NExSDocs

Introduction to NExS

NExS turns Excel spreadsheets into interactive web applications. You build your business logic in Excel using familiar formulas, then NExS handles the web deployment—no programming required.

How NExS Works

When you upload a spreadsheet to NExS, the platform creates two components:

  1. A front-end web page — An HTML5 interface that works in any modern browser (including mobile)
  2. A back-end calculation service — Your Excel formulas run on NExS servers

This means:

  • Your formulas stay protected (users never see them)
  • Calculations happen server-side (consistent results everywhere)
  • Users get a clean, responsive interface

Core Concepts

Views

A view is a rectangular block of cells that users can see. Think of it like a “window” into your spreadsheet—for example, Sheet1!A1:G18 becomes a view.

You can have multiple views in one app (like tabs), and cells outside any view remain hidden—perfect for intermediate calculations.

Editable Cells (Inputs)

Editable cells are inputs that users can modify. When a user changes an input, NExS:

  1. Sends the new value to the server
  2. Recalculates all dependent formulas
  3. Updates the displayed values

Any cell can be an input—text, numbers, dropdowns, checkboxes, and more.

The NExS.app Worksheet

Every NExS app needs a special worksheet named NExS.app that tells the platform:

  • What to name your app
  • Who can access it
  • Which cells form your views
  • Which cells are editable

Here’s a minimal example:

A B C
1 app My Calculator
2 view Sheet1!A1:G18
3 editable B1:B5

This creates an app called “My Calculator” with one view showing cells A1:G18, where cells B1:B5 can be edited by users.

What Excel Features Work?

You build NExS apps in Microsoft Excel. Other spreadsheet editors that support the Office Open XML (.xlsx) format, such as Google Sheets, may work as well; where they behave differently from Excel, NExS follows Excel.

NExS supports most Excel functionality:

Supported:

  • Over 300 Excel-compatible functions (mathematical, logical, text, date/time, lookup functions like VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH)
  • XLOOKUP and other newer Excel 365 functions
  • Array formulas and dynamic arrays (FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE, SEQUENCE)
  • Table formulas
  • Cell formatting (colors, fonts, borders, number formats)
  • Conditional formatting
  • Data validations
  • Embedded images
  • Merged cells
  • Named ranges
  • Multiple worksheets

Not Supported:

Deployment Modes

NExS offers four ways to deploy your app:

Mode Description Use Case
Open Anyone with the URL can use it; each session is independent Public calculators
Personal Requires login; data persists for each user Personal dashboards
Team Shared instance with access list Internal tools
Access Code Shared instance with code-based access Collaborative apps

See Deployment Modes for details.

Next Steps