Bumblebee

Information

Bumblebee is a collection of User Objects which create a link to Microsoft Excel allowing access and customization of data, formatting, and many features through Grasshopper.

We are pleased to announce the Beta Release of Bumblebee for Grasshopper.

Link To Download

Link To Samples

Link To Documentation

The current version of Bumblebee is developed for:

- Rhino 5

- Latest Version of Grasshopper

- Microsoft Excel 2007 & 2010

Website: http://neoarchaic.net/bumblebee/
Location: Brooklyn
Members: 107
Latest Activity: Sep 20, 2023

Bumblebee Release 1.01

What is it?
Bumblebee is a set of user objects which connect Microsoft Excel and Grasshopper.
The component set allows for not just the transfer of data back and forth between GH and XL but gives the Grasshopper user access to many of excels analytic tools and graphic elements. The goal of Bumble bee is to create a series of components which allow for variable levels of engagement with Excel, from simply transferring a large set of data between the programs at high speeds, to creating a highly graphically coordinated charts and data sets.
These components fall under several categories and each component is designed to perform a single type of operation, allowing them to be interchanged as a projects workflow demands, or used in combination with other plugins which access excel.

The components are built on the Microsoft Excel Interop method and are written in VB nodes, available as a series of user objects that can easily be modified and loaded back into the larger user object collection. Users can feel free to modify, improve and re-upload any components back to the Bumblebee group.

How do I Install & Use it:

Download: Rhinoceros 5

Download the Latest: Grasshopper 3d

Download: Microsoft Excel

Download: Bumblebee User Objects

Because Bumblebee is a collection of user objects, it does not have a gha or installer, rather the user files contained in the downloadable zip folder can simply be copied into your local grasshopper user objects folder which can found by going under grasshoppers File > Special Folders > User Objects. (see: http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum/topics/where-to-load-ghuser-files )

Once the files have been copied to this location a new Bumblebee tab should appear in the ribbon. Open a new session of Microsoft Excel and you should be able to start using the components.

See Project Site for more Info

Discussion Forum

Data in merged cells 1 Reply

Hi all,I'm trying to figure out how to input data in merged cells using Bumblebee. Even though I matched the data structure between origin points and data, I can't get the result as I want.The data…Continue

Started by Dongyeop Lee. Last reply by Dongyeop Lee Nov 26, 2018.

bumblebee loading error 4 Replies

hey guys!i tried to install bumblebee, but when i try to open an examplefile, i recive this error…Continue

Tags: windows_8, lunchbox, excel, bumblebee, 8

Started by bea franko. Last reply by Dongyeop Lee Nov 26, 2018.

XL Live specific cell restriction 1 Reply

Hello,We are trying to find a way to limit the XL live component in Bumblebee to only check for refreshments in a specific sheet and cell/cellrange.Is there anyone who knows how we can accomplish…Continue

Started by Jajjan. Last reply by Jajjan May 14, 2018.

Error "1. Object variable or With block variable not set. (line: 0)" 1 Reply

Hi i often get this error, before i used to delete and copy again the user objects but it seems it's not working anymore, do you have any idea how to fix this? ThanksContinue

Started by amedeo scofone. Last reply by Marc Syp Nov 7, 2017.

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Comment Wall

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Comment by b will on April 9, 2018 at 5:18pm: Does Bumblebee work with Rhino/Grasshopper on Mac? I just installed and tried to run the Excel Data In object and got an error that looks like a VBA script problem.

Comment by Xavier AM on April 5, 2017 at 8:20am: Hello David,

I just discovered BumbleBee and found it absolutely gorgeous for interfacing XL with Grasshopper!

Quick question though : is there anyway to automatically Save & Close worksheets/workbooks created by the Data Out Component? I am creating a lot of those and it's pretty annoying to do it manually.

Do you think that if I try to create an Excel COM Interface through another component (activated after yours) I may be able to manage closing all of them?

Cheers!

Xavier

Comment by Dan Weissman on May 25, 2016 at 3:30pm: hey i've been using the XL Data Record component for the past few weeks and it's been wonderful. but just today i'm now getting a runtime error, and didn't do anything to change the definition: 1. Object variable or With block variable not set. (line: 0)

any help?

thanks

dan

Comment by Ethan on June 1, 2015 at 12:08pm: David Thanks for your reply. I'm not sure your work around will solve the issue but I will try. My goal is to have a slider that could iterate through the geometry in grasshopper and highlight the row that details its parameters in in excel. So I have 900 rows with 5 columns and I want the one row that the number slider selects to be highlighted red so that I can confirm the parameters exported to excel match the geometry. I assumed I could export "null"info as a spacer and just have a color for the tree branch I wanted to highlight but putting null into the list seems to freeze up my excel... Can you clarify or perhaps even provide an example of " pass through a list of "fake" data with a single fill color applied. This will apply a single fill color to the whole range (which can be a single cell, column, row, or 2d range) in a single transaction which should be fast. " cause as is Im still not sure how to apply color to anything but the entirety of the data that gets pushed to excel... I regards to future features I would like there to be an option to wipe the excel sheet clean between data exchange . as you say if there is no data overwriting the cells they remain so if I mix up my rows and columns I have to go and manually delete the not updated data. I hope you can help me understand your idea for a work around as Im pushing a lot of data to excel and want to have a way to spot heck it for accuracy!thanks so much. Its a great tool!

Comment by David Mans on June 1, 2015 at 11:16am: Ethan,

This is an issue in the current version of Bumblebee, in that formatting is only applied when data is provided. The simple, but not great answer, is to pass through a list of "fake" data with a single fill color applied. This will apply a single fill color to the whole range (which can be a single cell, column, row, or 2d range) in a single transaction which should be fast. A second Data Out component can then be used to fill in the cells contents.

The next version of bumblebee, now in development, breaks formatting out into a separate component from data, which would make what you are looking to do much easier.

Please add any other comments about things you would like to see changed in the next version, as I am very early in redeveloping it and would like as much feedback from users as possible!

Comment by Ethan on June 1, 2015 at 9:23am: I would like to color only one row or column in an excel sheet. I figured out how to get all the cells filled with color but it takes a bit of time computationally, when I really just want a single row filled... any ideas? much appreciated...Thanks

Comment by David Mans on August 6, 2014 at 10:12am: just finished testing Bumblebee for office 2013 and there don't appear to be any conflicts. Please let me know if you identify some.