An Excel Interface for Functions in the metRology Package

• Activity Number: 67
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Sunday, August 1, 2010 : 4:00 PM to 5:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Quality and Productivity
• Author(s): William F. Guthrie*+ and Hung-Kung Liu
• Companies: National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Keywords: R ; RExcel ; VB ; statconnDCOM ; metrology ; uncertainty analysis

Abstract

This talk describes the development and use of an Excel interface, developed using RExcel, for the functions in the metRology package for statistical metrology. The interface uses a combination of Visual Basic macros and RExcel worksheet and macro functions to allow the user to build templates for different statistical analyses that are common in metrological work. This interface makes it easy for scientists, engineers, and metrologists who need to carry out statistical analyses to harness the power of the open-source statistical software R without the high overhead costs associated with learning a new software package. The software will be illustrated using examples from NIST work.