HOT! TAL partners Trixcel to draw triangle charts in Excel
Latest version (10 Nov. 99) - ver. 2.8
And still free!
What is TAL for Excel?
Texture AutoLookup (TAL) for Excel is an Excel add-in that works within a spreadsheet to determine the soil texture classes based on 4 soil classification schemes:
- USDA (U.S. Dept. of Agric.)
- UK (England and Wales)
- Canadian
- International
Because TAL works seamlessly within a spreadsheet, you use TAL like you would use any of the spreadsheet's functions. Seamless integration also means you can use the spreadsheet's capabilities of data handling and manipulation, then use TAL to determine the texture classes of your samples.
You need not re-enter changed values into TAL; changes in your data will automatically be "seen" by TAL and will result in new texture lookups. This is especially useful when you handle large number of soil samples routinely as you need not enter new values into TAL each time.
What's new in version 2.8?
Changes in ver. 2.8 - Nov, 1999
- International soil classification scheme added. TAL ver 2.8 now supports 4 major soil classification schemes, including USDA, UK and Canadian schemes.
- No longer supported: Automatic installation of TAL in Excel is withdrawn. The automatic installation fails in Windows NT. This has something to with the user status (e.g., network administrator or normal user).
Download
1. Before you download ...
TAL for Excel is provided as is, without any expressed or implied warranty. TAL is free, but please read the license in the provided documents before you use TAL.
If you are not planning to subscribe
to TAL's mailing list, I would greatly appreciate it if you would
email to me that you are downloading TAL. Lots of people have downloaded
TAL without informing me; is this too much to ask for a free cool product?
Please let me know the following information: 1) name, 2) profession, 3) organisation, and 4) how you heard about TAL. These information are for my personal reference only; they will not be shared or distributed.
2. Get the file now...
Version 2.8 works in Excel97 or greater versions only. You can check your Excel version by going to the menu commands Help|About. Please go here if you use older versions of Excel (ver. 4.0, 5.0, and Excel95).
Important: If are currently using TAL for Excel, please uninstall it before installing the latest version. Refer here for details for uninstallation.
| TAL for Excel ver. 2.8 | 
talxl28.zip (436 k) |
The file is compressed as a .zip archive. To decompress it, you can use Winzip or Pkzip programs that are widely available. Once decompressed, read the readme.txt file for installation instructions.
Charting capabilties: TAL partners Trixcel
TAL for Excel does not have any charting capabilities. However, you can use Trixcel written by Julien Furrer, Universite de Lausanne, Switzerland. Trixcel is a free Excel add-in that draws tri-axial charts. However, Trixcel was originally written in French, has a few bugs, and draws the x-axis in the reverse direction from what is usually found in soil texture charts.
Consequently, I have translated Trixcel into English, corrected the bugs, and modified it so it draws its charts the "right way round". You can use my modified version of Trixcel in conjuction with TAL for Excel.
| Trixcel (modified and translated) |
xtxc.zip (272 k) |
The above zipped archive includes the original Trixcel files. You can also go to the Trixcel website for further information about the original version. Please note that J. Furrer has already left his university, and all my attempts to contact him have received no response. Even his former university is silent!
What's being planned?
- Add the German and Netherlands soil schemes
excel
charts