Import Macro Enabled Excel Spreadsheet into Dreamweaver

[LincolnBinns]

Hi there,

We have a very clever excel spreadsheet at work which allows quoting our customers custom work.

Thinking about moving forward and potentially creating an intranet within the company, having this excel spreadsheet as an HTML seems like a logical step forward.

Has anybody done this that could walk me through the steps?

Best regards,

Ian

[BenPleysier · Accepted solution]

The spreadsheet can easily be translated into HTML, but because HTML is a static language, you would need a scripting language to translate the macros. The latter can be done using JavaScript. Simply Google the subject or have a look at VBA to JavaScript Translator – Bacon Bits

[LincolnBinns]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for replying.

Ok, I have to admit that this is all new to me.

I can see the developer tab in excel and open the VB side of things but it opens many many windows in Visual Basic. I've never used it personally. Do you know of a step by step guide to follow by any chance? Like, is it a case of exporting all sheets individually and translating them into Java them uploading them somewhere?

Any help offered is greatly appreciated.

[BenPleysier]

Have a look at How to convert Excel tables to HTML

On second thoughts, have a look at embedding the spreadsheet Excel Online – create web-based spreadsheets, share & publish on a web-site. Instead of uploading to OneDrive, you could leave the spreadsheet where it is. This is probably an easier option to the one I suggested previously.

[B i r n o u]

without going against what you said... I will add that

• a simple copy / paste from excel to dw design view is also working great...
• and using the google api is also a real simple way to share and edit excel on line

[LincolnBinns]

Again, thanks Ben for all the advice.

Following the guides, I can get the spreadsheet in Dreamweaver displaying correctly, navigate through the different sheets, however, none of the calculations or fields are working or clickable.

[Nancy OShea]

As Ben said, HTML is not a programming language.  You need to convert MS macros to JavaScript (not Java).

[LincolnBinns]

Hi Nancy,

Ok, but how do I do that? What is the information I should be looking for? Is there a simple export in VBA to achieve this?

Apologies, like I said this is all completely new to me and I've never used VBA previously.

The guides mentioned previously get me so far but don't complete the objective.

[Nancy OShea]

Did you try the Bacon Bits translator?

VBA to JavaScript Translator – Bacon Bits

[LincolnBinns]

I have no idea where to obtain the VBA code? I can open the VBA of the excel spreadsheet in question however it opens over 10 different windows. All have different lines of code in them. They are listed as:

Microsoft Excel Objects - 25 different sheets and a "ThisWorkbook" object

Modules - Module 1

Is the code in any of this?

[Nancy OShea]

I don't think it's wise to start a learning exercise with a complex workbook.  Start with a basic spreadsheet containing 1 or 2 simple macros and see how well you get on with it.   

Also I'm not sure any online translator is going to do the whole job for you.  It's more likely that you will have to re-write portions of the JavaScript code manually.  And lacking any VB  &  JS know-how is going to be a serious impediment to your project's success.    Do you really want to do this?

[LincolnBinns]

The quotation system that the company uses has always been made in an excel spreadsheet. The number of times the master has been overwritten is quite high. Luckily enough our MD always keeps a copy that doesn't get touched so we can revert back to that version.

I'm trying to move the company forward and by having it as an internal web page that our sales guys can use could potentially achieve this.

The other option I have is to completely rewrite the excel spreadsheet using a web-based platform however with the number of changes and additions that get added to the quoting system on a regular basis, this will be ultra time-consuming. I guessed that the simplest way to achieve this was to import the current document into a webpage. Although as it turns out, it's not so simple! I am keen to learn though!

[pziecina]

What you are trying to do is something that people with 5 years of client side coding experience will often not do.

VBA support, has now been dropped by Microsoft browsers, so everything would have to be hand coded to convert to javascript. Yes there are one or two converters out there, but they will only do the basics. A simpler solution would be to have excel on every machine that requires it, but cost wise that may get expensive.

Depending on how complexed your spreadsheet is, and if you wish 'pop-up' boxes for user input will determin the projects viability, but expect to spend months, if not a few years completing this project.