Web Page Linked to Excel Spread Sheet?

[Chopper WeeD]

Is it possable to have an Excel Spread sheet cross referenced into a Web page.

I want to ba able to have a web page display certain cells from the spread sheet, so when I update those cells the web page will show the current information.

Reason I want this is because help run a local sports tipping competition. I store all the results into a spread sheet and then I have been printing it out and displaying it for the competitors. This year I am running a web page and want to have the results displayed on the net. It would be easiest for me if I was able to do the cross reference, otherwise I will have to copy and paste each week and then reformat the web page.

If this is possable, how do I do it?

Click Here (http://www.henrytips.rulestheweb.com) If you wish to view my current web page

Note: I have used frames and thats the way I like it.
I am aware about some links which I need to fix up so other sites dont appear in my frames.
Im using a Free V3 Url to cloak the actual web address (not that it will stop anyone from finding out the web address if they new what they where doing) and there will be 2 or 3 pop-ups I cant help about (just close them).


Thanks
Regards,

Chopper

[jpmoriarty]

you're looking at creating a dynamic site, and you'd be much better off using a database (M$ SQL or MySQL, depending on whether you're heading to ASP or PHP respectively) than excel since it handles multiple users much better.

AS that suggests, you'll also need a dynamic hoster who will let you run either ASP or PHP pages, and a database too.

[khaki]

Hi Chopper...

I actually posted a similar question a long time ago, and then I never really persued it any further to see if it was a viable solution (the Excel approach, I mean).

And John's suggestion to use a database is really the best way (especially since you can even use a real simple Access db that can even grab the data from Excel for you, if that's what you want to try)....

...but .... you asked for an Excel solution, so here is a link that shows it:

http://www.asp101.com/samples/xl_data.asp

If you try this, I'd be really interested to know how it works for you... so please provide some information about your experiences doing it this way.

Good luck with it...
k

[Chopper WeeD]

Thanks For the Help.

I know nothing of coding anything but can be a quick learner and those samples look useful Khaki.

I will give it a go and keep you updated.

This will be my first experience with asp.

[khaki]

Oh...
Hopefully your server has IIS installed (otherwise... forget the ASP101 link).

And even if you have the ability to use ASP, this might also be a little rough for someone with no coding experience.
Lucky for you though, there is an ASP forum on these boards - so don't give up too quickly.

One thing I do know... you need to establish "named ranges" in Excel to get this to work (they act as "table names" in a true database)... so hopefully your Excel skills are up to that level at least.

Keep us informed. I'm especially interested to see how this develops for you.

fantasizing about how brilliant I'd be if Excel was as scalable as a real database (sigh)...
k

[web-eagle]

I should probably look into this ASP thingy ;-)

It sounds like you don’t actually need a “database” as such, but simply want to use an existing Excel file as a source of content. There are usually work-arounds, but they’re usually not “neat”. One possibility comes to mind, if we make a couple assumptions.

Assuming your data isn’t “dynamic”, but rather something that you update manually as events occur (sports scores would seem to qualify),
Assuming you are using Excel 2000 or better…

Let’s try using a Server Side Include (SSI)

Save your Excel file as .html
Back in your web page, add the line
<!--#include virtual="filename.htm" -->
(Obviously you’ll replace “filename.htm” with whatever you named your Excel file. And don’t forget the quotes.)
Place this line wherever in your page you want the data to appear.
(You won't actually be able to see the data until you open the page live from your server, but it's there!)

Some attributes of a table will be missing (border, cell padding, etc.) but it will have all your data arranged in neat column/row format. In fact, it should look just like your Excel sheet (colors, column spans, etc.).

One potential problem is that the HTML file you created with Excel may contain sensitive data (author’s name, file creation date, etc.), and this will be visible to anyone who selects “view source” while they’re looking at your page. Make sure when you “save as” you first highlight just the data you want, then click “selection” rather than “entire workbook” on the pop-up.

This will be a lot less labor intensive than typing in all those values into a straight HTML table!

Good Luck!

[khaki]

Actually, saving an Excel file as a web page creates some very quirky results in a cross-browser environment.

And for those of you who think that WYSIWYG editors create a lot of out-of-control bloat.... you should see what Excel (or Word, etc) creates.
The best way to put it is.... it ain't easy to debug in an editor.

Will it work?
Yes.
Well?
Absolutely not.

The two methods are apples and oranges, however.

It will allow for multiple user access (since it's a standalone web page), but the method of linking/querying Excel data is a different animal.

The best use for Excel files saved as web pages (as far as I'm concerned) is that Excel graphs (and any other "object") is saved as a GIF image.
They won't be dynamic.... but if you can program in Excel, you can do some pretty creative things with them to make them seem that way to your web users.

Other than that... I wholeheartedly discourage creating web pages from Excel files (learn HTML and use Excel as a resource only).

that's this girl's opinion...
k

[Chopper WeeD]

I looked into ASP and for a while I was a bit lost, until i realised i needed to Install SP1 for WIN XP and dl & Install SDK from Microsoft.

I still need to install SP! and until i do that I cant install the SDK

ASP still looks tricky, and although web-eagles idea may not turn out the best, It does sound far easier from my perspective.

I will give it a play and see how it goes.

At the moment, Ive done a simple copy and paste from excel to frontpage (I have Office XP [office 10]) and I'm having trouble with those cell borders, they just wont do what I want them to do.

Query: Doing web-eagls idea and saving my excel as a html, will others need the same office version to veiw the file, or will everyone with internet explorer be able to see it.

P.S. At this point in time, I dont care about people with other web browsers. I just want my site up and running for I.E.


Again, Thanks for all the support.

Chopper

[web-eagle]

I agree with you, khaki. It’s not an ideal solution.
But it may help as a quick fix, without an additional learning curve (at my age, all the hills look a little steeper than they used to!)

I had another idea first, but it involves DreamWeaver, and I was pretty sure that a first time web designer wouldn’t have that (yet).

If the Excel data is saved as a comma delimited text file, then DreamWeaver can import it as “tabular data”.

Without DreamWeaver, he’d need yet another utility to convert the delimited text into an HTML table. I was browsing some of the “script” sites, and was a little surprised that I didn’t find anything that looked like it would do the trick. It seems like it should be a simple operation, just a search&replace with a little logic control. Oh, well…

Chopper, once the file is saved as HTML it will be viewable on any web browser, although khaki is exactly right about there being a bunch of garbage mixed in. (DreamWeaver has a function specifically designed to clean up Word HTML.) But even with all the extra padding, it should display properly on most browsers.

I can’t remember if FrontPage has a way of importing tabular data or not. If so, you might want to try my other idea, mentioned above. Since you’d be importing essentially plain text, FrontPage would generate it’s own HTML, which again, should work on most browsers.

I’m pretty sure you can insert a formatted paragraph, but that sounds pretty much like what you’re doing now.

[Chopper WeeD]

Done the save as web page and has worked like a dream.

The only thing I had to add to the coding was the background colour and Scroll Bar colours

First time I tested the page off the net, some cell borders
where showing the background colour instead, but after a refresh, it all was fine.

Check it out (http://users.bigpond.net.au/chopperweed/footytips/2003Results_xls.htm)

To me, it looks as neat as it could be, and I think having Office XP has helped.

[khaki]

Hi Guys...

Perhaps it's time for me to stop being such a WebDev snob :rolleyes: .

I still discourage the creation of web pages via Excel... but if you are weighing the learning curve vs the immediate results equation, I will lose that argument every time :eek: .

As expected, your page appears drastically different when viewed in IE and Netscape (but you've indicated that it is not a concern for you... so I mention it only so that those with cross-browser requirements understand that this method has some buggy results that will need to to addressed if they want to try it as well).

The source code is heavily bloated (also not a concern for you because you "edit" the page visually from within Excel).

Other than that... it's on the web, your users can view it, you can edit it, and all you needed was basic Excel skills.

OK... you did it (but you cheated! LOL). Whatever... it's the results that count, I guess (I say that.. but I don't really believe it. wink).

So... I failed to convert you to the dark side (lol. Misery loves company y'know ;) ). But there's plenty of room for all of us on the web (but beware us WebDev types... we're very territorial. lol).

would rather live line-by-line in Notepad...
k

[web-eagle]

Chopper
The site looks great, and I’m glad the ideas helped you.

khaki
If it’s any consolation, this thread has convinced me to start looking into more dynamic solutions. Who knows? If enough people like me jump on board, maybe someday they’ll produce a BASIC version of SQL!
:D

[Chopper WeeD]

I will have to install netscape to see what it looks like there.
What version of netscape would you recommand?
Anything else I should check out?

I would rather learn ASP and join the dark side with you :)

But I'm really after the fastest and easiest solution at this point in time as the competition is under way.

PS, thanks for all the support, I didnt think anyone would reply to help me, but you guys are awesome and have helped me to get up and running.

[jpmoriarty]

asp? the dark side? pah! asp is for micro$oft foolios! come on over and join us in the land of the free - php (http://www.php.net), apache (http://www.apache.org) and MySQL (http://www.mysql.com) (recently crowned as the fastest read-database apparently, and given as the majority of web access databases are read a lot more than they are written to, thats not a bad thing). and you might want to consider the php version of this board at php builder (http://www.phpbuilder.com/board) for help and tips too.

might want to give it a look...

[Chopper WeeD]

I think I should try and learn HTML first :D

[khaki]

The Right Honorable JPMoriarity wrote: asp? the dark side? pah! asp is for micro$oft foolios! come on over and join us in the land of the freeIf you wish to fill your days with heavy use of question marks and dollar signs, PHP is the language to use. (but beware that it will leak into your everyday communications too - as exhibited above ;) ).

Don't believe the rhetoric of the rebels Chopper. Life on the Dark Star is the only way to go. Darth Gates has us strategically positioned and no one can defeat us (lol).

But quite seriously, your right! Learn HTML first (duh!!!). Although you should really learn xhtml first (so that you don't have to unlearn/relearn the basics - like a lot of us need to do. Especially since so many WYSIWYG editors capitalize by default!).

After that, there is still plenty more to learn before selecting a server-side language (but when you do... pick mine! pick mine!. lol).

As far as Netscape... I use 7 (and I actually use it more so than IE... but don't let anyone know that :eek: ).

And just for the record (to ease any concerns that ASP may be a bit much to tackle)... I am a notoriously bad - although surprisingly effective - ASP developer. So, if I can do it... there is hope for anyone! LOL.

Good luck Chopper (and web-eagle!).
Glad to have you new guys aboard! (wink)...
k

[Chopper WeeD]

I just had an Idea while looking through the forums, I saw summerdale's Post in regards to a PDF and then I thought, If the Excel saved as Html isnt the best for looks across differnt browsers.
Is it possable to export the Excel spread sheet into a PDF and then have the PDF linked in my web-page for a better look across browsers. I have access to acrobat distillers and the sort so that is not a problem.
If the PDF was a good idea and viable, how would it effect the frames on my web-page?


Cheers
Chopper

[khaki]

PDF?
My opinion?
PDF is non-standard, and not the direction of the internet.
It exists.
Aside from that... it's yesterdays's technology looking for a place to be relevent.
(that's my opinion).
k