When you create a web page based on an Excel workbook, you can make the web page either interactive or non interactive. A non-interactive Excel web page can be placed on a web server as an html file that can be loaded into a browser. People can than view the Excel data in a web browser on any computer that has Internet access, but they cannot manipulate or modify the data.

 

If you create an interactive web page based on your Excel data, people using computers with Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher, and Office 2003, will be able to interact with the web page to some degree. How a person is able to interact with the data depends on the kind of data that is in the web page. With an Excel list or database, a person could sort, filter, or modify the data. With an interactive worksheet, a person can change the values of data cells, modify formulas, and change the formatting. If an Excel chart is saved as an interactive webpage, a person may make changes to the source data if it is included on the web page, and then update the chart to reflect the changes. It is important to note, that changes made to Excel data saved as an interactive webpage are not carried over to the original file on the web server. In other words, any modifications that are made by a person viewing the webpage in a browser will not be seen or saved in the original file, that is, users cannot update the original over the web.

 

Here is a simple Excel worksheet.

 

 

Here is a non-interactive web page based on the same worksheet.

 

 

This web page can only be viewed; the cell entries, formatting, and formulas cannot be changed.

 

 

This is an interactive web page based on the same worksheet. (Notice the scrollbars, gridlines, and toolbar.) The cell entries can be changed from within the Internet Explorer browser. If they are, the web page will be recalculated accordingly.

With an interactive webpage, the following toolbar will be provided above the Excel grid area.

 

 

If you let your mouse pointer hover over each button, a brief description of the button’s function will appear.

 

From left to right, the buttons are,

 

	The Undo button to undo previous actions
	The Cut button is used to cut selections of data
	The Copy button is used to copy selections of data
	The Paste button is used to paste data
	The Auto Sum button calculates sums for column or rows of adjacent cells
	The Sort ascending and Sort descending buttons can sort data in an Excel list
	The AutoFilter button can filter data in an Excel list
	The Refresh All button
	The Export to Excel button will export the data from an interactive webpage to an Excel workbook
	The Commands and options button displays a commands and options dialogue box
	The Help button opens a relevant Microsoft Office help window

 

If you click on the Commands and options button, the following dialogue box will be displayed in the browser.

 

 

Under the Format tab, you will find options for changing the font, borders, and alignment of entries in the interactive webpage.

 

Under the Formula tab, you will see options for viewing and editing formulas in the interactive webpage.

 

Under the Sheet tab there are options for searching the web page for specific elements, and for hiding or displaying worksheet components (i.e. gridlines).

 

Under the Workbook tab you will find options to change from automatic calculation to manual, and to hide or display the toolbar.