Excellentable features are exceeding expectations since version 1. It started with a simple enhancing tables add-on in Confluence to becoming a full fledged spreadsheet by version 3.1. It was released with a basic set of features with the intention to add more based on popular demand and use cases. We've been active on versioning for the last couple of months and we are now delighted to release it on October 3rd, 2016.

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So what does versioning do?

Versioning stores renditions of your Excellentable. Every time you click the save button, Excellentable will automatically copy and create a new version seamlessly. A version button on the top right hand corner of your Excellentable, displays the versions that are available to you. 

You can easily go back and forth between versions and restore your spreadsheet to any desired version of your choosing.

Challenge

When storing multiple versions, there are always challenges balancing between speed and storage. For example, a typical 100 user instance with 1500 non-versioned Excellentables stored, takes up about 15MB of space. When versioning is applied, for example 15 full versions of Excellentable, the storage number becomes exponential large, taking up 22GB of space, which is not ideal. To save on storage, another approach is saving only the changes made, instead of a full version every time. Unfortunately, this process becomes very intensive with typical numbers and causes a slow user experience. The slow user experience would occur when opening, saving and even showing the versions available in Excellentable, which again, is not ideal.

Solution

We came up with the solution by storing full versions in a compressed format. To achieve fast speed and less storage usage, all the versions are compressed and stored separately. The latest versions are still stored in an uncompressed format for convenient fast access. Clicking on the version button in Excellentable will show all of the compressed versions that are currently available. Excellentable will always use caching for fastest delivery, the compressed versions are only used when clicking on the version button. By using this solution, we were able to keep the nimbleness of Excellentable but still keeping the storage issue in check. Instead of taking up 22GB of storage, it will only take a minimal 30MB.

Even with this exciting announcement, we are still continuously adding more features to Excellentable. We are always looking for feature requests, ideas or suggestions.

Let Us Know What You Think!