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Andrea D'Attero
Andrea D'Attero

Posted on • Originally published at gridscript.io

Stop Copy-Pasting Between Excel and Code: Automate Your Data Workflows with GridScript

#datascience #dataengineering #python #javascript

If you’ve ever exported data from an app or database, you know the drill.
You open a CSV file in Excel, fix a few columns, clean a few headers… then realize you need to write a script to automate it next time.

And before you know it, you’re bouncing between Excel, VS Code, and a folder full of “final_v3_cleaned.csv” files.

I built Gridscript.io to stop that cycle — and give developers and analysts one place to transform data instantly, using JavaScript or Python, right in the browser.

💥 The Problem: Excel Is Great Until It Isn’t

Excel is amazing for quick inspection, filtering, and small edits.
But once you need to automate logic — like converting date formats, merging datasets, or renaming headers — things get messy.

You end up writing scripts like this:

import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
df["price"] = df["price"].astype(float)
df.to_csv("data_cleaned.csv")
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All of that just to import the data and this doesn't take into account the time spent to setup the project and install dependencies.

⚙️ The Idea: Script Data Directly in the Browser

GridScript eliminates the need for setups, dependencies, or switching tools.

Here’s the workflow:

  1. Upload your Excel or CSV file
  2. See it instantly in a spreadsheet-like grid
  3. Write a few lines of JavaScript or Python
  4. Preview your changes live
  5. Export clean data when done

Everything runs entirely in your browser — private, fast, and serverless.

Example: Clean and Reformat a Dataset in Seconds

Let’s say you have a CSV with messy data like this:

name price active date
Laptop 799.99 TRUE 01-05-25
Mouse 25 FALSE 04-12-24

In a Gridscript project you can fix and reformat everything with just a few lines:

gridData = gridData.filter(r => r[2] === "TRUE");
gridData.forEach(r => {
  r[1] = `\$${Number(r[1]).toFixed(2)}`;
  r[3] = new Date(r[3]).toISOString().split('T')[0];
});
updateGridData(gridData);
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or in Python:

grid_data = [r for r in grid_data if r[2] == "TRUE"]
for r in grid_data:
    r[1] = f"${float(r[1]):.2f}"
    r[3] = r[3].replace("-", "/")
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✅ One click on “Run” — your grid updates instantly.\
✅ One click on “Export” — you’ve got a clean file ready to go.

Gridscript Workspace

🔄 Automate Repetitive Workflows

Once you find a script that cleans your data perfectly, you can reuse it across files.
Just open a new dataset, paste your script, and hit Run — done.

No more:

  • Manually editing Excel columns
  • Copying formulas
  • Exporting and re-importing between tools

GridScript turns those steps into a single, automated workflow that lives entirely in your browser.

By combining Excel’s interactivity with Python and JavaScript’s power, GridScript makes it effortless to clean, reshape, and prepare data.

No installs. No dependencies. No more copy-paste chaos.

You just write, run, and export.

You can try it right now at https://gridscript.io. Upload a CSV or Excel file, write a few lines of Python or JavaScript, and transform your data instantly.

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