Formatting data from a spreadsheet into a page

[Mac Hine]

I'm trying to work out how to add and later edit data from an xls file.
The data is constantly eight columns wide, but the number of rows need to able to be edited at some point.

What I want as an end result, is a link-per-row to an image. Say I have twenty rows, but will need to be able to insert/delete some rows of data later on.

Is there a straightforward way to get an xls file in a WD page, and be able to edit it on the page?

This is what I've come up with so far:
I've managed to get the data into a Xara webpage by selecting all the xls cells I want, then copying them.
To paste them, I've found I can do this by pasting, using “Rich text format (don't match)”

Then using the selector tool, I can select one row of data, then “web properties” to add a link to the selection.
This seems to work OK so far.
I can also select a row of data, then delete it, without moving the following rows upwards.

What I'll need to be able to do when updating a page, is to insert a complete row of data (text?) at a chosen row (say row ten, for example).
So within the existing page I will already have, can I somehow shift rows 11-20 down a row, then add row of data in the space where row ten was?

[penmore]

Hi Mac Hine

Without spending a lot of time experiementing, can I suggest that you create exactly what you require in your excel spreadsheet. Select the cells you require and save the selection as a webpage.

If you then copy the webpage source where it relates the table which contains the cells, then you should be able
to paste that onto your Xara webpage in a Placeholder.

Once you have it working then I suggest you make any changes in you excel sheet and repeat the process as outlined above.

If you have any problems with what I have sugested then I will be happy to help out with a demo for you.

If you add any cell formatting to the the excel cells then you will have to copy more of the webpage so you get the formatting in the Xara webpage

Pete

[Egg Bramhill]

An alternative to Pete's suggestion is to use Google Drive. Import your xls file in a Google sheet. File / Publish to the Web. Load this into a placeholder. Now all you need to do to amend the file is to add/delete/amend the content within the Google sheet. It automatically updates every 5 minutes without the need to touch your Xara file ever again.

I did an example yesterday for Folivio. See post #8 HERE

[penmore]

An alternative to Pete's suggestion is to use Google Drive. Import your xls file in a Google sheet. File / Publish to the Web. Load this into a placeholder. Now all you need to do to amend the file is to add/delete/amend the content within the Google sheet. It automatically updates every 5 minutes without the need to touch your Xara file ever again.

I did an example yesterday for Folivio. See post #8 HERE

Egg, what you have posted above was developed for a different application and therefore may not be suitable for the OP's needs. I tried to stick to what I could see the OP was familiar with i.e. Excel and inserting the columns/rows into WD.

Perhaps Mac Hine will get back to us with what best suits, he did ask for a straightforward way.
Pete

[Acorn]

The trick has to be to maintain the links once the data has been imported.
Any further updates would have to be reworked.

What actually works is to select all the imported Excel groups and then right click Position on Page > Push.

Now you can push one row down to insert a fresh one above or move or copy a current one into place.
All move force the rows to be kept properly separated.

Acorn

[penmore]

The trick has to be to maintain the links once the data has been imported.
Any further updates would have to be reworked.

What actually works is to select all the imported Excel groups and then right click Position on Page > Push.

Now you can push one row down to insert a fresh one above or move or copy a current one into place.
All move force the rows to be kept properly separated.

Acorn

Irrelevant and Off Topic - The real trick is to read and understand what the OP posts and supply him with
a solution that matches what he has requested NOT a solution that was developed for another OP
with different requirements.

[Mac Hine]

Hi penmore,

Thanks for replying and for your suggestion.

It seemed like a good idea, so I saved the basic xls file as html. I actually use Libre Office, but haven't had any problems with it so far doing this.
The xls file I used is 8 columns wide by 100 rows long. I didn't worry about adding hyperlinks into the cells initially as I just wanted to test it would export to html and paste OK into a placeholder.
Saving as html was fine, then I highlighted just the html for the table. I pasted it into a placeholder, but realised that not all the text was pasted successfully.

When I previewed the Xara page, I could see that only the first 30 of the 100 rows had been pasted. I tried the whole operation again, with the same error.

Just to prove the clipboard had copied all the data, I pasted it into a text file – that pasted the data completely.
So from what I can guess, is there a limit as to how much you can paste into a placeholder?
I also tried extending the length of the placeholder I created to make it 5,000px long, but it still won't paste all the data into the placeholder.

[penmore]

Did you make sure your Xara page length is long enough to take the 100 rows. I will do a quick test on my machine but I think that may be your problem.

[Mac Hine]

Did you make sure your Xara page length is long enough to take the 100 rows. I will do a quick test on my machine but I think that may be your problem.

Yes, I checked that before I extended the placeholder size. The page & placeholder were both 5,000px long.
As soon as I pasted into the placeholder, before I OK'ed it I could see the data wasn't complete.

I'll stand corrected if there's something obvious I've missed or screwed up!

[penmore]

Yes, I checked that before I extended the placeholder size. The page & placeholder were both 5,000px long.
As soon as I pasted into the placeholder, before I OK'ed it I could see the data wasn't complete.

I'll stand corrected if there's something obvious I've missed or screwed up!

I've just checked it on my machine - you will have to juggle with page length, placeholder length and also the placeholder window in which you paste the code. Resize the length of that window until you can get the 100 rows in.

You can also, use two or more placeholders if you can't get it all into one elongated paste window.
Pete