XLChek — Offline Excel Risk Diagnostics

What XLChek Does

XLChek is an offline, read-only Excel analysis tool that identifies structural risks in spreadsheets, including:

• Circular references
• Hidden assumptions (hard-coded constants)
• Volatile formulas
• Orphan (unused) calculations
• Formula drift patterns (copy/paste inconsistencies within a row)
• High-impact cells (cells many other formulas depend on)

It does not modify Excel files.

XLChek identifies structural risk, not business correctness.

Internal package name: the tool is invoked as python -m sheetguard (see "How to Run" below). "XLChek" is the product name shown in the app, the report, and this documentation.

What's New in v0.2.0

• Fixed a reference-parsing bug that could inflate the "symbolic references" count and misread cross-sheet formulas
• Fixed the impact-ranking logic so "high-impact" cells now reflect true downstream dependents, not just a formula's own inputs
• Added an automated test suite (pytest) covering the reference-parsing, impact-ranking, and formula-drift detectors
• Redesigned the HTML report: severity color-coding per finding, mobile-responsive layout, clear "all clear" indicators for clean sections, and clickable summary links
• Added an in-report disclaimer describing supported file types and known limitations
• Removed unused/dead code paths from the dependency-graph module
• Normalized line endings across the codebase (see .gitattributes)

Supported Files

• .xlsx
• .xlsm (formulas are scanned; embedded VBA macros are not analyzed — see Disclaimer)

How to Run

1. Run python -m sheetguard from PowerShell (or your terminal of choice) in the project root
2. Drop an Excel file into the XLChek window, or click Browse to select one
3. Click Run Analysis and wait for it to complete
4. View the generated HTML report (opens automatically)
5. (Optional) Inspect the accompanying JSON output for automation or scripting

See XLChek User Guide.docx for a full walkthrough of every report section, with screenshots.

Configuration

All detection behavior is controlled via rules.yaml. No code changes are required to:

• Suppress false positives
• Change severity thresholds
• Enable/disable detectors
• Adjust conservativeness

Privacy & Security

• 100% offline
• No internet access
• No data leaves the machine
• Safe for financial, audit, and regulated environments

Intended Users

• Finance teams
• Auditors
• Supply chain analysts
• Operations managers
• Excel power users

Feedback & Issues

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open a GitHub Issue — it helps keep discussion public and searchable for other users too.

You can also reach me directly at: gridgrok.contact@gmail.com

Disclaimer

XLChek performs structural pattern analysis on standard .xlsx workbooks. It does not support: legacy .xls files, password-protected/encrypted workbooks, VBA macros, array/dynamic-array spill formulas, or Power Query/Power Pivot models. Formula parsing is pattern-based, not a full Excel grammar — unusual or highly nested formula constructs may not be fully captured. Results should inform, not replace, manual review.