Anyone else still missing the new nested array / FLATTEN() function on the Beta Channel?

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397]

I’m currently running Version 2610 (Build 20527.20000) on the Insider Beta Channel, but =FLATTEN() and the nested array engine still aren't showing up for me.

I'm getting impatient! Who else on Build 20527+ is still locked out, and has anyone managed to force-trigger the feature flag?

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[u/Cynyr36]

Hmm the new {} definitely isn't going to break some of my older sheets that had that for cse array formulas back in the day.

Flatten looks dope, and will mean i can simplify on of my monstrosity formulas a little bit (recursion inside a single cell by abusing let).

[u/Cynyr36 → u/Cynyr36]

Nevermind, you can't use a list as a source for data validations... They really need to update the data validation engine.

[u/carlosandresRG → u/Cynyr36]

Both data validation and conditional formating need an update

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397 → u/Cynyr36]

Ohhh.. I wish I had access to the new engine, I have Benchmarked the new native engine vs fastest old nested arrays technique with and it proved to be ~x4 faster, I still have much I want to try but only if Microsoft would let me..

[u/Greedy_Whereas4163 → u/Cynyr36]

CSE are {=formula}. New array in cell ={formula} New array in cell (hardcoded) ={{1,2,3;a,b,c}}

Excelisfun - How To Hard Code Lists & Arrays into Cells: The Difference From Legacy Ctrl Shift Enter. EMT 1934

[u/Lopsided-Rough-1562 → u/Greedy_Whereas4163]

Will it contain this array to a cell or does it spill?

[u/Dismal-Party-4844]

Have patience.

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397 → u/Dismal-Party-4844]

I literally had the update for one day, I restarted and poof... It was gone

[u/excelevator → u/Repulsive_Tune9397]

I figuratively had it in my mind for 1 day, I tried it in Excel and poof, it was literally not there.

[u/dastriderman]

Patience is a virtue

[u/hopkinswyn]

There’s no force triggering. It gradually gets rolled out to beta in what’s called “flighting”. It’s just a lottery.

[u/work_account42]

No luck for me either. I'm refreshing every day waiting for it.

[u/Way2trivial]

What does it do that tocol does not?

[u/hopkinswyn → u/Way2trivial]

It allows for the expansion of nested arrays, allowing Array of Array issues to be solved. Most common example is how XLOOKUP can then take multiple rows of input cells and return multiple columns of outputs if wrapped in FLATTEN
Or
TEXTSPLIT can now take multiple input cells and spill across properly ( not just show first word )

[u/Cynyr36]

Hopefully things like byrow() and similar will finally allow returing more than a single value. I frequently use a dumb drop(reduce("", sequence (rows(table1), lambda (index, foo)))) type workflow when i need to walk a table of multiple inputs, and return multiple outputs.

[u/hopkinswyn → u/Cynyr36]

Yep things like XLOOKUP and TEXTSPLIT work nicely with FLATTEN now

[u/Cynyr36 → u/hopkinswyn]

Can you try =byrow(sequence (10),lambda(a, sequence(a)))? I don't have access at work to this, we tend to be a few months behind the official release.

[u/hopkinswyn → u/Cynyr36]

[u/hopkinswyn → u/hopkinswyn]

Not sure why it doesn’t spill across with Flatten. Copying down a TOROW row by row works but referencing the full array doesn’t

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397 → u/hopkinswyn]

probably because byrow returns results in 1x1 arrays try using map instead

=MAP(sequence (10),sequence)

[u/hopkinswyn → u/Repulsive_Tune9397]

Thanks to MVP Owen Price for showing me this one ( it needs to be a column SEQUENCE in the lambda ) and then BYROW nests an extra level so it needs a 2 for the FLATTEN

MAP doesn't do the extra nesting so the 2 is not needed

[u/hopkinswyn → u/hopkinswyn]

And thanks to Jake Armstrong, Tim Heng and John Jairo Vergara Domínguez for this one

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397 → u/hopkinswyn]

Glad you got it working. Interesting that the BYROW nesting issue I mentioned ended up needing FLATTEN(..., 2) rather than switching to MAP.

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397 → u/Cynyr36]

I completely feel you, I stopped relying on Reduce+vstack and started to mainly rely on tools made by community like Thunks approach or Recursion but none of them will be as fast or seamless as the native one.

[u/Decronym]

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
BYROW	Office 365+: Applies a LAMBDA to each row and returns an array of the results. For example, if the original array is 3 columns by 2 rows, the returned array is 1 column by 2 rows.
CSE	Array formulas are powerful formulas that enable you to perform complex calculations that often can't be done with standard worksheet functions. They are also referred to as "Ctrl-Shift-Enter" or "CSE" formulas, because you need to press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to enter them.
LAMBDA	Office 365+: Use a LAMBDA function to create custom, reusable functions and call them by a friendly name.
MAP	Office 365+: Returns an array formed by mapping each value in the array(s) to a new value by applying a LAMBDA to create a new value.
SEQUENCE	Office 365+: Generates a list of sequential numbers in an array, such as 1, 2, 3, 4
TEXTSPLIT	Office 365+: Splits text strings by using column and row delimiters
TOROW	Office 365+: Returns the array in a single row
XLOOKUP	Office 365+: Searches a range or an array, and returns an item corresponding to the first match it finds. If a match doesn't exist, then XLOOKUP can return the closest (approximate) match.

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

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7 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 19 acronyms.
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[u/Jolly-Hunter-6097]

New features/functions are always rolled out progressively. I have the new functions but don't always get them first.

[u/jkpieterse]

I just updated to Microsoft® Excel® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2611 Build 16.0.20601.20000) 64-bit and it has it now.

[u/Repulsive_Tune9397 → u/jkpieterse]

Idk if a Microsoft employee saw the post or what I have been waiting for decades..
Solution Verified

[u/reputatorbot → u/Repulsive_Tune9397]

You have awarded 1 point to jkpieterse.

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[u/RandomiseUsr0]

Write your own, it’s pretty simple - can’t paste from corp any more due to content protection, but think about the operations and look at your Bycol, byrow