Requirements for viewing interactive data Your users must have the following installed on their computers to work with interactive Excel data on a Web page:
- Microsoft Office Web Components and an appropriate Office 2003 license
- Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 or later
Requirements for viewing noninteractive data Your users must have the following installed on their computers to view noninteractive data on a Web page:
- Internet Explorer 4.01 or later
Limitations of putting data on a Web page
Limitations of putting interactive data on a Web page
Depending on the type of Excel data you are saving as a Web page and how that data is formatted, some features and formatting might work and appear differently when data is saved or published as a Web page.
This topic provides information about the limitations of publishing or saving data when you select the following options for the Add interactivity with setting:
| Feature | Result on a Web page |
|---|---|
| Shared workbook information | Not retained. |
| Pattern fills | Not retained. |
| Graphics | Not retained. |
| Drawing object layers | Not retained. |
| Multiple fonts in a single cell | Not retained. The font of the first character in the cell is used. |
| Conditional formatting | Current cell formatting is retained. Formatting is no longer conditional. |
| Outlining | Collapsed rows are published as hidden. Expanded rows are published normally. |
| Password protection | Data in password-protected worksheets and workbooks cannot be saved or published as a Web page. To publish data that's protected, you must use a blank (or no) password. |
| Cell comments | Not retained. |
| Data validation restrictions and messages | Not retained. |
| Precision as displayed | Not supported. Precision as displayed value is published. |
| Distributed alignment | Not retained. |
| Thai alignment | Not retained. |
| Auditing tracer arrows | Not retained. |
| Indented text | Not retained. |
| Printing and page setup features | Not retained. |
| Labels in formulas | Converted to cell references. |
| Rotated or vertical text | Converted to horizontal text. |
| References to data on other worksheets | References are converted to values when you publish an individual sheet or range of cells. References are retained when you publish an entire workbook. |
| 1904 date system | The displayed dates remain the same, but the serial numbers for the dates are converted to the 1900 date system. |
| R1C1 reference style | Converted to A1 reference style. |
| Lotus compatibility | R1C1 reference style is converted to A1 reference style. |
| External data ranges | Converted to values. Ability to refresh from the source data is not retained. |
| Web queries | Converted to values. Ability to refresh from the source data is not retained. |
| Subtotals | Numbers and calculations appear correctly. Group and outline features are not retained. |
| Chart sheets, Macro sheets, Dialog sheets | Not retained. |
| Feature | Result on a Web page |
|---|---|
| Calculated fields | Formulas are not retained. Changed to total fields that use the default summary function for the field (Sum, Count, Min, or Max). |
| Calculated items | Not retained. |
| Custom calculations | Not retained. |
| Character and cell formatting | Most formatting is retained, except for changes in formatting to field text. |
| Number formats | Partially retained. Number formats that you apply to PivotTable fields in Excel are retained, but number formats that you apply to individual cells are not retained.
If you use a custom number format or a number format that's not supported by PivotTable lists on the Web, the numbers appear with the same number format as the Excel PivotTable report. If you subsequently change the number format for the field in the PivotTable list, you cannot return the field to the custom number format. |
| Asterisks that mark totals for OLAP data | Even if you turned off the asterisks marking totals in Excel, the asterisks are displayed in the PivotTable list on the Web. |
| Print settings | Not retained. The Excel settings to repeat PivotTable row and column labels on each page, repeat items labels after page breaks, and set page breaks between sections are lost. |
| Grouped items in fields | Partially retained. Grouped items in data fields are retained, but any selected items that are grouped in Excel are no longer grouped in the PivotTable list on the Web. |
| Custom sort order | Not retained. Instead, the data is in the order in which it is retrieved from the source database. |
| Indented formats | Not retained. Fields are in the same positions, but the character and cell formatting are not retained. Blank rows between item groups are lost. |
| Subtotals displayed at the top of item groups | Not retained. |
| Customized error values and empty cell values | Not retained. Errors and empty cells are displayed as blank cells. |
| Page fields in rows or columns | Not retained. Page fields become filter fields, which are always displayed across the top. |
| Password settings | Data in password-protected worksheets and workbooks cannot be saved or published as a Web page. To publish data that's protected, you must use a blank (or no) password. If you save your database password with the query in Excel, users must enter the password when they open the Web page in the browser. |
| Background refresh, retrieving data for each item in a page field individually | Not retained. The PivotTable list on the Web is always refreshed in the foreground, and all data for filter fields is retrieved in one operation. |
| Changes to Excel source data | Not available. To redefine the range of Excel source data or change the query to select different external data, you must make the change in Excel and republish. |
| Offline cube file data sources | You cannot reconnect to the original server database from the published PivotTable list, or make changes to the content of the offline cube file from the PivotTable list. If you need to perform either of these operations, you can do so in Excel and then republish to the PivotTable list. |
You must save or publish charts separately from other data in your workbook for the charts to appear correctly on your Web page. When you save a chart with interactive functionality, some features do not appear as they do in Excel.
| Feature | Result on a Web page |
|---|---|
| Surface chart type | Not retained; returns error when Web page is opened in browser. |
| Auto scale fonts | Changed to default font size. |
| Drawing objects, text boxes, and pictures on the chart | Not retained. |
| Semitransparent fills | Not retained. |
| Custom positioning and sizing of chart items | Changed to the default position and size. |
| Multicolumn legend layout | Changed to the default legend layout. |
| Series lines | Not retained. |
| Shadows | Not retained. |
| Error bars that are calculated by using the standard error | Not retained. |
| Error bars that are calculated by using standard deviation | Not retained. |
| Password protection | Data in password-protected worksheets and workbooks cannot be saved or published as a Web page. To publish data that's protected, you must use a blank (or no) password. |
| Plot visible cells only | All data is plotted, including data in hidden cells. |
| Positioning of category axis labels on line charts between categories (points) by default | Centered on data points. |
| Trendlines | Trendlines are plotted through data points and to the borders of the plot area, giving a slightly different appearance than in Excel, where trendlines are plotted through data points but not to the borders of the plot area. |
Chart features that cannot be added or modified in another design program
The following Excel chart features are retained when you publish an interactive chart. However, when you open the Web page in another design program, such as Microsoft FrontPage 2000 or data access page Design view in Microsoft Access, these features cannot be added or modified. If you modify the feature or the series to which the feature is applied, the feature is no longer retained:
-
The ability to vary colors by point, which is usually applied to single-series charts. When you apply the Vary colors by point option, each data marker in one series is a different color, rather than the standard single color for each data marker in a series.
-
Some combination charts, such as a column chart that's combined with a pie chart.
Limitations of putting noninteractive data on a Web page
When you save or publish Excel data on a Web page without interactivity the data is saved like a static snapshot. Users can view the data and formatting on the Web page, but cannot interact with the data.
You can change the data you have saved or published noninteractively by modifying the original workbook from which you published, and then republishing the data. To republish data automatically every time you save the original workbook, you can take advantage of the AutoRepublish feature (check the AutoRepublish every time this workbook is saved box in the Publish dialog box.
You can also open, modify and save the noninteractive HTML file in Excel. In this case many, but still not all, of the workbook features are retained.
The following features are not retained when you save an entire workbook as a Web page and then reopen the Web page in Excel.
| Feature | Result |
|---|---|
| Custom views | Any custom views you defined are not retained. |
| Data consolidation | References are not retained. |
| Labels in formulas | Converted to cell references. |
| Scenarios | Any scenarios you created are not retained. |
| Shared workbook information | Not retained. |
| Function categories | Any categories you defined are not retained. |