Preparing an Excel Spreadsheet for Frontpage

Before you can insert Excel data into your Web site, you have to prepare your Excel spreadsheet. FrontPage uses database connections to access external data. When you create a database connection, you specify the data source that contains the data (such as a Microsoft Access database file or a Microsoft SQL Server) and a record source, usually the name of a table in the data source.

For more information on database connections in FrontPage, see "Creating a Database Connection," p. 706.

An Excel spreadsheet doesn't have tables in it. Therefore, there is nothing in the file that you can point to as a record source. Before you can use your Excel spreadsheet in FrontPage, you must create a named range in Excel. A named range is simply a section of a spreadsheet to which a name is applied. Once you've defined a named range in your spreadsheet, FrontPage will see the named range as a record source and will allow you to access the data in the named range.

To create a named range in your Excel spreadsheet, follow these steps:

1. Copy the Expenses.xls file from the CH40 folder on the CD accompanying this book to the location of your choice on your hard drive.

2. Open the Expenses.xls file in Excel.

3. Select all the cells containing data except for the bottom row and column H, as shown in Figure 40.1.

   Figure 40.1. Select all the data you want to include in your named range.

   

4. Select Insert, Name, Define.

5. Excel will suggest Category as the name. Change this to Expenses as shown in Figure 40.2.

   Figure 40.2. Change Excel's suggested name to Expenses to add a new named range.

   

6. Click Add to add the new name.

7. Click OK to return to the spreadsheet.

8. Save the spreadsheet.

If you receive an error telling you that the file is read-only, see "Spreadsheet Is Read-Only" in the "Troubleshooting" section of this chapter.

You now have a named range that FrontPage can use as the record source when you are inserting data from this spreadsheet into your Web pages. The named range contains all the data in the spreadsheet except for the bottom row. The bottom row is not included because it's a total row. It shows a total for all the data rows, but it's not really data itself. However, if you choose to include it, you can.