Using CDXZipStream Formulas with Large Data Sets

CDXZipStream custom formulas do a wide variety of tasks, such as importing demographic data into Microsoft Excel, creating zip code lists, even calculating driving distance between locations. If you have a large data set, the CDXZipStream button is a very easy way to insert custom function formulas into your worksheet. Simply position the cellpointer in Excel, then use the CDXZipStream interface to select the data items you need and create the formulas. We cover this in a number of resources including our quick-start tutorial.
 
But if you are working with a very large amount of data (> 5,000 calculations) we recommend another approach. For instance, let's say you need demographic data for all zip codes. There are over 40,000 zip codes in the U.S., and if you use the CDXZipStream button you will see a warning that there will be a delay in obtaining the data. Your system may also appear unresponsive as CDXZipStream manually enters the data for every zip code.
 
In this case, use the CDXZipStream button or right click functions to get custom formulas for only the first line in your list – just make sure to insert a blank row after the first zip code. Then delete the blank row and use the Excel autofill feature for the remaining items in the list. (Please refer to this Microsoft article about autofill – just remember you can automatically fill a formula downward, for all adjacent cells, by double-clicking the fill handle of the first cell – dragging the handle is difficult for long data lists.) This is a significantly faster method and Excel will also show you the progress of the calculations.
 
You can also use our free templates as a more efficient way to deal with calculating long lists. Copying large groups of formulas in Excel can be quite cumbersome. Excel doesn't calculate formulas linearly and can appear to be "hung" even though calculations are proceeding in the background. The templates calculate in the order your data is entered, allow you to break out of the calculation if needed, and have an indicator showing progress to completion.

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