The so-called "inbuilt excel sheet" is not actually an Excel document at all, but rather simply a data record which holds the CONTENTS of an Excel document, the document that is open and active within an NX session when a Spreadsheet function has been launched. While NX is running normally, the contents of that data record is considered static and fixed. The data is active only when an NX Spreadsheet function has been launched and the Excel document is open.
Now there are a series of KF functions which can be imbedded in an Expression which can access data from an EXTERNAL Excel spreadsheet. These functions can read the values of either individual cells or lists of cells from an Excel spreadsheet. There are also functions that can perform vertical and horizontal lookups in an external Excel spreadsheet. You can find these KF functions by selecting the
f(x) icon in the lower Left corner of the Expression dialog and then selecting the 'Category' titled 'spreadsheet'.
Note that once defined, they functions will read the data from an external spreadsheet ONLY when the user forces an update by selecting the fucntion...
Tools -> Update -> Update for External Change
While I've never actually tested this, I believe that when you select the above operation that it only reads the contents of an as-saved copy of the spreadsheet file, that is NOT an open or active Excel session. Also note that multiple Excel files can be referenced from a single NX Part file since each Expression created using the KF spreadsheet functions can access a different Excel file.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Digital Factory
Cypress, CA
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