Excel Tables¶

Create a worksheet Table when requested or needed, not for every rectangular dataset. Reuse suitable existing Tables instead of recreating them.

Current Table commands and inputs come from CLI help or MCP tool descriptions.

Conversion and preservation¶

Check headers, merged cells, effective boundaries, and sorting risks before conversion. Creation checks can block deterministic problems, but warnings remain advisory. A safe-to-create result does not establish that conversion suits every business or layout requirement. Choose header handling deliberately.

Removing a Table keeps its cell data but can break dependent objects. Shrinking changes membership; it is not permission to clear excluded cells. Appending must respect existing column order.

Metadata and data reads answer different questions. Ordinary data reads include filtered rows; explicitly inspect visible rows when the result should reflect the active filter.

Every row in rows or rows_file (MCP) / --rows or --rows-file (CLI) must have exactly the Table's column count; include null for an intentionally blank cell. All row widths are checked before writing cells or changing calculation mode. A mismatched row is rejected without truncating values, inserting incomplete records, or expanding the Table. This validation does not promise rollback for unrelated later Excel failures.

Native filtering¶

Keep filtering within the intended Table. Clearing its filters does not clear every filter on the worksheet. For plain ranges or criteria-based copied output, use the range filtering workflow without converting the data to a Table first.

Native date groups, comparisons, value lists, colors, and icons are different filter choices. Excel can normalize criteria, so compare their meaning and actual visible rows rather than the request's original spelling. Unavailable criterion reads are not evidence of an empty filter.

Styling¶

The Table owns its visual style; ordinary range formatting is not its style system. Column number formats and totals calculations are separate decisions. Preserve an existing template unless a change is requested.

Model and worksheet results¶

A worksheet Table is not automatically in Power Pivot. Add it to the model, or load a query to the model, before relying on model relationships or measures. After worksheet-source edits, follow the model refresh sequence.

A DAX-backed worksheet Table displays a model query result. It is not a DAX calculated table inside the model. Use returned query data when no worksheet object is needed, or a PivotTable for interactive filtering.

update-dax stores the new connection command before executing it. If the query fails, do not assume the original command was restored: get-dax reports the stored command, while worksheet rows can still contain the last successful result. Correct the query and call update-dax again to establish a successful refresh.