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Froxcel — Spreadsheet & Chart Platform

Personal spreadsheet analytics platform — Excel workbook upload, formula extraction/analysis, chart builder with axis mapping, project management, PDF export, and auth-backed user management.

  • React 19
  • TypeScript
  • Vite
  • Redux Toolkit
  • ECharts
  • jsPDF
  • xlsx
  • Express 5
  • MongoDB
  • JWT

01

Problem

Analyzing Excel workbooks and building charts from spreadsheet data required switching between Excel, charting tools, and custom scripts.

02

Solution

Built Froxcel — a unified platform for Excel upload/parsing, formula browsing and search, ECharts-based chart builder, project management, and PDF export with JWT auth.

03

Architecture

React 19 + TypeScript + Vite frontend with Redux, ECharts, jsPDF, xlsx. Express 5 + TypeScript + MongoDB backend with JWT, bcrypt, SendGrid/Mailgun email, and Winston logging.

04

Business impact

Unified spreadsheet analysis and charting workflow reducing tool-switching for data exploration.

Decisions

Technical decisions

  1. 01ECharts for rich charting with React integration
  2. 02Client-side xlsx parsing for immediate workbook exploration
  3. 03Separate self-hosted frontend fork for parser-focused development

Features

Feature breakdown

  • Excel Upload
  • Formula Analysis
  • Chart Builder
  • Project Management
  • PDF Export
  • Auth

Responsibilities

  • Built Excel upload and parsing with formula extraction and analysis UI
  • Implemented chart builder with axis mapping and ECharts integration
  • Developed project management and PDF export features
  • Created auth backend with JWT, user management, and email notifications

Challenges

  • Parsing complex Excel formulas with dependency tracking for recalculation
  • Designing chart builder UX that maps naturally to ECharts configuration

Performance considerations

  • Lazy chart rendering for large datasets
  • Web Worker for formula recalculation

Lessons learned

  • Formula dependency graphs are essential for reliable recalculation after cell edits
  • Self-hosted variant (froxcel-frontend-self) validates parser/sandbox architecture

Future roadmap

  • Complete backend API for workbook persistence
  • Collaborative editing and sharing
  • Advanced formula sandbox with security isolation
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