automatic prompt to open Data Connection Wizard if opened resource is having missing data connections to charts
- Add support for copying connected resources together – connected files, if they remain in the same folder after moving are able to find each other. Works for local and cloud-based folders as well
- Add Data Connection Wizard. The wizard is responsible of restoring data connection in case it is broken, and can handle the following scenarios:
Bugfixes
- General bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which caused the add-in manifests to be user-specific, resulting in ActiveGraf Enriched files do not work when opened other computers
- Fixed a bug which caused resources moved between computers together to lose data connection, although they stayed next to each other
- Fixed a bug which caused imported resources to have an empty Task Pane in the connected Excel part, causing the charts in PowerPoint not to load
- Chart related bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which caused charts after copy-paste to become unresponsive
- Fixed a bug which caused Slider chart to display an error after trying to close Edit Mode
- Fixed a bug which caused charts Primary Axis scaling to break Auto Scale, if in Edit Mode Max and Min bounds were set to an exact number, then back to Auto Scale
- Fixed a bug which caused Alternate Axis line and font color not to be saved after changed in Edit Mode
- Fixed a bug which caused series order change in Edit Mode not to save, after changed with Send Backward / Bring forward options
- Fixed a bug which prevented user-defined chart styles to be deleted
- Fixed a bug caused by Microsoft’s WebView2 engine, which caused GrafDatas selection with mouse click to fail on Insert Chart second step
- Fixed a bug which caused chart cloning to behave inconsistently when charts were copied inside PowerPoint by duplicating or copy-pasting a whole slide with charts on it
Optimization, Enhancement
- Fixed an issue which caused timeout in case of exporting large database archives from the application
- Fixed an issue which caused leaving Edit Mode to throw a “Leave site?” warning under Microsoft’s WebView2 engine
- Added filter checkbox to Insert Chart dialog to limit the content of the selection to GrafDatas contained by currently open files
- Added ability for user to create global chart styles available for all documents on the given computer
- Increase opacity of Trial Banner to avoid user believing the Banner is overlapping elements on charts, therefor the overlapped elements are not clickable
- Added .actg logo to export, and import dialogs
- Added system level loading indicator, a simple overlay window upon GrafData association, and at the start of the application
- Added backup during upgrade installation; when a previous version is present on user’s computer, a backup folder is created, and the previous database is dumped, due to database changes making the direct update impossible
- Prevent deletion of external GrafData from Excel – now GrafDatas are only discard-able from their parent Excel
- Added logic to open all connected resources when a PowerPoint presentation is opened, instead of when the first ActiveGraf chart is in focus, making initial loading more efficient
Bugfixes
- General bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which happened in Package and Package All functions during log-in to Microsoft Account, when Microsoft’s WebView2 engine was used
- Fixed a bug which sometimes caused the connection between ActiveGraf Server and charts to break when the computer was waken up after going into sleep mode
- Chart related bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which sometimes caused already existing charts to get stuck in loading after being opened in PPT or Excel
New Features
- New Package Wizard
- Added OneDrive support – resources placed in a OneDrive folder are now usable, and packageable
- Added Office user support for OneDrive access
- Added Office user sign-out option, and signed in user display to Settings&About dialog
- Added option to include extra files in the package during exporting
- Added option to remove files from the package during exporting
- Added option to rename files before packaging
- Logging during install
- Logs generated during successful install are available under the users .ActiveGraf folder
- Logs generated during successful install can be opened from the installers finish screen
- Logs generated during a failed install are available under the users .ActiveGraf folder
- Add manual proxy settings
- Added the option to configure a manual proxy setting for the application if automatic proxy detection fails. Configuration of a main and fallback proxy is available by editing appsettings.json. Restart of ActiveGraf Server is required for the changes to take effect.
- Trial indication
- In case the product is activated with a Trial License, charts are displaying a Trial Message.
- User Feedback during Licensing
- Added more informative user messages to the process of registering for a license
- Performance Logging
- Added a feature which allow the generation of Performance Log files under the users .ActiveGraf folder in .xml format. The is turned off by default and can be manually enabled by editing appsettings.json in the installation folder. Restart of ActiveGraf Server is required for the changes to take effect.
- Database Archiver
- Added the option to open Database Archiver from System Tray, after right-clicking the ActiveGraf icon.
- The Database Archiver allows the user to create a manual backup from the database. The resulting .agdb file will contain the snapshot of the database at the moment when the backup was executed.
- The Database Archiver allows the user to restore or import n existing .agdb file to replace the content of ActiveGraf’s database. During this operation, a safety backup is automatically created in a .agsb file, providing a restoration point.
Bugfixes
- General bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which prevented importing .actg files if they had a special character in the file name, or in the full path of the file
- Fixed issue which prevented importing .actg files with names longer than 256 characters
- Fixed issue which prevented importing .actg files if the full path was longer than 260 characters
- Fixed a bug which prevented chart loading if they had their style attribute changed, and have been copied by themselves, or with their containing Excel or PPT
- Fixed a bug which caused the Task Pane to re-load after opening a file which have been created with manual copying or Office’s Save As function
- Fixed a bug which caused locally created files imported to OneDrive to have their Chart and GrafData names being appended with Copy (2) skipping Copy
- Fixed a bug which caused GrafDatas and Charts to be duplicated inside their files after repeated copying or repeated Save As instances
- Fixed a bug which prevented GrafData creation if the selected range had cells with different formatting
- Fixed a bug which caused PowerPoint to not respond after importing a .actg package and opening the PowerPoint part of the package for the first time
- Fixed a bug which allowed users to execute specific steps to create a GrafData without a name
- Fixed a bug which caused the Import Dialog to not display file icons for resources inside the .actg file
- Fixed a bug which caused dialog boxes to appear with an incorrect size when using high resolution monitor with scaling set
- Fixed a bug which caused charts to not load for the first time, after exporting from a .actg file, if they have been created with a previous version of ActiveGraf.
- Chart related bugfixes
- Fixed a bug which caused charts’ data-labels’ thousand separator to not be displayed if it was set to “ “
- Fixed a bug which caused Table Charts data labels to disappear if the GrafData source was changed
- Fixed a bug which caused Table chart being stuck on loading after its Header’s color was changed if Windows’ and Office’s language was set to Hungarian
- Fixed a bug which switched Bar Charts axis labels after turning them on in Edit mode, and exiting Edit mode
- Fixed a bug which caused GrafDatas not being shown in the second step of the Insert chart dialog
- Fixed a bug which caused Slider charts data/point tooltip not to appear
- Fixed a bug which prevented data point’s tooltips to display the correct value format, when Format Linked to Source option was enabled in Edit Mode’s Advanced Settings
- Fixed a bug which caused edits on Series / Category labels not to be persistent
- Fixed a bug which prevented the update of Slider chart’s maximum value from Task Pane
- Fixed a bug which caused an in-Excel error to be thrown after renaming a GrafData already bound to a Chart
- Fixed a bug which prevented Data Labels to be visible on Charts Radio Button and Check Box if they were created with Sample Data
- Fixed a bug which caused Radio Button and Check Box charts’ Series Label to disappear if the data was transposed from Task Pane after chart creation
- Fixed a bug which caused Color Picker not to appear in Edit Mode for Chart Title
- Fixed a bug which caused Table Chart’s Axis Selector’s dropdown to have misaligned items
- Fixed a bug which caused dates to appear in number format if used as Series or Category labels
- Fixed a bug which caused Gauge Chart to have its axis label misaligned
- Fixed a bug which caused any chart’s legend text to lose manually set font color, if rotation was also applied
- Fixed a bug which caused Drop Down and Radio Button charts to display misaligned items if their size has been changed
Optimizations, Enhancements
- Cleaned up database structure
- Changed loading indicator on charts currently loading
- Modified Axis Titles to have a placeholder text as default. Associated Text Editor toolbar to Axis Titles when clicked on inside Edit mode
- Optimized runtime of functions which displays the charts available for cloning (Insert Chart dialog) and GrafDatas available (Insert Chart dialog and Task Pane GrafData page)
- Installing ActiveGraf of updating to a new version no longer requires user to re-add the add-ins to Excel and PowerPoint
- Added user feedback on chart if the GrafData for it could not be found. This could happen if the resources were not imported from a .actg file, and have not been created on the user’s machine, or when the associated GrafData have been deleted
Localization fixes
Various chart editing fixes
Trial version registration fixes
Chart design bug fixes, fixed chart duplication issue
Additional chart design features
Database server replacement to MongoDB, UI improvements.
Fix for chart update problems
Edge WebView Compatibility
First Public release of ActiveGraf
